Yesterday, I ate like a pig. Not in an oink, oink I pigged out sense. More like, I ate all the JUNK that was put in front of me. Pigs just eat the junk that is dumped in front of them. So I oinked the most disgusting meal I've had in awhile. Talk about feeling horrible afterwards (especially since I obviously lost control of my self-control!). My temporary pig-existance included: 3 fruit popsicles, 1 ENTIRE large bag of Ruffles Cheddar and Sour Cream chips, 2 carnitas enchiladas slothered in sour cream, an ENTIRE JAR OF OLIVES. Yep, that is all I ate yesterday. No fruits or veggies. What about my usual smoothie? I think I drank 1/3 of it, and left the rest to rot under the sun.
SIGH. Blame it on the pregnancy? Perhaps. But that is still no excuse to treat my body and baby to unecessary fat, cholesterol and sodium content. I should know better.
And, did I workout after that? Nope. Spent 4 hours laying on the couch watching Friends reruns and some bridal reality show. Dangit, I blame my addiction to wedding gown fascination.
So, in order to make up for being a JUNK and SLOTH, I knew I had to get in a GOOD workout today.
My Workout Log:
Treadmill Run: 6.5k @ 6:30 min/km (9kph) in 45min, 7k total ~ 50min.
Swim: 1k free, 300m breast ~ 25min.
Notes: I had my water bottle with me, and took regular sips throughout the run. Felt pretty strong until the 5k mark, then walked for 2 min, and finished at 6.5k, cool down 500m. I felt a slight ache in my stomach after the run, so I walked around the gym to feel it out, until I realized it was gas stuck in my belly, probalby from breathing so hard. I burped a few times, and felt better afterwards. The swim was a fast 1k, holding a fast arm changeover with less kicking since I wanted to focus on upper body toning. Then cooled down w breastroke. I took a long hot shower to relax the muscles afterwards.
While I was running, I talked to baby: "We're doing a treadmill run in the gym today. Sorry for all the weird smells around me. Just relax and enjoy the run. Mommy's going to be breathing hard, but it's ok. Be good, don't worry, it's just exercise. Haha."
Food:
Breakfast: Ate leftover chicken enchiladas (yes that is correct. I am on a mexican roll right now) + grapefruit.
Lunch: steamed veggies, 1 egg, 2 braised tofu and 2 lg pc of boiled seaweed.
Snack: Banana
Dinner: Grilled Chicken Cob Salad w fresh squeezed grapefruit juice
So far, so good. Hopefully I burned about 700 calories with a 75min workout, and got to loosen some of that cholesterol buildup in my arteries.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
March 27 Journal 13/14 weeks: A peek into how I deal with morning sicknes at work.
WARNING: 35% of this post will be about my bowel movements in pregnancy. If you are weak at heart, skip it.
Today, the weather is beautiful. It's 9:30AM. Sunny, bright, clear skies....slight breeze, mild heat, and even a fluffy white cloud or two. This is the rare day in Taipei where we are not slammed in humidity but it's not overcast and the sky is ALMOST a nice shade of blue. These are the days, when I am reminded of beautiful Cali weather. Oh, the weather and skies in California...How I miss them so at times. I digress. But here I am, sitting at the office, in my cubicle, with the window opened...and feeling like POOH - CRAP. New word.
Today, the weather is beautiful. It's 9:30AM. Sunny, bright, clear skies....slight breeze, mild heat, and even a fluffy white cloud or two. This is the rare day in Taipei where we are not slammed in humidity but it's not overcast and the sky is ALMOST a nice shade of blue. These are the days, when I am reminded of beautiful Cali weather. Oh, the weather and skies in California...How I miss them so at times. I digress. But here I am, sitting at the office, in my cubicle, with the window opened...and feeling like POOH - CRAP. New word.
