Du'ing My First Duathlon: Lessons Lived and Learned

This past weekend I participated -- I won’t say competed -- in my first duathlon. A great event, the Iron Girl, it was well-organized and fun. But, though I finished and had some personal success, I also learned some things that I want to capture for future events.

Training for Duathlon
One area that I can really improve is training while traveling. We had some trips in the weeks before this event, and though I knew I should run, I didn’t. Sleep seemed more important, and in many ways it was. I’m sure though, I could have skipped some online time and gotten out for runs.

I really struggle with run training, because if I do too much, I tend to get injured, and then of course, need to rest from running for weeks. I had gotten injured some time ago, and just wasn’t sure what the best course of action was as far as training. I still don’t know. At any rate, I was happy with my pace for my first 2 mile run.

I was really happy that I biked the course (one of two laps) before the race and happy that I’d tried a couple of bricks. Even with that, I wasn’t prepared for the feeling of coming off the bike after 22 miles, when the most I’d ever done in one shot was 11. My legs did not want to move, not even to walk. After dismounting after the bike leg, I clung to my bike, gritted my teeth, and hobbled to my transition station.

Biking
I don’t really understand gears, and it holds me back. I could tell I wasn’t going as fast as I could have, because if I raised the gear to what felt right, it made noise, which I knew was bad, so I lowered it. My bike is also built for comfort, not for speed. For recreational biking, it’s great, but I did feel rather outclassed during the race. On the plus side, I felt I did well on the hills. I never lost ground, and often gained it.

Transitions
Embarrassingly slow. Can I blame a 4:00 am wake up and lack of coffee for my lack of ability to organize my stuff? I wasn’t expecting the early morning rain either, and I tucked my bike shoes at the bottom of my bag to keep them dry. Of course, it took some time to untuck them. And to unbury some nutrition, which I never got to anyhow.

Miscellaneous Stuff
Came in to the bike feeling too warm off the run, so ditched my heavier jacket, and stuck a light one in my bike back. I was chilled on the bike, but I knew I was slow, so I didn’t want to take the time to put on the light jacket.

I need to wear wool socks next time. My left foot cramps when it gets cold, and around mile 10, I wondered about pulling over to massage out the cramp, which by that time was shooting pains up the entire posterior chain. I gutted it out, and thankfully, the whole left leg went numb, so got the through next 12 miles without stopping.

With my current biking setup, it’s very difficult to get to my water bottle. During recreational rides, it’s not a problem to stop and sip, but that wasn’t an option I chose to take during the race. After about 13 miles, I did manage to work the bottle out of its holder and take a sip.

Got a little flustered when I was about to rack my bike and do Run2, when someone snuck in my spot. Apparently, her orginal spot had been encroached. I was also a little irritated that this was someone I had followed most of the bike, hunted down, passed in the final mile, and she was getting out of T2 before me! I just kind of left my bike parked on an open end, and told the encroacher, “Who cares? Take that spot.”

CrossFit
Though I didn’t train as well as I should have for the race, I know that CrossFit carried me through in many ways. I tackled the hills and gutted through any discomfort because I’d developed physical and mental strength that I would not have had two years ago.

Photo courtesy of polderfoto at morguefile.com

Warrior Dash Tips and Tricks

I’m not an expert, but I did participate in one Warrior Dash, and I’m willing to share what I’ve learned. I was dreading some of the obstacles, and really dreading the mud, but it was a blast and I’ll sign up next year.

For your wardrobe, wear clothes that can either stand up to the mud, or that you don’t mind trashing. I wore a light blue cotton tee shirt that will never be light blue again, but it will live again as a paint rag. On the other hand, my grey REI shorts and socks came through just fine. I’d heard that Warrior Dashes have a shoe donation program, and so I wore old shoes that I didn’t mind donating. Keep in mind that mud thing extends to your underwear too, it’s no time for pretty pastel sports bras.

The mud doesn’t only get your clothes dirty, but it weighs them down. Close-fitting things will work best, or you may lose your shorts during the mud crawl. Sadly I missed seeing this, but hubby informed me he saw a couple of guys wearing sweat pants who had a tough time keeping them on.

The Warrior Dash I ran had a great set up for checking a workout bags; these too, will get muddy. Throw in some plastic bags to put your muddy clothing in, and pack at least a shirt and flip flops. Bring a large towel to dry off after you get hosed down, and bring a small, damp face cloth or towelettes to wipe off some of the remaining mud. I packed some money, drivers license and medical insurance card in a ziplock and stuck that in my bag as well. Unless you can handle several hours in the sun, pack sweat and waterproof sunscreen.

Your car seats will need protection too. Put a few bath towels or large garbage bags in your car to cover the seats for the ride home.

If you wear a hat or visor during the race, hang on to it during the typhoon; I lost mine. Tie your shoes tight. You’ll be glad when you are climbing cargo nets and knee deep in mud. If you aren’t really comfortable on the long stretch of cargo nets, stay to the side and you can use the frame to help you get across. To deal with a fear of heights, don’t look down; just look where you need to put your feet or hands.

