Swimming: 2 of 3

Today's session was led by Paul:

• Warm up
• 6x 50M
• 5x 200M
• 100's: 50M kick, 50M swim

Paul actually came by to ask how I was doing during the 100's. I told him I don't go anywhere when I kick only, and he said that people are either great kickers, or they're not. He says he's a terrible kicker, even though he swims in the fastest lane. He claims that he struggles to get through the kick exercises ("struggle" being a relative term since I'm sure he's still faster than most). I told him I swim without using my legs and he says that he's the same way. Having said that, he gave me some hints on how to kick more effectively:

• Place hands above the board to make body more streamlined
• Kicking motion should be from the hips, with power generation coming from the core
• Knees are slightly bent
• Kick just underneath the surface of the water
• Keep hips lifted

Swimming: 1 of 3 This Week!

Hit the pool again tonight. Our workout:

• Warm up
• 3x 500M crawl: After completing what I thought was 2x 500M, I was reminded by my lanemates that I had only done 1 because the pool was organized in 25M lengths!! This took up most of the workout.
• 6x 50M kicking (crawl kick on the odd, any other kick on the even): My lanemate & collectively agreed to bail after doing 3x.
• 300M pull: I did quite well and kept up with my lane mate for most of this set.

It's a little embarassing being the slowest person in the slowest lane, but I remind myself to be patient. I'm sure my hard work will eventually pay off. Despite my (lack of) speed, I look forward to each session and have fun when I swim.

I'm starting to recognize other swimmers and enjoy the fact that I'm working out with friends. They know I'm slow, and seem to respect the fact that I'm trying my best. Plus I think it gives them an ego boost that they're faster than at least one other person in the lane!

Swimming: Aerobic and Recovery

Lots going on at the Stanford pools today because there was a water polo match. We were all crammed into 5-6 lanes. Today's workout:

• Warm-up
• 3x: 2x 100M swimming w/ fists (like using fistgloves!), 1x 200M front crawl
• 6x: 25M fly (body only, like doing the "worm"), 25M fly
• 400M pull
• Backstroke - I missed this part because I was so slow doing the previous stuff
• 2x: 3x 50M (slow, medium, fast), 100M slow. Slow = 85% VO2 Max, "cruising speed"

Several people found the swimming with fists exercise hard. It wasn't too difficult for me because I have been practising that already. I was a lot slower than everybody else, and by a long shot, but I was at least COMFORTABLE doing it. That's the important thing - to me, anyway. The point of the drill was to force us to use our entire forearms to grip the water during the pull.

Fly was hard, especially when you don't use your arms! We were told not to pivot at the waist (a common mistake) but to reach forward & up with our head and then forward & down. It looks like a breakdancing move if you're doing it correctly. The key is to maintain a flexible spine and not strain your neck. You're also supposed to lift your head so that your chin is resting on the water when you breathe. Sounds great in theory but I couldn't do any of this!

The pull exercise was fascinating. We used pull buoys tucked in between our thighs to keep our legs afloat. I was initially wary of using one in case I developed a dependency on having an external device to assist me with buoyancy. But we only did 400M of it (I think I only did 300M) for the entire session so I should be fine. Plus I had developed a cramp in my right leg just before this exercise, so it was great being able to relax my legs and use just my arms to swim. I wasn't sure what the point of the exercise was until I swam some laps of crawl afterwards - my core rotation had increased dramatically. I was swimming much more on my side than my front.

15 Minutes a Day

To get more comfortable on my road bike, some folks have suggested that I go out and ride every day, even if it's for 15 minutes. Well that's what I did today. I brought my bike to work and rode for 15 minutes during lunch.

As usual, I was apprehensive just before getting on my bike. I successfully got on but was nervous for the next two minutes before settling down. I cycled SLOOOOWWWLLLLY because there were cars parked on both sides of the street and I didn't want to taken by surprise in case one of them pulled out suddenly.

Palo Alto is a great place to cycle. As a traffic reduction experiment, they have closed off portions of some streets for 6 months. As a motorist, I was a little annoyed since it lengthened my commute in the mornings. As a cyclist, I'm extremely grateful.