I don't know why... but right now, I feel nauseous, tight, uncomfortable... like I am going through hot flashes. Is this what menopause is like? Oh wait, this is Pregnancy. But I am fanning myself with an old xmas card..and pushing everything on my desk away from me, like a flattened radius of a detonated bomb. My chinese breakfast do jiang (soy milk) doesn't taste right, and after taking a bite of dan bing (fried egg with chinese tortilla), I wanted to gag. I think I'm going to move them to another cubicle..the oily smell is causing my stomach to turn. I am still fanning myself. Granted, it's a warm day outside, but usually inside the office, the temp is regulated. However, I just feel really off balance. My jeans are tight. dangit..why did I wear my normal jeans today?? I should have stuck to tights.
Trying to figure out what's up. I woke up this morning feel fine - tired as usual, from getting up about 3x to pee, but that is getting to be a very normal routine. I can't remember the last time I slept with a full night's sleep. I really miss those days. :)
This morning, did the usual routine, except I didn't have time for my morning go in the bathroom (number 2) before leaving the house. Just didn't feel any bowel movement yet, but I knew it was coming sooner or later. :) Made the delicious breakfast shake - 3 kiwis, banana, cranberries, blueberries, cranberry juice, 1 scoop of flax seed powder and 2 scoops of wheat grass powder. Took the prenatal vitamines, grabbed my bag & keys, and out the door to drive to work. Halfway downstairs, I realized I had to go. I felt the movement! But I didn't have enough time, so I thought I would just go at the office.
One of the things I've been experiencing this year, exacerbated by pregnancy, is the URGENT need to pee or poop at a certain moment. It's crazy. I feel like a child again. I can NOT hold my bladder anymore. If I have to go, I HAVE TO GO. I have probably a 5-7 minute window before it becomes painfully necessary. I cannot hold it in, like old times...where I could almost hold it in for half a day! I have had a few serious moments where I thought I wouldnt make it to the bathroom. Remember the Taipei Expressway Race? I couldn't find parking by the riverside so drove home as fast as I could - and ran inside McDonalds for my morning go. At the Fulong LAVA 51.5 Tri this past weekend, right when we arrived, my bowels decided to move, and I also had about 5 minutes to find a bathroom before everything started hurting - BAD. I really hope Jens doesn't think I'm crazy - or at least has some understanding that I, no longer have control over my bowels. My bowels have udder control over me. Har har.
So, back to current reality. Once at the office, I go to the bathroom. Relief! I come back and realize, that my stomach feels emtpy. REALLY emtpy, like a hollow gaping black hole. I've gotten that feeling quite often, after the morning go. It feels good to get rid of everything piled up from the day before, but usually that empty feeling leaves me a bit light headed. I just have to drink some juice or eat something to get my stomach to feel better. So I thought my morning fruit shake would do the job. But not really. Then I thought the soy milk would. Nopes. Then tried a bite of the dan bing..and practically spit it out. UGHHHH. too oily. I still feel empty and lightheaded...but I have no plain bread.around me. Darn it! So here I am, sitting at my desk and trying to devise ways of feeling more at ease. I sip on my hot water.
A thought comes to my mind: My jeans are too tight! I had picked out my "loose" Citizens this AM, which have now become overtly tight. It's not totally uncomfortable, but it's not like wearing PJs either. Ughh...the tummy isn't happy..I need to do something ASAP. I look around..and decide, what the heck. I am in my own corner of the office, no one can see past my head. I'm going to take my pants off! I have a towel from the gym, which I will just cover myself from waist down, and I'll sit really closely to the desk. NO ONE WILL EVER KNOW.
FREEDOM!!!!!!!!!!!! So here I am. I cannot I believe I just did this...and I can't believe I'm recording it down. Well, pregnancy makes you do weird things, right?? At least - I'm feeling a bit better, because there is nothing tight and restricting around my waist, thighs and butt. Definitely getting air down there. My jeans are rolled down at my ankles. I don't think I'm going to take them off completely, in case I need to quickly pull them up. But for now...AHHHHH. I'm actually feeling better because I feel like my whole body is getting cooled down. The stomach is still questionable..headache on the horizon...and now I'm asking myself.... Should I sneak out of work and drive home? At least my legs are pant-free.
I am still fanning myself.
