Eye of the Tri-ger

[eyeofthetriger]

Ask me how frustrated I am that XTERRA wetsuits fit men up to 6′4″ and 240lbs, but women up to 5′8″ and 165lbs.

Their size guide tells me to use a men’s wetsuit, but my chest and hips exist. The sizing isn’t interchangeable.

[eyeofthetriger]

2014 liv/Giant Mermaid Triathlon Capitola

My first triathlon season is over, long live triathlons!

OTC women getting ready to head down to the water: (L-R) Lulu, Angela, me, Alexis, Katy, and Camille! Photo by Racheal Bailey.

When I signed up for the Oakland Triathlon Festival, I thought it would be my last race of my inaugural season. Nope! I had one last Mermaid triathlon in me. Mermaid triathlons are pretty sweet; they're very positive, encouraging, women-only events. If you're a woman and looking to do a triathlon, I can't recommend finding a Mermaid event enough. The distances are usually a little shorter than a regular triathlon, and the people you'll be racing with are top notch.

I lost most of my training steam after finishing the Oakland Triathlon Festival. One week I didn't train at all - no running, no biking, no strength training, absolutely nothing. Going into this race I knew I wouldn't do as well as OTF, but I was sure going to give it what I had, and have fun.

Saturday afternoon I drove down to Capitola. I didn't want to wake up any earlier than I had to to make the 1.5-2 hour drive down on Sunday morning, so I decided to stay in Capitola for the night.

I ended up at a really shitty motel called The Hitching Post (yeah I don't know why that wasn't a clue). The front desk attendant didn't greet me as I approached the door to his fine establishment. His face went sour and he started shouting at me to leave my bike outside of the lobby. I'd brought my bike in with me because I didn't have a lock and I wasn't going to leave it hanging off the back of my car. The lobby was big and empty, plenty of space to just lean my bike up against a wall while I check in. Nope, not for this guy. I finally left my bike leaning against what probably was the "hitching post", and tried to check in. "See? Your bike is right there it's fine. It's just right there," he repeated over and over again. "I'm not going to agree with you, I just want to get checked in," I responded.

"But see your bike is right there, you can see it, it's ok."

I slid my ID and credit card across the table, not saying anything.

"Will you be keeping your bike in your room?" he asked.

"Uh, yes. Why wouldn't I?"

"There are bike racks across the street at Walgreens."

"I'm not locking up my road bike at a bike rack across the street. I can go find somewhere else to stay. Holiday Inn doesn't give a shit where I keep my bike."

He slid my ID and credit card back to me and mumbled, "enjoy your stay."

I dropped off all of my things and headed down to Whole Foods to pick up my packet. Katy, Alexis, Lulu, Angela and I met up for dinner in Santa Cruz. It'd been so hot that day, we were all hoping it'd be cool for tomorrow's race.

I got back to my beautiful room and set an alarm for 5:00 AM, setting a little time for hitting the snooze button, and time to get there early and calm my race-day nerves.

6:30 AM the next morning I realized I had set an alarm to go off during the week, and I never got that 5:00 AM alarm. Thankfully I had packed everything the night before, so I was on the road down to transition by 7:00 AM.

My wave wouldn't be starting until 8:15 AM so I had a good amount of time to get racked and ready. I found our impromptu OTC rack, and got set up. The atmosphere was excited and a little nervous, but it felt good.

A race organizer started walking through the crowds announcing that the waves had been pushed back by 10 minutes. Boo to not being on time, but yay for extra time. We had to clear out of transition before the Mighty Mermaids (Olympic distance) showed up, so we put our wetsuits on and headed down to the beach for the start.

For a few of us (me included) this was our first ocean swim. We got some much-welcome advice for getting through waves, and headed into the cold, ebbing water to get warmed up and get water in our suits.

The Swim

The horn went sounded and everyone in my Athena, Friends and Family, and 29-and-under wave shot off towards the waves. Swimming in the bay got me used to salt water, but the bay doesn't have the constant ebbing and flowing that the water in Capitola did. It wasn't too cold, and I was able to freestyle the whole swim. I feel like the swim was more than the 600m they advertised, but maybe I just lost time swimming against the current.