On my way back, I saw some truly impressive bike handling: a roadie was at a stop light, clipped in on BOTH SIDES, standing up on his pedals and balancing (he wasn't holding onto anything) waiting for the light to turn. Then he cycled off when it became green. Damn that guy is good.

Monday Swim

Went to Stanford Masters Swimming again. Tonight's theme was "aerobic recovery". I was disappointed to see that the lanes were arranged horizontally so one length was 25M instead of 50M. It was to make room for water polo training. Tonite's workout:

• Warmup
• 2x: 200M crawl, 100M kicking, 400M crawl, 200M kicking
• 800M IM
  • 8x 25M fly with 5s rest. We could stroke a few times with one arm and alternate
  • 4x 50M backstroke with 10s rest
  • 2x 100M breastroke with 15s rest
  • 200M front crawl

I swam pretty much the entire time even though I wasn't fast enough to do the complete workout. I discovered that I don't go anywhere when I kick only. Greg (coach) says it's because it may be because I keep my legs straight. My legs are supposed to resemble flippers with an ankle recoil at the end. I'm not too worried about not being able to kick well at this point because I'm trying to swim primarily with my arms so I can can save my leg strength for the bike and the run portions of the triathlon. But it would be nice to eventually learn how to swim properly in case I decide to do swim only events, like the elusive Sharkfest.

Transition Workout

We did a mini-triathlon for the transition workout! The transition area was in the lobby of the Presidio Y Sports Basement, just before the exit doors. I'm surprised they let us do that but I think it's because Shannon knows the people there very well. Afterall, she runs events for them (e.g., boot camp) and they are a sponsor of the Embarcadero Y Women's Tri Club.

I was excited to wear my wetsuit for the first time. It was surprisingly easly to put on, but I think it was because I took Jessica's advice and put Bodyglide on my legs first. Jessica said that the key is to pull the suit all the way up so it's comfortable in the crotch, otherwise it will restrict arm movement.

We walked down to the beach forwas with us because she had just finished her 12 mile run to Pacbell Park and back that morning. She bravely volunteered to do a test swim for us without a wetsuit and reported back on swimming conditions. Based on her feedback, Shannon advised us to sight and breathe on our left and to pull hard on our right to make sure we weren't swimming further and further away from shore. Ariel also did the swim with us, and we kept to her left. Shannon was willing to pull us out in an emergency but advised us to come back to shore if we became very nervous (i.e., before we became too panicked to come in on our own).

The swim was much better than I expected even though the water was cold and I wasn't used to the waves. I certainly can't imagine doing something like Sharkfest or Escape from Alcatraz, both of which theoretically contain a 1.5 mile swim if you can swim in a straight line. It helped that I swam close to the beach and knew the water was shallow enough so that I could stand up at any point if necessary. I was also fascinated and thrilled that my wetsuit kept my legs up. They floated all on their own! Although a wetsuit really does help a ton, I'm still going to try to swim without one where possible (e.g., Tri for Fun, Tri for Real) for practice.

I started swaying as soon as I stood up out of the water. I ran back to Sports Basement dreading the bike ride. We were supposed to ride towards Fort Point for a bit, turn around, and then cycle to Fort Mason and back.

Cycling on the road along Marina Blvd. is dangerous because the cars go too fast. Cycling on the sidewalk is marginally better but it's still difficult because of all the pedestrians. I rode slowly to make sure I could dodge people. At one point, I suddenly came to the edge of a curb with a 4" drop. Because D had helped me switch out my clipless pedals for regular ones two days before, I was able to swerve and put my foot on the ground as I leaned to the left. Excellent.

After a slow but safe ride back to Sports Basement, I ran to Fort Mason and back. The run seemed really slow even though I tried pushing myself. I think it may have been the heat. My legs just wouldn't go any faster. I hope to get to track again soon to regain that spring in my step.

I was slow but I finished: my motto for all triathlons this season.

Transition Lecture

Shannon gave a transition lecture at the Presidio Y Sports Basement. Although I had read about some tips from Eric Harr's triathlon book, it was much more useful to see a demonstration. According to Shannon, layout and execution can mean the difference between a 1-2 minute transition and a 5-minute one. At this point however, since I'm out there for hours anyway, a couple of extra minutes is a rounding error for my overall finish time.