** At 13/14 weeks, I thought I should be OVER this morning sickness crap. But I guess not. Found this blog entry and I feel kinda better. Not at her misery but at least I know I'm not alone..
fanning myself with a pink xmas card
took off my jeans at work, under the cubicle. that's a first!
my cubicle desk. pushed everything far away from me, so I wouldn't have to smell anything
Sunday, March 25, 2012
March 25: 13 Weeks: Triathlon and Pregnancy CAN Co-Exist!
This weekend was the LAVA 51.5 Triathlon at Fulong Beach, coast of Northeast Taipei.
Mind you - not in the competitive sense. I've known since before conceiving, through researching Kara Groucher's pregnancy blog (U.S. Olympic runner and marathoner) and tons more - that there is no way I can stay competitive during pregnancy. BUT staying in shape, maintaining exercise, health, nutrition, and continuing to do the things you love, is absolutely fine, if not necessary to maintaining a healthy, balanced pregnancy journey and preparation for labor. I will have to write another post on my thoughts and research in Exercise and Pregnancy.
So with this triathlon, I wanted to go out there, and prove to myself & baby, and all the conservative preggo comments I've been receiving: That we (me & baby) are absolutely capable of completing a triathlon within the safe limitations of pregnancy requirements. Main risk factors are internal overheating, dehydration, internal trauma. Jens & I had already decided that I would stop biking outdoors for the remainder of my pregnancy. Fine...but that doesn't mean I stop swimming or running.
Here is Race Day recap:
We woke up early, around 4am to prep for race. I made our breakfast: fresh fruit smoothie and heated organic muesli with soy milk. Hannah was with us; she was doing the full course. We made our way to carpool with Tim's group - and it was off to Fulong.
We got there with plenty of time to spare. T1 and T2 were in separate locations, so Jens had to prep his running gear at T2 while I setup the swim / bike at T1. The air was cold and frigid, even though the sun was shining. We knew it was going to be a really nice day as soon as the sun warmed up - but at 6:30AM, everyone was still shivering in sweat pants and jackets. We heard the water was going to be VERY cold...but I wasn't too worried. I had my Blue Seventy wetsuit, and it's always done a good job keeping me insulated.
As I got my stuff together...I held an internal debate. Where should I start swimming? Front? Back? Side of the pack? Should I start with a strong kick? Or start slow and warm up? I know that I am a strong swimmer when compared to the average Taiwanese swimmer (I would be an average swimmer by American masters class standards, but Taiwanese triathletes are typically very weak at swimming....for now.)
At 7:45, Jens and I split up at T1 so we could tag each other at transition. We kissed, hugged, and Jens said a quick prayer over bambino. Tim and I walked to the beach, and went in for a warm up swim. WHEWWWW!!! It WAS freaking cold. Ice prickly cold. Luckily my suit gave me time to adjust, as the cold water slowly seeped inside my suit, but allowing my core temperature to stay warm. Everyone around me was gasping and moaning (most outbursts from the taiwanese newbies. All the experienced ones just quietly took in the scene and mentally prepared for the race.) - especially the ones who had no wetsuit. Some just wore swim trunks. Oh my..they were going to suffer. (Later on, I saw about 10-15 swimmers taken in by rescue teams, suffering from hypothermia and muscle cramps.) I too, took in the scene.
There were about 400+ racers (or so I was told). I figured, about 40% were serious well seasoned triathletes, another 30% were semi-serious triathletes, and the rest were newbies. I did a mental calculation: I would probably land in the top 30% swimmers category - NORMALLY. But NOW, I wasn't sure if my pregnancy would slow me down. And, with 200 amateur swimmers, more risk factors, I knew I wanted to play it safe with our bambino.
Where should I swim???? I kept debating this as I walked up and down the beach front. I didn't want to race in the front pack, with the fast boys, but I didn't want to get caught up in the massive frenzy start. My biggest fear was to get kicked in the belly by the breaststrokers. And there is ALWAYS a ton of breastrokers at these races. UGH! So finally - I decided to swim at an angle, starting from the far end, outside of the pack, while cutting through to the line. Hopefully it would mean less frenzied swimmers/breastrokers and a faster entry to the swim line course.