One of the coolest sensations was an ocean wave coming in behind me as I reached the shore, and pushing me onto the beach. It felt like the ocean was encouraging me on.

The Bike

The transition from the swim to the bike was gnarly. I regret complaining about the pedestrian bridge during the Oakland Triathlon Festival. For Capitola we had to run through a little part of their town, up some hills, and into the transition area.

I finally found my bike, stripped off the rest of my wetsuit, and got into my road bike shoes. This was my first race using my clipless pedals, and mounting wasn't as scary as I thought it'd be.

The course was beautiful, we sailed along the road next to the beach, and up into the redwoods. It cooled off significantly once we hit the forest, and the roads got pretty gnarly, and uphill. Cruising downhill, you could smell the pine needles and crisp air.

The Run

I unclipped easily and trotted to my station to put on my running shoes and head out the run exit. The run was uphill for the first mile, and I ran/walked up the hill, ran to the aid station at the turn around point, ran down the hill, and across the beach to the finish.

Race Results:

600m swim in 00:25:47 T1 in 00:11:59 11.5mi bike in 00:58:27 T2 in 00:03:57 2.5mi run in 00:34:31 Total time on the course: 02:14:41

My swim went slower than I expected, but this was my first ocean swim so I think dealing with waves and the constant rocking of the ocean, and the sun in my (not so tinted anymore) goggles, played a part. I was calm, I didn't get flustered or scared, so I think it was a good swim. The run was also slower, but uphill for half of the course. I also failed massively by not eating breakfast that morning. I'm usually an eggs girl, but I had nothing to cook with and didn't pick up anything for race morning. I ate a honey stinger before the swim, but it really wasn't enough. I'll need to get used to eating cereal or toast on race mornings so this doesn't happen again. I still had a great time, in a beautiful location, with some wonderful team mates. See you in 2015, Capitola!

[eyeofthetriger]

2014 Oakland Triathlon Festival

The 28 weeks of training I'd done were leading up to this event. I don't think I could have felt more ready even if I had gone out and done the entire course before the race. My parents had flown in from northern Washington, and my aunt and uncle were coming up from Hayward to cheer me on. I was looking forward to doing this race with almost 50 of my team mates.

My alarm went of at 4:00 am, at 4:09 am, and at 4:18 am I got up, pulled on my tri shorts and brand new Oakland Triathlon Club tri top, cooked up an egg and some egg whites, grabbed my new bike and bag-o-gear, and headed out the door.

I wanted to be on the road by 5:00 am, and I was ahead of schedule, which is somewhere I always like to be. I was thankful that this race was so close to home, I figured I'd be set up and ready to go before 6:00 am, and have over an hour to relax and get my mind unscrambled.

By 6:00 am I was racked and set up, taking some time to enjoy the fragrant dog pee smell right next to our team bike racks, and taking some deep breaths - visualizing breathing out the hot, black smoke of insecurity and fear, and breathing in the cool, blue air of calmness and peace (and dog pee). Our racks started filling up with yellow and green, and I was, dare I say it, starting to get excited about this race?

While the event announcer was telling the International sprint distances to start the walk towards the water start, I started the adventure of putting on my wetsuit. I caught up with Lulu and Ravi on the walk over, they were competing in the Duathlon but wanted to check out the swim start. Talking with them on the walk over was really relaxing, and got my head back into the present and away from all of the pot holes I was remembering on the bike course.

I found Priya, Monica, and Cindi at the swim start and nervously discussed something I don't even remember. Priya and I headed down to the dock to get into the water and start warming up. Before I knew it, our gun fired and we were off.

Photo by Ravi Rao

Swimming is the event I struggle with the most, and the event I put most of my focus into during training. My first triathlon I didn't get more than 50 feet in the water before I gave up. This time, though, this time I was determined to give it my all. I'm proud to say that I did. My last two triathlons I've breast stroked or doggy paddled most of the course, this time I was able to free style the entire way. I'd push myself to the next buoy and give myself a few breast strokes as a reward and a quick sighting, then right back into free style. Rounding the first big yellow buoy I heard, "MONIKA! MONIKA!" as I turned my head to breathe and saw my family jumping and cheering for me, I quickly waved and headed right back into my rhythm.

