Bike the Drive Part 2

PHOTOS! :)

Field Museum, just starting out

Sunrise



So Pretty

Shedd Aquarium



Southbound Route

Yes, my shirt is HiLighter Yellow

SouthSide Rest Stop, didn't realize I got banana guy in the photo! Haha

The City



Navy Pier

Leaving the Festival

Ahhh I love Air Conditioning!

Bike the Drive Part 1

4:50 a.m. - My alarm goes off. What jackass set my alarm for this early!? I'm going back to bed. Oh, wait... I did... crap. I drag myself out of bed and get ready for my day. I wear my tri shorts and my nice moisture wicking top and head out the door.

5:20 a.m. (roughly) - CRAP! I forgot my water bottle! I turn around and go back home and grab it. It would have been a long morning without it.

5:45 a.m. - I find myself at the Orange Line. Did you know there is basically no one on the road at 5:30 in the morning on a Sunday? I try and shake off how creepy the parking lot is. There's one other car and a load of empty beer containers. I suck it up and drag my bike out of the car, load up my saddle bag (the little bag that is strapped under my seat) and pay for parking. Thankfully there's a elevator at the Pulaski stop and I happily ride up to the platform.

6:15 a.m. - I get off at the Harold Washington Library stop and realize that there isn't a elevator here. Damn. I pull up my bike and jog down the very narrow stairs hoping the momentum of the bike down the stairs doesn't catch me off balance. I have this vivid flash of me lying in a heap at the bottom of the stairs as the other bikers from the train walk over me. I get down the stairs no problem though and I start to walk the 3 blocks to Lake Shore Drive.

6:25 a.m. - I ask a nice volunteer to put on my wristband. She looks flustered that someone actually asked her for help. She puts it on a bit too tight but I thank her anyway and make my way towards the Start/Finish which is at Columbus and Jackson. I had a small powerbar and half an Amp on my way so I bypass the table of breakfasty stuff and hop on my bike. You have the option of doing the North loop or the South loop. I choose the South loop because the turn around is the Museum of Science and Industry and I love it there.

I get an amazing view of the lake as the sun rises and I feel like I could bike forever. The weather is warm but the breeze off the lake is wonderful, plus it's overcast so it's bright but not blindingly so. Plus I'm wearing my sweet Ironman sunglasses Kait got me. I pass The Field Museum, McCormick Place, Soldier Field. I'm feeling great and pretty soon I see volunteers holding signs saying the turnaround is 1 mile away. Hell yeah! I'm almost at the turnaround!

7:00 a.m. I stop in front of the museum and grab a banana and fill my water bottle. I take 5 minutes and enjoy the idea that I am refueling my body for the ride back to the start finish. There are so many people it's just crazy but the good kind. I find myself smiling constantly. I feel good and strong and I head out. I biked 7.5 miles in 35 minutes. Not bad for a leisurely pace... not quite 5 minutes a mile.

As I head back to the start/finish I start to get serious jersey envy. Some people are wearing their Bike the Drive shirts but many people are wearing colorful bike jerseys. Some are supporting their cycle club, tri club, charitable foundation. Others are wearing what I can only assume to be their favorites. I saw a South Park one, an Incredible Hulk, a Cookie Monster, and a bunch of Tour de France ones. I also was passed by a couple guys on hand bikes. The coolest thing I saw was an EliptiGo, which is basically a moving elliptical. The woman looked like she was having a blast on it too.

7:40 a.m. - I'm back at the Start/Finish. Hell yeah. I biked 15 miles in 70 minutes. I'm surprised at how consistent my pace was. At this point I'm not that tired so instead of stopping I ride past the optional rest area and find myself immediately confronted with the Link Bridge over the Chicago River. It's a nice lone uphill push and I find I'm a bit weary as I speed down the other side. Damn, maybe I should have stopped. I take my time going North because there are a bunch of hills and a serious lack of shade. The view of the lake is amazing and fortifies me as a pass the optional 4 mile turnaround and barrel on towards the North side rest stop at Hollywood.

8:30 a.m. - I make it to the North side rest stop and I realize I'm pretty tired and it's a small hill filled, sunny 7.5 mile ride back to the festival. Crap. I grab another banana and a small Clif bar and fill my water bottle twice. I take almost 20 minutes to gather up my courage for the ride back to the start/finish. My pace slowed as it took me almost 50 minutes to ride the 3rd 7.5 mile distance so it took me about 7 minutes a mile. I was a little disappointed but it's not a race and I remind myself I've just biked 22.5 miles and I need to give myself a bit more credit.

