solar squirrel

First Place woman (Janet) and 3rd Age Group (me)

Yesterday was exactly a year since doing my last triathlon.  I did the Munroe Falls sprint triathlon last year as one of my last races before succumbing to my IT band injury.  It’s fitting then that I’m using it (hopefully) as my entry back into the running / triathlon scene and as a CLOSURE to my IT band problems.

On Friday I went to see Dr. Keyes for my last scheduled ART session.  He told me the IT band was doing great - no more scar tissue and nice and loosened up.  Unfortunately I’ve developed a new problem - when I try to fully extend my knee there is discomfort and pain.  He told me this was likely my meniscus.  Argh!  How did my meniscus get messed up?  Possibly just from the jolt into running again without having tons of scar tissue - he said it may be irritated due to the new way I’m running (sans scar tissue and ITB issues).  The good news is that he said it should go away and that it’s not severe.  He did this thing where he straitened my leg and then pushed it to either side and asked me if it hurt.  Well, it felt uncomfortable, but not super painful…  So anyway - IF ANYONE OUT THERE HAS ANY FAMILIARITY WITH MENISCUS ISSUES CAN YOU SEND ME SOME INFO?  Tim said to work on strengthening my hips/legs, which I’m working on doing, but it’s just soooooooo frustrating!  I want to finally be pain and injury-free!!!!

Onto the race.  This one is nice because it’s only about 20 min from where we live.  I love LOCAL races!!  Got there early and had plenty of time to setup.  While getting my things setup in transition, someone said hi to me that I didn’t recognize - she told me her name was Suzanne and she reads my blog!  I was so flattered that someone I don’t know reads my rambles and complaints about training.  I told her I would try to keep my blog more updated since now I know there is one extra person reading!

It was HOT and I didn’t see many people wearing a wetsuit.  I saw Adam and was chatting with him and he corrected me when I accidentally thought he was wearing one.  What he was wearing is apparently a SPEED suit.  Sheesh…I’ve been out of the scene for so long I don’t even know what type of gear people are wearing!!!  I opted not to wear the wetsuit (I was going to ask Janet what she was doing, but I couldn’t find her).  I don’t really think it mattered either way.  The swim was over so fast and I just kept getting kicked and punched (accidentally) by people.  I thought that sticking to the side ropes would be a good idea - BAD MISTAKE - people who are afraid of the swim apparently also stay by the ropes to hold onto them and then cause you to have to try to get around them.  So the swim wasn’t a great performance, but I definitely felt like I could have done better if it weren’t for getting stuck behind so many people in the log jam.

Coming out of the swim I felt good and was ready to get on the bike.  Uneventful transition except for the fact that I accidentally ran the wrong way out of transition and had to go back around.  (ooops!)  The bike was fine - the windy road out of the park is annoying because I am not good on turns and so I couldn’t really build up any speed.  I already had looked at the course online so I knew exactly where to go.  It was a big rectangle with 2 loops.  Some rolling hills, but not too bad.  Looking at the results compared to last year I did better (mph) this year.  T2 was good - didn’t take off my bike gloves (which I like because then I can use them to wipe the sweat off of my face during the run) and DID remember to start my watch for the run!  The run was the toughest part and I sure can tell I’m not quite in running-shape.  I just kept thinking to myself thank goodness this is only a 5k or I would DIE!!!!  I am SO HAPPY with my run, though!!!  Way slower than most sprint triathlons I’ve done, but I ran the whole thing and felt strong the entire time.  (AND NO KNEE PAIN!)

This race was just what I needed to give me the added confidence and boost to keep me training.  They also told me I was 3rd in my age group which was SUPER AWESOME!!!  (I hope it wasn’t a mistake!)

Swim (400 yards):  8:01
T1:  2:04
Bike:  37:01 (19.5 MPH)
T2:  (not sure - have to subtract from overall run time)
Run:  watch said 7:40 pace; T2+run = 25:42 / 8:01 pace
Total:  1:12:50

Here’s a link to the results:  http://champracing.org/files/2010SUMMITRI2.HTM