The gun went off. BAM!!! Everyone ran in. And that's when I hesitated. I had planned to rush in the front with the seasoned triathletes, to get ahread of the crowd, but seeing the froth, waves, legs, arms, heads and splashes ahead of me, I could only picture myself getting kicked in the belly. I just didn't want to take the risk. So I waited another minute until the area cleared around me. OK, good to go. I jumped in, and spotted Bill Farrell just ahead of me. I put my head down and followed his legs. He was swimming through the breastrokers, but I still didn't want to risk getting kicked. So with resignation, I swam far far far out to the side of the group until I hit a clearing, then started along the swim course line. I was pretty far away from the swim line, and I knew that I had wasted probably 300m just circling the outter pack. Oh well, I thought. This isn't a competition...it's about finishing well. :)
So I swam on. MAN THE WATER IS COLD! I was breathing every stroke since my lungs were burning from the cold water. I felt my hands numbing but knew that it was only a matter of time before my body heated up and would adjust to the water. So I kept swimming, stroke after stroke. After a few minutres, I decided I had enough with the erratic breathing tempo, and starting working on breathing every 3 strokes. Relax, I told myself. This is just another swim at the pool. La-da-da-ta-da. Except, the water was murky and I couldn't see past an arms length. And it's freakin' cold!!!
I swam on. It only got better from there. My body relaxed, my tempo became normal, and I started to focus on technique, kicking and sighting. I started to see who was swimming around me - and noticed that I landed in a pack of foreign guys that had been standing in front of me at the swim start. Hmmmm, I thought you looked fast. I guess not! Ha ha. I decided to follow them so I had less work to sight. Except one dude kept bumping into me. Forget it..I'm passing you. So I kicked it harder and passed them, then was swimming on my own again. I kept to the far left of the line, away from all other swimmers. I was on my own. Swimming...stroke, stroke, breath...enjoying this quiet time - just me, bambino, the cold water, the air, and the sound of my breath and thoughts.
I began to pass people, and I knew that I was swimming well because I was relaxed. My body had fully adjusted to the water temperature, and I realized that I was even slightly on the warm side. In my mind, I talked to bambino. I told baby not to worry, mommy is doing a triathlon today, so we are going to work a little hard but not too hard. This is open water swimming! Doesn't it feel great? I told baby, we are having fun, this is your first triathlon! Just relax, enjoy the race, and see how it feels.
Before hitting the beach, I realized that I was thirsty. My mouth was dry from breathing hard and I needed to hydrate. So I began thinking of what I could do, to get some water before swimming the 2nd round. I decided that I would have to run up to any stranger and ask them for a sip from a water bottle. At this point I didn't really care about formalities. I didn't want to dehydrate - that is one of the most dangerous factors for a fetus. So once I hit the beach, I scanned the crowd and found a water bottle sitting on a table. I ran there, asked to drink from it and got 3 delicious cold gulps of water. Yes! On my way again to the 2nd round of swimming.
I jumped in the water, and starting swimming hard. Yep, this time, my whole body was warmed up, and I decided to increase my pace. I had taken it VERY easy the first round, so I wanted to push a little more on the 2nd round. Just a LITTLE more. I found the same pack of foreign guys again, and realized they were also swimming faster, just around my pace. So we stayed almost eye to eye, making it really easy for me to sight. Yay! The 2nd round went by so fast, I was surprised to see the beach coming up to me again. Wow that seemed like a few short minutes!! I ran onto the beach, and headed for the bridge. My breath felt good, everything felt good! I ran harder, spotted Jens at the transition area, and smiled. YESSS!!!! I DID IT!!!!!
At transition area, we kissed, I was all smiles and happily told him the swim was great. He took off the my timing chip, strapped it onto his ankle...and off he went to KILL IT on bike. Did I mention, Jens is an amazing cyclist?