8:50 a.m. - I gather up what's left of my energy and hope the banana and Clif bar
 will give me the energy to make the next 7.5 miles. As my pace slows I'm getting pretty tired, but I notice the other riders around me and realize there are a lot of families doing the ride. I see a dad and his daughter riding along and she's on half a little bike attached to the back of his, kind of like a tiny version of a tandem bike. We are going up the first little hill and he calls to her, "Come on little motor pump those legs! We got this!" It was just about the damn cutest thing I've seen.

It gets to be about 20 after nine and I start to consider how hot it's getting and how slow I feel like I've become. The muscles above my knees (which I have never really considered before) start to cramp up and for the first time I hop off my bike and walk up an upcoming incline. I stretch out my legs and grab some water before hopping back on my bike for the decline. I have to get off my bike and walk up once more before I am finally back to the Link Bridge. There's no damn way I'm biking up that so I hop off and enjoy the feeling of my muscles stretching out. Almost there. The start/finish is just past the bridge and I feel a renewed sense of purpose and pedal my ass off back to the festival.

9:45 a.m. - I make it to the festival. It took me 55 minutes to finish the last 7.5 miles. I'm honestly surprised. With the walking I was sure it was gonna take me well over an hour to finish. I am happily exhausted as I search for water. There were a lot of booths and people handing out free stuff and I made a very slow lap around but I didn't have the energy to push through loads of people. I found the water and make the slow trudge back to the train.

I realize walking down the stairs with the bike was so much easier then walking up, after a 30 mile ride. I finally get into the air conditioned train car around 10:15 and I think I stopped sweating right around the Kedzie stop on the Orange Line only to have to go back into the heat to get to my car. I set the A/C on blast and considered how to get my bike back into the car. My arms are basically useless, but it takes me long enough that by the time a drop into the drivers seat the air is freezing. I love it. I finally get home around 11a.m. and I feel overwhelmed. I JUST BIKED THIRTY FREAKING MILES TODAY! It was amazing and empowering and I can't wait til next year. Maybe every couple weekends I'll drag my bike up north and ride the Lakefront Trail. For now, it'll be a few days before I get back on the bike. I'm surprised that the only part of me that's really sore is where I met the bike seat. All and all, it was a great experience.

Wearing Underwear (and other things I've been doing wrong)

I haven't been believing in myself or giving myself credit for working toward completing a sprint triathlon. (HELL YEAH I'M TRAINING FOR A SPRINT TRIATHLON BITCHES!) But you all know this and I'm trying to be better. Now I need to try and be better at a whole bunch more things.

1. I thought that because I was a big girl and I was hoping to lose some weight before the race, I didn't deserve nice training clothing. I have plenty of t-shirts and load of shorts so I had been biking and waddling in regular gym shorts and plain old cotton t-shirts. I went to REI and finally broke down and bought an insanely (at least to me) expensive pair of tri shorts. Holy damn are they the most comfortable things I own now. I also bought an equally expensive moisture wicking top and its like working out with cool clouds floating around me.

2. On top of not wearing the right clothing I was not lubing up properly. There's this anti-chafe stuff called Body Glide. To anyone who's thighs spend more time together than apart (in fact there's a whole nother lube for that sort of thing), it's called chub rub. Of course now that I am wearing my wondrous new shorts they don't even budge and they don't ride up. They keep everything where it's supposed to be which reduces the risk of chafe considerably, but I did get some just in case. It was only a couple bucks and I've heard that if your jogging in the heat in a t-shirt, the sleeves can rub uncomfortably on your inner arm. We will see.

3. I did a bit of searching because I find myself really uncomfortable on my 10 mile + bike rides. Part of this was my incorrect active wear, the other was a wrongly positioned saddle. Not to gross anyone out but the angle of my bike seat was crooked and I guess I ended up riding more on my lady business then on my posterior. WRONG. Also terribly uncomfortable. When biking, use your ass - trust me. For any male readers I may have, God love ya because I couldn't imagine navigating a bike seat with balls. (Haha)

4. Finally, wearing underwear is something you shouldn't be doing. (Unless we are talking bras, but you know how I feel about supporting my girls) Almost all running shorts have underwear built in. Tri shorts and bike shorts are built specifically with padding and non chafey moisture wicking properties that make underwear just one more annoying chafe causing piece of fabric. So, not to be unsavory but I've been ditching the underwear now that I have great activewear.