Here are some hints she gave us:

• Eating
  • Eat a larger dinner the night before, and 500-700 calories for breakfast as soon as you wake up. You want to fill up your glycogen stores prior to the race.
  • Eat an energy bar 45 min before the race, even if you don't feel like it
  • Shannon uses only one waterbottle for the bike portion of an Olympic race but she advises people to put initially two on their bike just in case
  • For a 1/2 IM, Shannon eats an energy bar 45 min into the bike ride, and then another one 1:30 hr afterwards
  • Contrary to popular belief, it's okay to be a little dehydrated in the race. According to Shannon, people who collapse at finish lines do so not because they're dehydrated, but because their blood pools in their legs
• T1: Swim to Bike
  • Rack your bike with the nose of the saddle over the transition bar. If you rack your handlebars, you'll take up too much space
  • Cycling shoes should be placed closest to you and pointing AWAY from you so you're ready to step into them
  • Don't put a pool of water in the transition area to rinse your feet. It takes up a lot of space and you'll get everybody else's things wet if it tips over. If you must clean the sand off your feet, spray them with water from a water battle and just drag your feet across a towel on the ground
  • Helmet should be unclasped and placed upside down (ready to wear) on top of your cycling shoes
  • Shades should be placed with arms open inside the helmet
  • Shannon doesn't wear gloves for races under 1/2 IM. I always wear gloves, and put them inside the helmet
  • Singlet should be placed on top of everything, with the opening facing you so you can just pull it over your head. Better still, wear it under your wetsuit
  • Unlike everybody else, I use a Camelbak hydration unit
  • After the swim, start pulling off your wetsuit down to your waist as you run to the transition area
  • When you're in the transition area, pull your wetsuit down as far as possible (down to the calves) and step on it to get out. Don't sit on the ground to try and remove it that way
• T2: Bike to Run
  • Use lace locks for your shoes. Keep them loose tied since your feet will expand. I wouldn't recommend this for trail running tho.
  • Grab your cap and race belt and put them on as you are running

Boot Camp

Today, I attended a boot camp workout hosted by the new Sports Basement near the Presidio YMCA. It's usually a fee program but today's workout was a complementary recruitment session.

After completing a 4-page questionnaire, we all jogged to the beach. Shannon led the stretching session while the other coach, Stevan, explained what boot camp was all about. We split up into two groups. I stayed with Shannon. Here are the exercises we did:

• Alternating lunges across the beach
• Push-ups against a concrete block:
  • 10 with right leg raised, 10 with left leg raised
  • 10 tricep pushups
  • 10 with hands wide apart (lats)
• Step-ups on a bench. 10-15 on each leg, similar to the ones in The Firm workout videos
• Three person step-ups: one person would stand on a concrete block and do squats while holding the hands of two people on either side facing the opposite direction. Those two people would do step-ups with their inside leg (the leg that was closest to the person doing squats), and then lift the knee of their outside leg at the top of the step-up. We rotated clockwise after ten squats/step-ups. We did this a second time with lateral leg raises instead of knee raises
• Push-ups against a picnic table. We did regular push-ups, push-ups with a clap in between, and push-ups with two claps in between
• Isometric hamstring curls: one person would lie on top of a picnic table with their legs curled. The other person would put gentle pressure to pull their heels back. We did this for one minute
• "Schwarzeneggars": We held each end of a piece of tubing in our hands while stepping in the middle. We would perform a squat, stand up, and then raise our hands to do a shoulder press. The tubing provided resistance for the shoulder press
• Two-person situps while we passed a weighted ball (15-18 pounds) back and forth between us
• Lower ab workout: lift both feet in the air in a reverse curl as though we were making footprints in the sky, followed by extending our legs out horizontally
• Bicycles with hands reaching towards the ankles
• "One Hundreds": first we did this with feet flat on the ground, then we did it with legs extended and lowered at around a 45 degree angle

It was a great workout and contained a lot of familiar exercises. I may take some and incorporate them in the muscle conditioning/abs section of my step classes.

Tri For Real

On Sunday, September 14, 2003, D & I participated in Tri for Real in Livermore, CA.

Last Minute Switcheroo!