I wasn't too clustered in the swim, I found Priya near the middle and gave her a thumbs up. This was going good, we were ok, we've got this. I slapped someone hard on the chest as I went in for a pull and it ended up being Angie, and after a quick apology we ended up coming out of the water right behind each other.

The swim exit was kind of a cluster; people were yelling to keep horizontal as we approached the volunteers who'd be pulling us from the water, but people were falling and my hands kept touching slimy gross rocks and plant life and I really just wanted to be up and not touching gross things I couldn't see. It seemed like an eternity but I finally felt astroturf under my hands and started standing up. I headed up the gangway to the pedestrian path, caught sight of my family again, and headed towards... dun dun dun... the pedestrian bridge.

In my limited experience, the transition from swim to bike is a short run from the water to the bike racks - but Oakland likes to be different. Our run would include climbing up and over a set of Amtrak railroad lines on a pedestrian bridge. The stairs were narrow, and me and stairs just don't get along. I didn't trust myself wearing flip flops or slip-on shoes for the stairs, so I just went barefoot.

I jogged into transition, stripped off the rest of my wetsuit, got into my running shoes, grabbed my helmet and bike and took off for the ride. When I wake up in the mornings, I open up Spotify and shuffle my list of favorite tracks. This morning the magical sorting algorithm started playing Lou Reed's "Perfect Day".

Cruising up Broadway on my new Cannondale EVO 6, I started my rounds of singing the day's chosen song. "Oh it's a perfect day," weave around a manhole cover, "I'm glad I spent it with yooooou," dodge a pot hole, "Oh such a perfect day, you just keeeeeep me haaaaanging oooooon," try not to take that turn too sharp.

I noticed on the ride that the pros in their aero positions never call out "on your left!", while the regular riders do, and that OTC in general uses the warcry, "GO OTC!" to announce that they're coming up on you. It was a little battery recharge every time I heard it.

The ride was incredible, but I saw some scary stuff like a guy overtaking people by passing them on the right... in a right handed turn. It made me be more aware of my surroundings and who was around me.

Oh it's such a perfect day, I'm glad I spent it with you.

Before I knew it, the bike was over and it was on to the run. I felt good, I jogged off my jello legs on the way to racking my bike. I'd heard rumors that the pedestrian bridge was coming back into play, but I'd read the web site and looked at the race map and we were't going back over that thing. I ran under the assumption that we were going up Oak St. to Lake Merritt and back, and felt good. I heard more "GO OTC!" out on the run course, and saw my friends Roxy and Niraj waiting for me near the lake to dish out high fives and cheers. It was so incredible to see them, I thought my heart would burst.

A man in a sharp tan suit, waiting for the bus on Oak St, asked if I felt good as I ran past him. "Yeah, I feel good!" I replied. "Good to hear baby girl - cause you look good too! Get it!" You just don't get that kind of cheering during races in vineyards.

It's such a perfect day.

Photo by Christina Sobul Grijalva

I walked for less than 3 minutes total during the run, I was sure to count to myself to make sure I didn't walk too much (like I did in my last tri). I felt like I had much more stamina, I was able to jog and recover, and speed back up once I caught my breath. It turned out that the rumors were true and we were headed back up over that pedestrian bridge. Through the parking lot at the Jack London Aquatic Center I paced with a 75 year old man who joked, "this wasn't on the travel brochure!" as we weaved through the cars. It felt like the finish line was a forever ways away, but the crowd kept cheering me on telling me I was so so close. I saw the finish, and I ran as hard as I could. On the other side was my family, hooting and hollering, OTC high fives, and cheers and a big CVL hug.

Just a perfect day, problems all left alone.

My family hung out for a bit, but they'd been up really early too, so after an hour or so they went back to Hayward for a nap. I stuck around for a team photo that was going to happen at some point, and while standing around drinking my free beer and eating my free burrito, I heard my name being called (or mispronounced). What? Why are they calling my name? Are they towing my car?

I placed 3rd in the Athena division for the Sprint race. I stood on the podium, gobsmacked. I don't think I even congratulated the other two winners on the podium with me.

What a day, what a day. I felt like I was floating on a cloud. The surprising thing was that this amazing experience wasn't even over.