I'm sorry this post has been mostly about clothes and ways to avoid chafe but as a bigger aspiring triathlete these are almost as important as having a working bike! I had no idea but I guess it's better to learn late rather then never. My workouts are more comfortable now and therefore more enjoyable and more fun. See I'm making progress already! Bike the Drive is Sunday and even though it's supposed to be insanely hot I'm excited. I'll try to stop and take some pictures!

I'm a Penguin!

Lately, I hate to admit my training hasn't been the first thing on my mind. I have been trying to find ways to banish Negative Carrie. She sucks so much and has been a big part of the reason that I feel like I have wasted the first 10 weeks of my training. So I've been trying to focus on feeling better and instilling a bit more confidence in myself. This weekend was really good for that actually.

I found John "The Penguin" Bingham.

 I bought two of his books and found myself overwhelmed by the idea that I never gave myself any credit. I suck at running and it scares me to death and even though I was working hard and trying my best it never mattered to me. Because I wasn't making the progress I thought I "SHOULD" be making I wasn't enjoying myself. Sure I liked the little victories I was making but I wasn't having any fun, not really. So anyway, I bought The Courage to Start and No Need for Speed. At first I thought, "Well this guy is just catering to people and giving them permission to not try hard enough". After reading, I realized this isn't the case. He is encouraging and direct. In the intro he describes himself, "I didn't really run, or even jog. I waddled. I was a Penguin... Yes, I am round. Yes, I am slow. Yes, I run as though my legs are tied together at the knees. But I am running. And that is all that matters."

I had a mini epiphany. Holy shit. I am a penguin! I waddle!  I'm certainly not fast or graceful, but I am trying and I am running and I never gave myself any credit for it. I was moving my considerable weight around and trying to mold myself into a swimmer/cyclist/runner/triathlete.

The other day I was talking to Chris from work and she was telling me how proud she was of me for just signing up the the triathlon and taking it on as a goal. I shrugged it off. I was like "Yeah be proud of me when I finish". Which is a really terrible attitude to have. I've never proudly told anyone that I was training for a triathlon. I thought because it was "just a sprint tri" it was barely worth talking about until I finished. Not anymore. I spent so much time freaking out about my jiggly middle and my slow pace. I worried about not going fast enough and not training hard enough, basically just not being good enough. Was my training plan exactly on point? Was I following it 100%? Was I working out hard enough? Well  NO MORE.

With 14 weeks left, I may be doing the dumbest thing ever. I'm going to follow my own plan. I'm going to try to enjoy every dip in the pool, every bike ride, every penguin like shuffle while increasing my endurance. I'm going to strive for 35-60 minutes a day, with at least one day off (because trying to workout too hard everyday is just setting myself up for failure) and in the last couple weeks I'll pepper in some brick workouts and practice my transitions. I'll look to the triathlon books for inspiration and take a few spin and boot camp classes. I'll work my weight watchers plan and I'll be happy with any loss each week. And if I gain I won't beat myself up, I'll just fix my mistakes and move on. I vow that from now on I am going to enjoy this experience so that when I finish I can look back at how fun it was and how I have changed my life for the better. Hopefully when I finish, I will be able to tell people that I am a triathlete and I can't wait for my next race.

100 days til TRI

BEWARE: Negative Carrie is back.

I haven't been writing because I have nothing to write about. No progress, no victories I want to share, and nothing inspiring to offer.

100 days left. That's nothing. I'm still freaking out. Constantly. Every other second I think about the TRI, at least that's how it seems. I want to write about how confident I am and how awesome training has been and how great I'm gonna do but I would be lying. I want to be more confident and I feel like I'm letting down everyone who had been great enough to support and encourage me. It's not that I don't feel supported or encouraged because believe me I do, I just can't believe in myself. Which sucks.

Kait and I did the Beverly Breast Cancer walk and had a great time. It was fun and laid back and just plain nice to do. It was three miles and walking it was no problem. Of course, I didn't swim a half mile and bike 12 miles before hand so it was easy. I also wasn't running. UGH the running. THE RUNNING! Running is so scary.

