Okay, now I have whetted your interest, I guess I'd better fulfill the promise.
On Saturday the 10th of July I did the Bottomless Lake Triathlon at Bottomless Lake outside of Roswell, NM and today I completed the City of Santa Fe Triathlon in Santa Fe, NM.
I'd been to church camp from July 4-9, and did try to keep up with the workouts. Mostly that consisted of getting up early and running between 5:45 and 6:45. That worked pretty well, but the altitude was amazing at about 8,000 + feet. I think I ended up doing LOTS more walking than running, but my Garmin worked like a trooper. I know I am a nerd girl because I had scads of fun the next week analyzing the data and reliving the workouts :-)
Bottomless Lake was my first open water venue without a "buddy rope" You are supposed to site at the large orange floats, swim toward them, loop around and then come back. That is all well and good if you use the freestyle. I've depended on the backstroke and a little of the breast stroke in my triathlon adventures. I discovered that I am not too much of a wanderer on my back, though the way back to the ramp was better because I was shadowed by two lifeguards who kept me headed in the right direction. This is one of the advantages to being wwwaaaayyyy at the back of the pack. There were one or two folks in the water when I got out, so it was good that I could provide some amusement for the lifeguards as I did the backstroke for 400 meters. It took me 16:56 to do the swim.
Then it was on to the bike. The route was pretty hilly and I noticed quite a few folks had to get off and push their bikes up the hills. I was deeply gratified that my time on the Santa Rosa highway hills meant I could stay on the bike. The total bike time was 44:56 and there is definitely room for improvement for next year.
The run was only 2.6 miles, but it took me a long time to get'r done. I didn't have much run in my legs and was thankful the weather was good; cloudy and cool. I was disappointed in the overall run time of 46:51 since I've done the full 3.1 miles in less time than that. Once again, room for improvement for next year. My total time for the event was 1:48:43.
It was really nice to see some friends from other triathlons: Todd, Jennifer, Sarah and Gil were all there and they did a nice job of cheering the NEARLY last person on to her finish. I was not the last person, but it was close.
Now I'll bet you are wondering where paramedics fit into all of this.... read on.
I was a presenter at a conference in Santa Fe, so it was easy to stay an extra night on my personal dollar and do the City of Santa Fe Triathlon. This is their third year, and they have a very nice event organized. Santa Fe is over 7,000 feet above sea level and I train in Fort Sumner and we are just at about 4,000 feet above sea level. Friday evening I drove what I thought was the bike route, I was REALLY bad at reading the map, so that ended up being a surprise for me today. Anyway, back to the sequential story.
This triathlon begins at 6:30 with a mass start in the run. This meant rising at 4:15 in order to be at the transition area at 5 when it opened. Since it is open rack, I wanted a good pick of spots. I like to rack on one of the ends near where we will exit for the swim. There are lots of different theories on how to rack, but my thinking is that I am whipped by the time I finish the run and the bike, and I want the shortest route possible in my bare tootsies to the pool.
I met a lovely father/daughter duo who just started doing triathlons this year with the Ruidoso Sprint Triathlon. They live in the East Mountains of Albuquerque and are from Canada originally. Greg and Kurstin were a joy to visit with as we whiled away the time, of course making multiple stops to the bathroom.
We all lined up in the street at 6:20 for a prompt 6:30 start on the run. I knew there was no reason to be near the front, so I just started in the back. I was the absolutely last runner in from this hilly 3.1 mile run. I did a good mix of running and walking and tried to keep my heart rate in the 140-150 range. After the race I noticed that my total average was 149 and my peak was 216. Oh well, I tried. The altitude was a bit of an issue, but I think the bigger problem was the hilly route. I have not been working on hill running (Mary said, "Why would you do that?" to which I replied, "Well, I read an article on running hill repeats and it is the best way to improve your speed and your aerobic capacity." I am doing hill repeats this week on the days I run!!!! Now the good news, I did the 3.1 mile run in 45:18 and that makes me very happy.
I'd taken a water bottle with me on the run and at the first water station I'd asked if this was the 1.5 spot. The folks at the table said, "No, this is one mile and there will be another water table at the 2 mile mark." I didn't fill up my water bottle and that was the first of my mistakes. At about the 2 mile mark I noticed there was not table and I was out of water. Usually I drink 30-40 ounces on the run. My system is pretty fragile since the gastric by-pass with respect to retaining adequate hydration. I got terribly dehydrated at the Coyote Carerra Triathlon and resolved not to make that mistake again. If this were a scary movie, you would be yelling at the girl, "Don't go into the basement." Unfortunately, I didn't listen either.