The race announcer let us know that the last athlete was coming into the finish chute just now. En masse, everyone wearing an Oakland Triathlon Club jersey rushed to the finish line. We covered the railings, we cheered, clapped, cried, and congratulated the last athlete with her achievement. She did it, and she was wonderful.

You're going to reap just what you sow...

Things wrapped up and I walked back to transition with my team mates to pack up. I collapsed into my car and exhaled. Maybe it was from exhaustion and maybe it was just happiness, but I cried happy tears. I felt so alive, I felt so proud, I felt connected, and so... good. 

I crossed the finish line in 2:06:19

750m swim in 19:53 T1 in 10:27 - I hate stairs 40k (12.45mi in freedom units) bike ride in 52:34 T2 in 2:16 5k (3.1mi) run in 41:09

I trimmed 13 minutes off my previous overall race time (which didn't include a pedestrian bridge), 14 minutes off my previous 750m swim (some of that is thanks to a current behind us), maintained my previous bike time on a very technical and twisty course on a new bike, and maintained my regular 5k race pace after a swim and bike and back over that fucking pedestrian bridge.

I've fought with my body as long as I can remember. For the longest time I've felt like my head was a balloon that just floats over my body. I feel connected to it now, I'm delighted with what it can do, I'm amazed at how strong it feels. I feel so lucky to have had these coaches and team mates that cheer for me and support me, and help me reconnect with... me.

It was a perfect day, and I'm glad I spent it with you (all).

Photo by someone awesome

[eyeofthetriger]

2014 California Sprint Triathlon

First time sporting an OTC kit! +10 to Stamina.

This was the event that I'd been training for; six days a week for 16-weeks. I felt confident that I could complete it since finishing the Liv/Giant Mermaid Triathlon in Alameda a few weeks before, but I knew this race was longer... and hotter.

Having grown up in the Tri Valley, one thing I distinctly remember were the hot, hot, hot, summers. It was the kind of heat where you just laid still and hoped that the sun would set soon so you could go back to feeling like a human being and not like an ant roasting under a magnifying glass. I was going to swim 750 meters, bike 11 miles, and run 3.1 miles in that same heat at Shadow Cliffs in Pleasanton, Ca.

My wave started at 8:04am, but I was up and awake by 6am - I just couldn't sleep anymore. I had packed everything the night before because Morning Monika is only capable of dressing herself and eating breakfast. She communicates via grunts and squints. Her higher motor skills don't turn on about an hour after waking up.

I showered, dressed, ate as much as I could (which was half of what I normally do and probably not enough), loaded up my bike and headed to Pleasanton.

I arrived around 7am, and wheeled my bike over to the OTC team rack in the transition area. I said some quick hello's to my teammates, and started layout out my gear. A not-so-friendly announcer started shouting about clearing out the transition area (which I've found out is a pet peeve of mine - people are stressed, stop making it worse) so I pulled on my wetsuit and met my team captain and team mates by the water for a quick pep talk, and we all slipped into the water to wait for our waves to begin.

The water was warm, so warm that some people weren't wearing wetsuits at all. I opened up my suit, let some water in, and was so distracted by getting water into my suit that I didn't hear my wave starting. I quickly tried to get out to the start buoys once I heard the air-horn blow. I was able to swim freestyle for probably half of the swim course, and breast stroked, back stroked, and side stroked the rest. I wasn't very impressed with myself and how often I wasn't using freestyle, but I just kept moving.

I don't feel comfortable buying photos of myself, but I'll still mug for the camera.

Peeling off my wetsuit, hopping onto my bike, and powering up the hill from the parking lot onto Stanley Blvd, I started my rounds of singing "Eye of the Tiger" out loud for most of the bike course. It's a scientific fact that you can't give up if you're singing a song, especially that song. I felt like I was riding into the wind the entire loop out and back. I was hoping that the headwind I faced going out on Stanley Blvd would be behind me on the way back in, but no dice. I was passed by an 85 year old man on the bike course, and I wasn't even mad. The 54 year old who passed me after that admitted that she wants to think she'll still be doing these at 85. I'm only two sprint triathlons in and I couldn't agree more.