D was going to use his mountain bike (mtb), but he had a spectacular crash the day before the race while training with TNT: he was cycling downhill and about a third of the way down, both of his brakes failed. He kept on accelerating even though he was squeezing both his brakes as hard as he could. Even in his precarious situation, he had the presence of mind to look for a spot to do a controlled wipeout and did just that. He expected broken bones but miraculously, he walked away from the crash with only a small scratch on his back. His bike did not fare as well and his back wheel was completely "taco'ed" (warped).

With his bike out of commission, D borrowed a fellow TNT team member's bike which had SPDs. D's cleats are designed for Crank Brothers egg beater clipless pedals, but are supposed to work with SPDs. They didn't. Our other idea was to temporarily replace the SPDs with toe cages, but we didn't have a pedal wrench or any wrench that could do the job. So he was left with two choices: cycle with his Shimano shoes and not be clipped in, or cycle with his running shoes.

Pre-Race

On race day, we arrived at Shadow Cliffs Park at 5:30AM. It was pitch black and D was worried that we would be racing in the dark. I reassured him that there would be sunlight by race time, but he looked uneasy.

After setting up our transition space, D tried out his friend's mtb. He came back five minutes later to raise the seat. Next, he experimented with cycling with Shimano shoes (even tho he couldn't clip in) versus his running shoes. He decided to go with the Shimanos because they at least had a hard sole.

We listened to both the first-timers talk and the course talk. They didn't make it obvious that everybody had to do 2 laps of the bike course. It was a great source of confusion for many triathletes.

Swim: 700 yards

D was in wave 2 (men 30 years and older). I was worried for him because he had not practised swimming at all, not even in the pool. I didn't think he'd drown or anything, but I thought he would struggle given that he had not swam in three years. He reassured me that he would be okay because he used to swim a lot for rehab after his ACL surgery many years ago. I watched him go and then started worrying about myself.

Before this day I had not actually tried swimming 700 yds continuously. And aside for Tri for Fun, I had not done any open water swimming. I looked up and gazed at the buoys that looked impossibly far away.

When our wave started, I stayed at the back and let everybody charge forward while I walked leisurely into the warm water. Once again, I decided not to use a wetsuit. My goal was to take long, languid strokes but as soon as I started swimming, my arms started flying like propellers and I kicked frantically. I couldn't see in the water (like last time) and I started flailing. I floated on my back to calm down before starting to swim again. By this time, I had completed only ~1/6 of the swim course - I was only halfway towards the first buoy! I couldn't swim more than 20 strokes before hyperventilating. So, once again, I alternated between breast stroke (which I ended up using for 80% of the course) and front crawl.

T1

I put on my styling SIDI biking shoes, triathlon top, biking gear and strapped on my brand new Camelbak Siren hydration unit. I knew I couldn't reach for the mouthpiece with my hand while I was cycling so I used the Tube Director accessory. This elegant solution came from Ken Yee, a fellow cyclist in Boston who had stumbled on my blog whilst looking for a review of the Candy SL clipless pedals. He read about my biking woes and sent me a lovely email titled "deja vu". Ken said he had similar cycling challenges a long time ag, so he empathized with how I felt. I am grateful that he took the time to write to me and give me hints on how to survive clipless pedals.

Bike: 20 miles

Ah, the bike. I used my road bike for this race, clipless pedals and all. I hesitated briefly before getting on. But, unlike my other rides, I didn't have the luxury of taking 10-20 minutes to build up the courage to start riding. I had to suck it up and go! So I literally hopped on my bike (the only way I know how to get on) and started cranking up the hill.

My shorts got caught on the edge of my saddle, but of course, I couldn't move my hands to adjust them, so I wiggled around trying to get them unhooked but they didn't budge. In addition to being uncomfortable cycling with a wedgie, I was tired from the swim and climbing the mini slope. I was so tired, in fact, that I shook and wobbled because it was such hard work holding myself up in the horns of my handlebars. I must learn to ride with my hands on the hood. I turned my head to get a drink but my tube director had fallen out of range.

This was all in mile 1 of the bike ride. I was only on my first lap, while other cyclists left me in the dust. One of them yelled, "Nice bike!". I was embarrassed since somebody with my wheels should be smoking everybody else, and not vice versa. As I turned a corner, another cyclist shouted, "You're doing a great job!" It was D, zooming by on his borrowed mtb.