When you’re done with the race, you’ll probably get a chance to get hosed off. The race I went to was at a ski resort, and we were blasted with water from a snow-making machine. It just about rips the contact lenses from your eyes, so cover your face a little. If you wear glasses, remove then. Anyone standing behind the front row of people getting pelted will get their blowback, so you have to work your way to the front to get “clean.” This can take a while.

Once you’re down being hosed off, claim your bag, get your free beer, shell out for a turkey leg and enjoy the band. You deserve it.

Content Mill Madness

It may be the bottom of the ladder for writers, but it's a start, right? I've begun to write for a content mill, working insanely hard for insanely little money.

I'd like to write two to three articles per hour, and right now, it's more like two to three hours per article, so it's a little frustrating. I'm wondering if I really want to continue down this path.

On the plus side, it's easy to work to pick up and put down, so I can easily work on it part-time, while pursuing more lucrative opportunities. I'm just very, very tired of not making an income.

SEO and Cherry Cheesecake Walnut Muffins

A friend suggested Lynda.com for SEO training; I've signed up and have been plowing through the lessons since. Much of it has been a good refresher, yet I've also learned new tips that will benefit my clients. In some manner, I've been in the Web world for years, and though things change, many of the basics remain. Rather than peeling layers off an onion, I'm adding them on.

When I needed a break, I indulged another passion, which is baking nutritious treats using mostly "Primal" ingredients. I developed a recipe for for cheesecake cherry-walnut muffins. The flour I used is almond, no wheat. The muffins are stuffed full with cherries and walnuts, and lightly sweetened with honey. A blend of cream and marscopone cheeses tops each muffin. Jeff loved them. I think they're a winner, too.

To Live Right, Eat Right

To live right, ya gotta eat right. That's a tough concept for a sugar addict to swallow; I've fought it. And yet, I've gone from just trying to cut out refined food, to eliminating red meat, to being a vegetarian, then going back to fish, after that adding chicken, and then the occasional bison burger, and now being pretty much paleo.

Leading me along these misadventures has been my trusty husband Jeff, who changes diets more frequently than some people change socks.

He's been bent on finding an organic, humane farmer for us to buy meat and poultry from. He's found a great family in the Andersons near Durand, Wisconsin, and he placed an order. Yesterday, we packed up the Fearsome Threesome and headed to the farm for a tour and to pick up the order.

Little chick hatchlings cavort in a outbuilding with fresh wood chips and natural lighting. When they are bigger, they'll be moved outside, where they can continue to move freely in the grass and forage for bugs and worms.

The young cows are pastured, and feast on clover, grasses and dandelions. Whereas corn-finished beef are typically slaughtered at eight months, these will be about 20 months old. Still young, but they will live happy, healthy lives.

We also visited young pigs. The pigs are kept in rotating pasture, where they can root and burrow to their hearts content. They have fresh water, shelter, and plenty of room to run and play. Pigs are smarter than dogs and I still can't bring myself to eat them.

I'm still conflicted about eating animals, yet nature has evolved with a food chain, and humans are usually on top. Because we are human, we have the capacity to assess the affect our livestock raising choices have on those animals. We have the capacity to choose humane methods. Let's make that choice whenever we can.

Slow Day at the Keyboard

Finally, after a week of cold, rainy weather, the rain stopped and the sun shone. The sun was starting to peek out as Jeff and I went to 6:00 a.m. Crossfit, and it was a warm and sunny day. 


I struggled to work on a bio for a writing site though, and struggled to work on an article. The topic is just not doing it for me and I don't think it will generate much interest. I looked outside at the landscaping and it called to me, but I sat and struggled away. 


Finally, I called it quits, took the dogs for a walk, pulled a few ubiquitous weeds and raked leftover dead leaves from last fall. Inhaling the murky, moldering scent of the leaves, I was transported back to last fall --- I should have called it quits far earlier, and enjoyed a rare and lovely spring day. I can write at night, when it's dark. 

(Photo by gracey  http://www.morguefile.com/archive/display/572880)

Writing Ups and Downs

I seem to be distracted by agility Mondays and by Obedience and Rally on Tuesdays, so this past Monday and Tuesday were pretty lame for writing, though I did listen to part of a teleseminar on web writing. Wednesday, just felt so tired for some reason and didn't struggle through to accomplish anything of value.

I was getting worried --- I was so fired up about the writing career last week and it felt pretty flat this week...until today. I buckled down, had that extra cup of coffee and finished an article on protein requirements that required some more challenging research and thought. Got it done and it got published.

http://factoidz.com/understanding-protein-needs-for-older-adults-or-seniors/

Now to knock off the Mexican folk healing article that's been collecting dust for a week!

(Photo by puddleduck - http://morguefile.com/archive/view/display/227976)