While waiting for Jens to come back on the bike, I cheered on many fellow triathletes coming in AFTER me on the swim. And that's when I realized...woah! I came in before Tim, Hsu Wei, Nobu and a bunch of other well trained taiwanese triathletes!!! NO WAY! Well, they only came in SECONDS / MINUTES after me, but still. Every second counts in a race, and the fact is, I came out of the water before they all did. Na-na-na-naaa-naaaa!
Just knowing that gave me an extra boost in confidence. Despite my added weight and "condition", I could still pull through in the swim. 34:11. That really did feel good.
At T2, I waited for Jens to come in on the bike. 1:23, not bad for a 4month break!! The weather was great. Sunny but breezy. We drank electrolyte water, switched into running gears, and took off. Technically speaking, I was not officially a part of the run portion, since we're a relay team. But we wanted to run together anyways. Off we went.
The run course was 2x out and back. It was fairly easy, rolling hills and mixed shade. We started out slow, since running has always been my weakest. I had to catch my breath a couple of times and intially my heart rate spiked to 177bpm. At that point, we walked until it went down again. Then we kept a 6:30/7:00 min/km pace the rest of the way. Jens and I talked about the race, shared funny observations, and joked about the triathlon outfits we saw. We were having a great time, and got many cheers from fellow racers. At one point, we passed Tim on the way back. We were still ahead! I realized that if I went any slower, he would catch up. And thats when the competitor in me said...OK time to push it up a notch! I wanted to beat Tim. He he he!! I love Tim of course, but heck, it's still a triathlon RACE! So we picked it up and pushed a bit harder. By the 5k mark, I had warmed up and maintained a 170bpm. So we kept running and focused on finishing well. Jens was with me, and that's all that mattered to me. Seeing him run by my side is one of the most special memories I will cherish with my husband. We looked at each other and smiled. Dangit, we were really having a great time!!!! Rounded the final stretch and hit the run chute.... CHEERS!!! We did it!!!!! 2:52:38 with a (slow) 55min run. The distance ened up being about 9k, instead 10. Oh well... WE STILL DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And.....We even won 3rd place as the Relay Team. Our bambino's first triathlon and win. Not bad for a 13.5 week pregnancy.
Jens and I joined as a Relay Team Huelsermann: Emily swim 1.5k. Jens bike 40k. Jenmily runs 10k.
I am also 13.5 weeks pregnant. Thus, today ....is our bambino's first triathlon debut!!!! I intended to kick butt as a pregnant triathlete.
So with this triathlon, I wanted to go out there, and prove to myself & baby, and all the conservative preggo comments I've been receiving: That we (me & baby) are absolutely capable of completing a triathlon within the safe limitations of pregnancy requirements. Main risk factors are internal overheating, dehydration, internal trauma. Jens & I had already decided that I would stop biking outdoors for the remainder of my pregnancy. Fine...but that doesn't mean I stop swimming or running.
Here is Race Day recap:
We woke up early, around 4am to prep for race. I made our breakfast: fresh fruit smoothie and heated organic muesli with soy milk. Hannah was with us; she was doing the full course. We made our way to carpool with Tim's group - and it was off to Fulong.
We got there with plenty of time to spare. T1 and T2 were in separate locations, so Jens had to prep his running gear at T2 while I setup the swim / bike at T1. The air was cold and frigid, even though the sun was shining. We knew it was going to be a really nice day as soon as the sun warmed up - but at 6:30AM, everyone was still shivering in sweat pants and jackets. We heard the water was going to be VERY cold...but I wasn't too worried. I had my Blue Seventy wetsuit, and it's always done a good job keeping me insulated.
As I got my stuff together...I held an internal debate. Where should I start swimming? Front? Back? Side of the pack? Should I start with a strong kick? Or start slow and warm up? I know that I am a strong swimmer when compared to the average Taiwanese swimmer (I would be an average swimmer by American masters class standards, but Taiwanese triathletes are typically very weak at swimming....for now.)