It got worse as I approached the downhill portions. Old habits die hard, and I braked and coasted down all of them in the first lap. I must have looked pretty nervous and miserable, because a concerned fellow cyclist asked me whether I was okay as he passed me. "Yeah," I answered feebly. Even some of the volunteers who controlled traffic for the race gave me cycling tips. One guy reminded me to "keep stroking!" as I coasted downhill.

I think about 100 people passed me in that first lap so the coast was clear when I started on my second. Maybe it was because I didn't have people rubbing shoulders with me every 2 seconds or maybe it was because I had finally warmed up after going for 10 miles, but I finally felt comfortable in my saddle. So I increased my cadence and picked up some speed. I also managed to cycle standing up momentarily to unhook my shorts from the saddle. I even passed five people, two of which were by the side of the road fixing a flat. Things were looking up.

Things were rocking for me that second lap. I pedaled downhill (no coasting or braking) and really enjoyed myself. Until I saw a 90 degree right turn. I slowed down before turning and had intended to lean into it and start cycling while cornering. But at the last minute, I chickened out and straightened. There were a row of cones demarking vehicular traffic and the bike lane, and I ran over one of them. "Oh sh*t! Oh sh*t!" I screamed, just before wiping out.

There was a volunteer and policewoman at the scene and they stopped traffic in time so that I wasn't run over. Thankfully I didn't have any serious injuries so I hopped back on my bike. I knew where I was and the end was in sight. I finished the rest of the course without further incident even though there was one more 90 degree right hand turn that I negotiated successfully.

T2

D was waiting for me as I got off my bike. He had already finished the race. He led me to the transition area and I told him about my crash. Despite the fall, I was in good spirits because the hardest parts of the race were finally over.

Run: 4 miles

My legs felt good and I maintained a steady pace. I kept my Camelbak on so I was able to take sips of diluted Gatorade throughout the run. D took photos of me at various points and cheered me on. He was wonderfully supportive. Similar to last time, nobody passed me on the run, and I managed to pass at least 10 people. Unlike last time, however, I didn't have anything left in the tank at the end for a sprint finish. That's actually a positive thing because it meant I had pushed myself sufficiently throughout the race.

Post Mortem

My official time is 2:25:23, putting me 131 out of 146 in my age category (261 out of 291 women overall). It's slow but my only goal was to finish and I did. It is interesting to note that 14 out of the 15 women 50 years and old had faster times than me. Given how difficult this was I'm rethinking of my options for Treasure Island.

D had an amazing time of 1:47:43. He came in 95 out of 165 in his age group (224 out of 381 men overall) -- remember he did this without any swimming training, and on a borrowed mtb without clipping in. I'm so proud of him!

Stanford Masters Swimming

I finally decided to try a US Masters Swim program and found one through Pacific Masters. Coincidentally, my super athletic friend Julie is also part of the one I chose: Stanford Masters Swimming.

I asked Tim Edmonds, the program coordinator, about the time commitment involved to become a better swimmer. He said that I would see an improvement if I went to 10 sessions in a 21-day time period. The first five would be a struggle, the next five would be better and I would enjoy swimming by the 11th workout.

I was excited about swimming as soon as I saw the beautiful 50M pools. I introduced myself to the coach, Greg, and told him that I was training for a triathlon. "Which one?" he asked. He nodded when I told him Treasure Island and said it was too late to cram for Sentinel! He pointed out where the fast, faster and fastest lanes were in the pool. I hesitated for a moment before asking him where the SLOW swimmers should go. He laughed and pointed me to the furthest lane. Here's what we did:

