Mach3Multisport.com

Hello and welcome to the first post of my blog.  By way of introduction, I would describe myself as a triathlete beginner who's been at it awhile.  I completed my first sprint distance triathlon in October '06 after learning how to swim the prior summer to break up the monotony of running, running, runnin.  Since then I have completed 4 more and, though I would like to inspire all other beginners by telling you how much I've improved, over the past year and a half, the truth is that my best time and the time I felt best was the first race.

     What's the secret to my decline?  Lack of training, of course.  I went into training for my first race with a good amount of running mileage under my belt and a desire to prevent injury and challenge myself with a multisport event. All I had was a hybrid bike, but I was doing this for the fun of it so I didn't care.  However,  I knew I really needed to prepare or I might not be able to finish the swim.  Those readers who have seen me swim know that I do so at a pace that could only be described as "leisurely".  What you may not realize is that I have worked damn hard for my 20 minute 800.  In fact, the first time my new husband, who was a competitive swimmer in high school/college, saw me swim two years ago he was concerned for my safety and doubted that I would ever be able to swim 800 meters.  Luckily for him he didn't tell me that until after we were married!

     Anyway, I trained religiously based on time for all three sports, without any speed goals since I had decided I would use my first race to set a baseline for self-improvement and go from there.  I followed that race with my third half marathon six weeks later, another tri in March which I completed with a similar time, and another half marathon in May at which I was introduced to a body part I never knew existed but would become very well acquainted with over the next few months: the IT Band.  All this a week before I started a new more demanding job, an evening MBA program and got engaged.  All in the same week-- as triathletes know, good things come in threes!

    My more demanding schedule paired with an injury I didn't know how to deal with spelled training disaster.  I hobbled through training for another tri in July and then decided I needed to rest until my injury healed.  By September I was still in pain and started PT which took me through the end of the year.   I ended '07 eight to ten pounds heavier than I started it and with my whole game, including the running I felt so good about, in a shambles.  I completed another tri this March with my worst time yet, but encouraged that I managed to finish pain free.

Enter Coach Jeff of Mach3, who listened to me describe all of the above and then gave me a plan to improve for another sprint race this July.  Knowing that I felt overwhelmed by my schedule, he pointed out which workouts were essential and which could be nixed or shortened as life's demands or my body's limitations required.  When I first looked at the plan, I was shocked to see that he had scheduled me for a series of rides up Mt. Lemmon, our local version of Mordor. 

     Me?  Ride up Mt. Lemmon?  He must be crazy.  Yet here I am 7 weeks into my training plan and I just completed a 41 mile ride including 5.7 miles up to the first campground on the mountain.  Those miles took me nearly an hour, but I did it and I feel great.  The limiting factor was the heat (supposed to reach 107 today) rather than the burn in my legs, so I know to get an even earlier start next time. 

    I'm pretty sure I would not have dared to try that climb if Coach Jeff had not put it in writing on my training calendar.  And I never would have met Coach Jeff if not for the Tucson TriGirls, who have kept me motivated through the ugly (my swim), good and bad.   How important a community of like-minded folks can be not only for the fun and camraderie but also because it reminds us that we are capable of more than we might think is possible.

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