Looking forward to the 'off' season

If you read my previous blog entry, you know that I was freaking out a little about not swim-bike-running, while everyone else was insisting I needed a rest. I ran a (comparatively) great half marathon at Pumpkinman (see race report at http://blog.bostontriathlonteam.com/2010/09/pumpkinman-2010.html), and was bummed that I wouldn't be running in the fall, which is my favorite season to run. Well, it took a little while, and one cold ocean, but I came around!

Last weekend I raced Lobsterman in Freeport, Maine. I don't love olympic races - the 10K is my least favorite road race distance, and putting a 1.5K swim and 40K hilly bike in front of it does not make it more appealing. But I wanted to do Lobsterman because I'd heard it's a great race, and it is very close to my parents, whom I rarely get to see, even though they only live 3 hours away, so my mother was going to come down adn watch me race for the first time. I have been wanting to get her to a race, so she could see how great of an atmosphere it is, and what I'm actually doing all the time, since she does not understand it at all. She tells me before each race to 'have a good marathon'. I love that she tries to be supportive though! [BTW, she had a blast, and said that all my friends/teammates were super nice, and that even the spectators were really friendly. So she understands a little better now why I love it.]

Since I don't have a car, and I wanted to get there for packet pick-up on Friday night, and in time to have dinner with my mom, I decided to take the bus from South Station to Portland, and take the bus back on Monday from Damariscotta. Since I work around the corner from South Station, I could go straight to work. I am writing this now from the bus on Monday, and my back no longer thinks this was a good idea :)

Since I needed tri gear, plus clothes through Monday, I ended up with 2 full bags. My transition bag full of gear, and my duffle full of clothes (lots of layers!). Plus my laptop and other electronics to occupy myself, snazzy new aerohelmet (an impulse cheer-me-up buy on Thursday) in its rather large case, and my bike pump, since I wasn't sure I'd run into anyone before the race on Saturday. After carting all of this on the Red Line to work, picking up my bike, which I had brought to work the day before, I trudged off to South Station. [After all this, THANK YOU Lauren for taking my bike back from the race - I never want to do this again if I don't have to!]

Race day comes, and I am shivering uncontrollably before it even starts. I am wearing a sweatshirt and thermal jacket, and just cannot warm up, even though it's probably in the high 50s, not exactly freezing. This does not bode well for a 61 degree swim though. When I stood up to get out of the water after a surprisingly decent swim, my body simply did not want to move. My legs felt like lead, and I actually had trouble moving myself forward. I don't know if I sweat the rest of the day, I just couldn't warm up, and my HR was super high. I made it through the race, but I think I only finished because I couldn't have my first DNF with my mother watching!!

I realized that not only was I cold, I was tired, and honestly, a little bored. The last week I've been looking at what other things I could do if I wasn't going to be 'allowed' to swim-bike-run, and I am starting to get excited about them. When I was first trying to lose my weight, one of the things I really loved was kickboxing (cardio kickboxing, not with a bag or people, although I'd love to try it). But I haven't done it in almost 2 years. Because of my shoulder problems, I had let that and yoga go.

I knew I had a lot of exercise videos that I used to enjoy as well (76!!! clearly I collected them when I was in Seattle) and there are classes that sound fun at the BSC. This Saturday I'm going to go to a cyclocross clinic at Belmont Wheelworks (anyone want to join me?). Hopefully I won't hurt myself, since I'm such a total klutz! Then Sunday I am going to race my final triathlon of the season - Buzzard's Bay sprint. I'm hoping to have a solid day to go out on a positive note and have something to build on for next year.

But I am really looking forward to the non-triathlon season. I wonder what else there is out there...