I can't even really explain how horrible running feels to me. I can bike for miles. I can swim no problem. But when I stand on the track and step off at anything more then a fast walk I feel every bit of my weight. There is so much of me and it's just so damn embarrassing to feel my gut move, to feel the pressure on my knees and my heels, to feel my heart rate kick into ungodly fast territory. It takes a long time just to talk myself into jogging. It's basically just awful.

Sometimes I wish I had someone doing this TRI with me. I know I have support but it would be nice to be able to talk to someone who is going through this too. Am I the only overweight person stupid enough to try something like training for a sprint triathlon? I want to do all these pre race events so I can be prepared for the tri and I find myself going those alone too. Am I doing too much? Am I not doing enough? I have no idea.

 I got my shirt and helmet sticker for Bike the Drive today and I should be looking forward to how awesome riding down the lakefront is going to be. All I can think about is how I'm going to be doing it alone and how stupid I'm going to look. Kind of like those circus bears that ride those tiny bikes? But I'm doing this whole thing alone so I should just suck it up.

I spent the last 10 weeks wasting my time. I've been trying too much, not doing enough because I was working too hard and got discouraged, then just being negative and lazy. All I want to do is feel like I'm doing something right and I just don't. I have 100 days to turn myself into a triathlete and it just doesn't seem like enough. It's gonna be a rough couple months.

Thinking Positively

This week is 100% better because I've been fortified by the support and love I've experienced. I got two wonderful post cards, and the picture above was the special bit hidden behind a layer of tape on one of them. I taped it to my headboard and I will read it every morning. It's amazing motivation and was exactly what I needed after such a negative week.

I feel like this blog has been kind of boring, but I promise after my final I will have plenty to update about. I have a lot going on in May. I have the Autism Speaks walk, the Beverly Breast Cancer walk, Bike the Drive, and I recently signed up for Ridge Run. Of course, it will be more like Ridge joggy walk, but you know what I mean.

I just found jog.fm which is a website that shows you the beats per minute of songs and how many minutes per mile you can expect to experience if you run (or jog) to the music. I'm pretty excited because I noticed that I don't have to download anything because I have plenty of 10,11, and 12 minute songs. Right now my goal is to keep a 12 minute mile pace when I'm training, which is basically a fast walk, and work up to 10 minutes by Tri time.

I'm looking forward to both walks this weekend and what I know is going to be a better weigh in. I like positive Carrie much better than negative Carrie.

Negative Nancy

This week I was really down. I think that's why there was such a lack of blogging. Which makes no sense because I had such awesome a victory last week, but I found myself tired and lazy and generally pretty negative all week. I missed (just didn't do) two workouts, I slept in way too late which made me feel slow and tired all day, and I know that I didn't push myself as much as I could or should have.

I think it's because I got an email from the Danskin Tri that reminded me of packet pick ups and I realized that I didn't sign up for the Sprint (1/2mi swim, 12mi bike, 3mi run). I signed up for the super sprint which is 1/4mi swim, 10mi bike, and a 2mi run. I was really depressed to find out past me didn't have the confidence to sign up for the full Sprint. I don't even remember choosing the easier race. What the hell past Carrie? I found out that I could switch to the full sprint for a $10 re-registration fee, which I promptly did but the fact that I hadn't in the first place kind of stuck with me. Up until now I was pretty confident that even though I am out of shape and overweight, I could definitely get my shit together and rock the triathlon. Sadly, this week I had a mini break down (tears and all) and for like 2.5 seconds thought:What if I can't do this?  I can't even run. I'm going to look gross in a one piece tri suit. What was I thinking signing up for a freaking triathlon?

I even sabotaged my healthy eating a bit and made some bad food choice this week (Uh, three margaritas? Yeah, great choice dumbass). The worst part was the chips we got for the salsa were kinda stale but I ate them anyway. Hello emotional eating.

So, even though I'm sure my meeting tomorrow won't be so great, I'm going to go. My leader says whenever you want the skip a meeting that's probably when you need one the most and now I realize she's right. I also took a step towards getting back on track and went to boot camp with Kait today. I sweat solidly for the whole hour and afterward I felt so good. We even made good food choices for lunch. I feel a lot better today and I hope that all the negativeness was just a mid-training crisis. I'm actually going to try Hammer Time and Cycle Circuit next week and I'm looking forward to them. Kait and I are also definitely making boot camp Fridays a regular thing. I have my two walks coming up next weekend so I have to get in heavy duty walking mode. I hope this will be a better week, all I can do is take it one day at a time and try to make progress.  Negative Carrie is out, positive Carrie is back in.