Coming off the bike my legs felt pretty good, they were only a little wobbly after leaving T2. I downed a salted caramel GU (the best flavor ever), some water, and started on the run course. I wish I could say I was proud of my run, but I walked half of that course. It was just so... damn... hot.

I crossed the finish line in 2:19:44

750m Swim in 34:14 11mi Bike in 51:39 3.1mi Run in 47:42

I have to admit that I did feel quite deflated the couple of days following the race. I'm not sure if it was just exhaustion from the heat, or an emotional exhale as the event I'd been working towards with my team was finally over, but it was there and I recognized it, and let it roll through instead of fighting it.

I've learned that I'm one of those people who just never gives themselves credit. Sure, I completed a triathlon, but I could have completed it faster and better if I had really pushed myself and not given up and walked so much of the run course. In an effort to be kind to myself, I'm continuing to ignore that voice in my head and just be a little proud of what I have accomplished.

Next up: Oakland Triathlon Festival on August 31st!

[eyeofthetriger]

2014 Liv/Giant Mermaid Triathlon Alameda

A few people have asked how my triathlon went yesterday, so I figured I'd write something up real quick: I'm calling the Liv/giant Mermaid Triathlon & Duathlon Alameda my first triathlon, because it's the first triathlon I've truly completed. After my failure to do the swim course during the HITS Triathlon Series in Napa, I said I'd get in the open water every weekend between then and my next triathlon, and I did. I did it with the help of Amber, who was with me for every swim, telling me I could do it (and to get out of my headspace and just SWIM). Yesterday morning, at 7:30am, I waded into the calm, warm (yes, you read that right - calm and warm) water of the Bay, confident that I would be ok. I couldn't see the bottom, I couldn't tell how many zombies, sharks, or zombie sharks, were just inches away from eating my dainty toes, and the water was so salty it burned my throat, but I was ok. I had team mates help me get into the water, I had team mates pull me out of the water, cheering me on as we passed on the bike course, down the chute to the finish line, and into the biggest hugs. I completed my 400m swim in 15 minutes. I completed my 12mi bike ride in 52 minutes. I completed my 2.5mi run in 34 minutes. I, me, Monika, the woman who considered a "marathon" to be watching an entire season of Buffy in a day and not get bedsores from not moving off the couch the entire time, completed a sprint triathlon in 1:48 (Buffy's no joke though, you're sitting on that couch for 22 hours, it's legit). I did it because I never thought I could ever do this. I was able to do this because of the amazing group of people at Oakland Triathlon Club who never look at me like I shouldn't be at the track, or the pool, or in the gym with them. They treat me like I belong, like me doing these triathlons is a foregone conclusion. Their support, their training, their coaching, their spirit, helped me get here. I am proud of myself, for putting in the time, for not squandering this gift, and turning it into this accomplishment. I'm incredibly thankful for where I'm at; for all the people who have donated their smiles, their time, their words of encouragement and wisdom, and their high-fives. I've got two more triathlons to go, and I'm excited to see how I do and how much improvement I'll make, and I'm so happy to be doing it all with my amazing team mates in OTC.

[eyeofthetriger]

2014 HITS Series Triathlon Napa

I haven't posted, or spoken to many people, about my experience last Sunday doing my first triathlon because, frankly, I felt embarrassed. I've been training for a month and a half now, but that open water swim scared the shit out of me. I wasn't able to do it; I got my wetsuit on, I stood in water, the announcer released our wave, and my brain just... shut down. I dove in, I couldn't get into my usual rhythm, I couldn't catch my breath, my feet couldn't touch the bottom, and my reptile brain took over. My regular brain knows I can't drown in a wetsuit, but my reptile brain knew I was going to die. I swam back to shore, and a friendly race official helped me find out what to do next. I waited until the last swimmer came in (she was amazing and I felt like a chump), moved into transition area, and completed the bike + run, which felt good. Every weekend until my first race in June, I'll be at some lake or another, in my wetsuit, sticking my face in the water and splashing around until I can keep my shit together in open water. Anyone's welcome to join and sunbathe on the beach, or splash around with me. Big congrats and thanks to Amber (who set all of this up in the first place and got me started down this road), Bob (who drove, and placed 6th in his age division on his first race), Karrie (who rocked the fuck out of a gold mountain bike during her ride) and Bobby!