At 7:45, Jens and I split up at T1 so we could tag each other at transition. We kissed, hugged, and Jens said a quick prayer over bambino. Tim and I walked to the beach, and went in for a warm up swim. WHEWWWW!!! It WAS freaking cold. Ice prickly cold. Luckily my suit gave me time to adjust, as the cold water slowly seeped inside my suit, but allowing my core temperature to stay warm. Everyone around me was gasping and moaning (most outbursts from the taiwanese newbies. All the experienced ones just quietly took in the scene and mentally prepared for the race.) - especially the ones who had no wetsuit. Some just wore swim trunks. Oh my..they were going to suffer. (Later on, I saw about 10-15 swimmers taken in by rescue teams, suffering from hypothermia and muscle cramps.) I too, took in the scene.
There were about 400+ racers (or so I was told). I figured, about 40% were serious well seasoned triathletes, another 30% were semi-serious triathletes, and the rest were newbies. I did a mental calculation: I would probably land in the top 30% swimmers category - NORMALLY. But NOW, I wasn't sure if my pregnancy would slow me down. And, with 200 amateur swimmers, more risk factors, I knew I wanted to play it safe with our bambino.
Where should I swim???? I kept debating this as I walked up and down the beach front. I didn't want to race in the front pack, with the fast boys, but I didn't want to get caught up in the massive frenzy start. My biggest fear was to get kicked in the belly by the breaststrokers. And there is ALWAYS a ton of breastrokers at these races. UGH! So finally - I decided to swim at an angle, starting from the far end, outside of the pack, while cutting through to the line. Hopefully it would mean less frenzied swimmers/breastrokers and a faster entry to the swim line course.
The gun went off. BAM!!! Everyone ran in. And that's when I hesitated. I had planned to rush in the front with the seasoned triathletes, to get ahread of the crowd, but seeing the froth, waves, legs, arms, heads and splashes ahead of me, I could only picture myself getting kicked in the belly. I just didn't want to take the risk. So I waited another minute until the area cleared around me. OK, good to go. I jumped in, and spotted Bill Farrell just ahead of me. I put my head down and followed his legs. He was swimming through the breastrokers, but I still didn't want to risk getting kicked. So with resignation, I swam far far far out to the side of the group until I hit a clearing, then started along the swim course line. I was pretty far away from the swim line, and I knew that I had wasted probably 300m just circling the outter pack. Oh well, I thought. This isn't a competition...it's about finishing well. :)
So I swam on. MAN THE WATER IS COLD! I was breathing every stroke since my lungs were burning from the cold water. I felt my hands numbing but knew that it was only a matter of time before my body heated up and would adjust to the water. So I kept swimming, stroke after stroke. After a few minutres, I decided I had enough with the erratic breathing tempo, and starting working on breathing every 3 strokes. Relax, I told myself. This is just another swim at the pool. La-da-da-ta-da. Except, the water was murky and I couldn't see past an arms length. And it's freakin' cold!!!
I swam on. It only got better from there. My body relaxed, my tempo became normal, and I started to focus on technique, kicking and sighting. I started to see who was swimming around me - and noticed that I landed in a pack of foreign guys that had been standing in front of me at the swim start. Hmmmm, I thought you looked fast. I guess not! Ha ha. I decided to follow them so I had less work to sight. Except one dude kept bumping into me. Forget it..I'm passing you. So I kicked it harder and passed them, then was swimming on my own again. I kept to the far left of the line, away from all other swimmers. I was on my own. Swimming...stroke, stroke, breath...enjoying this quiet time - just me, bambino, the cold water, the air, and the sound of my breath and thoughts.
I began to pass people, and I knew that I was swimming well because I was relaxed. My body had fully adjusted to the water temperature, and I realized that I was even slightly on the warm side. In my mind, I talked to bambino. I told baby not to worry, mommy is doing a triathlon today, so we are going to work a little hard but not too hard. This is open water swimming! Doesn't it feel great? I told baby, we are having fun, this is your first triathlon! Just relax, enjoy the race, and see how it feels.