The overall bike time includes both the transition from run to bike and from bike to swim. There was about a 200 meter run from the timing mat to my bike and when I got back I had that same 200 meters to run to rack my bike, followed by another 200 meters in my bare feet running down to the pool. Even with that and the 12 mile HILLY bike ride, I did it in 1:09:36. I know from looking at my bike computer it took me about 1 hour and 2 minutes to do the bike, so that makes me feel pretty good about the "hoofing it" I did in the transitions. Usually on the bike I drink 30-40 ounces of water. Do you see the symmetry here? I do. For some reason I need to have 30-40 ounces of fluid when I am working hard. At this point you are telling the red shirt in the old Star Trek series, "That monster is taking you OUT." I drank less than 20 ounces on the bike. I was pedaling too hard going up the hills to drink and down in aeroposition over the bike on my aerobars trying to make up time when I went down the hills. The ride was great, my hydration was not.
I got back to the transition area and there were still two or three folks behind me on the bike course. I know that because I passed some of them and you've got to love that feeling. I however did not love the feeling about two laps into the eight I had to swim. You got it, I was dizzy and nauseated so horribly that I just kept prayer, "Lord, please don't let me throw up. I don't want to DNF." I could barely keep above the water it has so very nasty. I finally made it to the last lap, and was crawling up the ladder to escape. The photographer was there to catch the moment, including my struggles to get out, the grimace of pain and the flashing image of me gagging and nearly hurling into his camera. I had to stagger outside to cross the timing mat and officially end the race. I lurched over to the tent and collapsed in a chair, wondering how I would ever manage to get up the 200 meter hill to the bike much less cross the street to the parking lot with my gear in tow. I was so dizzy I just hunched over in the chair. Several kind people came to help, I was so confused I don't think I could recognize them if they knocked on the door. Fortunately one of them brought me some water and another got the paramedics. See, I promised paramedics......
I wish I could tell you the names of these great guys. I have no clue. I was pretty out of it. They helped me to a spot in the shade. I murmured that I thought I was dehydrated. The nice paramedic suggested perhaps some IV fluids would be in order since I looked pretty bad, and would I like some oxygen too? I agreed to the IV, I guess it was just self-preservation. They offered to put me on a gurney and put me in the back of the ambulance and reassured me that it did not mean I had to go to the hospital. I explained there was already too much drama with the events as they were, and I just could not take that escalation. They were nice about it, but offered a couple of more times to get me into the nice, quiet, air conditioned ambulance. I continued to refuse their hospitality, but took them up on the oxygen. By the time they'd forced about 2/3 of a bag of saline into my body, and let me breathe the nice, pure oxygen, I was feeling significantly better. They offered a trip to the hospital, but I could not figure out how I would get back to claim my stuff, get my car, check out of the hotel, and frankly I could now sit upright without throwing up. I signed off on the, "Yes I know I am stupid and refusing to go to the hospital and the paramedics warned me," notice and then worked my way up the long hill to my stuff. Oh, did I mention that the photographer gleefully captured multiple images of me with the paramedics. Yes, my shame lives on somewhere and I have no idea where.
I do wish I had some idea where to send a thank you card. While I am embarrassed at making the same mistake twice in a season, I am so grateful there are folks out there to help. One of the paramedics did reassure me that he does marathons and that he's had to have an IV bag of fluids more than once. It is just that I am the only person I know who has had to have that done. I am embarrassed and there is not time machine I can access to let me go back and do it right, no undo key on the keyboard of life. I am just going to send a thank you card to the Santa Fe Fire Department and hope it finds its way to the right folks. I did have the wherewithal to thank them and to apologize for causing so much trouble. They told me that I was the nicest patient they'd had in three months. That makes me sad; who would be mean to the paramedics trying to help them? I was so glad they were there
Back to the hotel, drinking G2 to keep the fluids going in. I got a shower, and it felt great. Then I got dressed and headed out of town. I was still a little sick to my stomach, so I didn't get anything to eat until Cline's Corners. A bus of high school students stopped right before I did, so the line at the Subway was 20 deep, so I ate at the Cline's Corners' Restaurant. I got a great hamburger steak and some fresh fruit. I looked so wiped out that the waitress insisted on giving me a glass of tea to go. Bless her heart for being kind.
So overall, I think I learned a lot:
1. Never believe there is water ahead. Fill you bottle any time the opportunity presents
2. I don't care how much time you want to make up on the bike-- drink at least 1.5 full bottles.
3. Be thankful that there are kind people who love their jobs to help you when you mess up.
4. God's hand is in the heart of lots of people, so recognize it and celebrate it with full passion.
So what are my next steps in this journey? I feel pretty good, so I may do a brief bike ride or jog in the morning to get the aches at bay. I am planning on biking M-W-F this week, 12-14 miles each morning. On T/TH I am going to run (hill repeats) and lift weights. On T-Th-F I am going to swim after work. On Saturday I want to do a long bike ride of 2-2.5 hours. I think it will get me about 30-35 miles round trip. Sunday will be my off day. The next triathlons are August 1st in Estancia and August 7th in Socorro. I want to be really strong for both of those, so I plan on training like crazy over the next two weeks.
Thank you for reading my saga and for your ongoing encouragement. I really hope to get my skills to a place where I can do a 1/2 Ironman within the next two years and a full Ironman in the next five. When I do the full Ironman it is my plan to get my Ironman tattoo.
Patricia
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