Before hitting the beach, I realized that I was thirsty. My mouth was dry from breathing hard and I needed to hydrate. So I began thinking of what I could do, to get some water before swimming the 2nd round. I decided that I would have to run up to any stranger and ask them for a sip from a water bottle. At this point I didn't really care about formalities. I didn't want to dehydrate - that is one of the most dangerous factors for a fetus. So once I hit the beach, I scanned the crowd and found a water bottle sitting on a table. I ran there, asked to drink from it and got 3 delicious cold gulps of water. Yes! On my way again to the 2nd round of swimming.
I jumped in the water, and starting swimming hard. Yep, this time, my whole body was warmed up, and I decided to increase my pace. I had taken it VERY easy the first round, so I wanted to push a little more on the 2nd round. Just a LITTLE more. I found the same pack of foreign guys again, and realized they were also swimming faster, just around my pace. So we stayed almost eye to eye, making it really easy for me to sight. Yay! The 2nd round went by so fast, I was surprised to see the beach coming up to me again. Wow that seemed like a few short minutes!! I ran onto the beach, and headed for the bridge. My breath felt good, everything felt good! I ran harder, spotted Jens at the transition area, and smiled. YESSS!!!! I DID IT!!!!!
At transition area, we kissed, I was all smiles and happily told him the swim was great. He took off the my timing chip, strapped it onto his ankle...and off he went to KILL IT on bike. Did I mention, Jens is an amazing cyclist?
While waiting for Jens to come back on the bike, I cheered on many fellow triathletes coming in AFTER me on the swim. And that's when I realized...woah! I came in before Tim, Hsu Wei, Nobu and a bunch of other well trained taiwanese triathletes!!! NO WAY! Well, they only came in SECONDS / MINUTES after me, but still. Every second counts in a race, and the fact is, I came out of the water before they all did. Na-na-na-naaa-naaaa!
Just knowing that gave me an extra boost in confidence. Despite my added weight and "condition", I could still pull through in the swim. 34:11. That really did feel good.
At T2, I waited for Jens to come in on the bike. 1:23, not bad for a 4month break!! The weather was great. Sunny but breezy. We drank electrolyte water, switched into running gears, and took off. Technically speaking, I was not officially a part of the run portion, since we're a relay team. But we wanted to run together anyways. Off we went.
The run course was 2x out and back. It was fairly easy, rolling hills and mixed shade. We started out slow, since running has always been my weakest. I had to catch my breath a couple of times and intially my heart rate spiked to 177bpm. At that point, we walked until it went down again. Then we kept a 6:30/7:00 min/km pace the rest of the way. Jens and I talked about the race, shared funny observations, and joked about the triathlon outfits we saw. We were having a great time, and got many cheers from fellow racers. At one point, we passed Tim on the way back. We were still ahead! I realized that if I went any slower, he would catch up. And thats when the competitor in me said...OK time to push it up a notch! I wanted to beat Tim. He he he!! I love Tim of course, but heck, it's still a triathlon RACE! So we picked it up and pushed a bit harder. By the 5k mark, I had warmed up and maintained a 170bpm. So we kept running and focused on finishing well. Jens was with me, and that's all that mattered to me. Seeing him run by my side is one of the most special memories I will cherish with my husband. We looked at each other and smiled. Dangit, we were really having a great time!!!! Rounded the final stretch and hit the run chute.... CHEERS!!! We did it!!!!! 2:52:38 with a (slow) 55min run. The distance ened up being about 9k, instead 10. Oh well... WE STILL DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And.....We even won 3rd place as the Relay Team. Our bambino's first triathlon and win. Not bad for a 13.5 week pregnancy.
The swim: I swam on the far far outer left area, away from the crowds. All the yellow heads you see, are the breastrokers, picking up their heads to breath. If they were actually swimming freestyle, you would only see a tiny tip of the yellow cap and some white froth (like the swimmers up front). So, I had to avoid all those breastrokers by swimming on the very outer edge. A triathlon in the States would probably be different, since no one really swims breastroke in a triathlon.
the bump!
Tri buddies for life: Jens, Em & Timo
Bambino's first open water swim: Success!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)