1. Warm up: I managed to swim a good 300M-400M right off the bat. Awesome. That's more than half a sprint distance swim!
2. 4x 100M IM (3x for the slower folks): IM? OH MY GOODNESS -- INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY!! Each 100M consisted of 25M each of butterfly, backstroke, breast stroke and front crawl. The last time I tried that was 15 years ago. I was pleased that I could do three sets.
3. Lateral buoyancy drill (front crawl): We were supposed to lie on our side, stretch out the arm that was closest to the bottom of the pool, rest our head on that arm, and float horizontally (not at an angle) while kicking. The key is to lie on our sides and NOT our backs or bellies. We were also supposed to press our sternum down so our hips would pop up. If done properly, we would float on the surface of the water so we could wiggle our fingers in air (on the arm that is oustretched) and have one eye look above the water as the other was below the surface. Theoretically, we could then breathe by just turning our head. It's a more advanced version of the Total Immersion Skate drill. We were supposed to do 25M floating on one side, followed by 25M crawl, 25M floating on the other side and then another 25M crawl. That was a hard drill that took me a while to figure out. I kept on sinking although I made a point to at least sink horizontally. I did about 200M worth in total.
4. High elbows (front crawl): Slow recovery with elbows high in the air and re-entering the water 6-12" in front of the head with PINKIES in first. I used to think you were supposed to swim with thumbs leading so this is new information. We were also supposed to focus on core rotation and also use our entire forearm to pull before bringing our hand back to our thighs ready for recovery again.
5. Hitchhiker drill (backstroke): Backstroke is done on your SIDE and on not your back! We were supposed to kick twice on our left side, twice on our back, twice on our right, twice on our back, etc. usingo our core to rotate our hips. Meanwhile, we'd alternate lifting our hands upward without reaching back and a hitchiker motion. I could not do this for the life of me since I was using all my energy to just stay afloat.
6. Shoulder shrugs (backstroke): Similar to hitchhiker drill but shrug the shoulder instead. Equally difficult and unsuccessful.
7. Backstroke: I was able to travel the length of the pool doing this but I kept on crashing into the wall. I must be pulling stronger on one side versus the other. It's important for the pinky to enter the water first and to be lying on your side whilst doing so (all part of the core rotation thing). I had a persistent calf cramp in my right leg by this point which was quite annoying.

There may have been other drills and sets but I can't remember any of them. I finished off swimming breast stroke since that was the only thing I could do with a calf cramp. I asked some of the other swimmers what to do to prevent cramping and I was told (1) not to point my toes as much (use floppy foot) (2) eat bananas (3) drink pickle juice (in case I overhydrate) and (4) drink Gatorade.

This was the best swimming experience I have ever had. I couldn't do everything and rested when I needed to, but I was motivated and tried my best. I also felt incredibly sore the next day which has never happened to me before so I know it's working. I know I'll make progress if I stick to it. I know I'll have be a confident swimmer by the time Treasure Island rolls around.

Last, but not least, there was a lot of lingo that I didn't understand. I'm still trying to figure out what "plus 40" means. If you are equally confused, here's a workouts and lingo site for swim programs.

Continuous Swimming

I had a great swim at the Peninsula YMCA tonite! I swam continuously for an hour and only stopped maybe 3 times. I was slow, but that's okay because I was aiming for endurance. This was the first time I could swim for a long time without stopping. The only problem was that my stroke count went up considerably to over 30 per 25yd (with fistgloves). Even so, things are looking up!.

Thule Bike Hitch Mount

I'm always amazed at what I can stuff into my little VW New Beetle. I can transport my road bike in my car (after taking the front wheel off), and even D's mountain bike, but not both simultaneously.

So to accommodate two bikes, I bought a bike rack. I had to figure this out on my own, which was a total pain in the rear, so I hope somebody will benefit from this step-by-step guide based on my experience:

1. Decide what type of rack you would like. There are generally three types: roof mount, hitch mount and trunk mount. You can see examples of these on Rack Attack. At the time of purchase, Rack Attack had the lowest prices because they offered free shipping and 15% off Internet sales.
   • Roof mount: I decided against this because my Beetle has a curved roof plus I'm so short that it would be a hassle to get anything on top of it. However, Bernie Png, another Velo Girl, uses a roof rack on her Bug.
   • Hitch mount: This is the option I went with because it provides easy access to my trunk and my bike, plus I can use the hitch for towing other things.
   • Trunk mount: D uses this on his Honda S2000, and he doesn't like it. He's scratched up the paint job on his car, and the clips that secure his bike occasionally pop out. His bike never looks like it's secured properly and he's worried that it's going to fly off while he's driving on the highway.
2. At this point, I'm assuming you've chosen a hitch mount as well. If so, you need to figure out what type of hitch to have installed on your vehicle, even before you decide what style of hitch mount you want. Contrary to what I thought, car manufacturers don't usually have hitches as a service part. Instead, go to the Uhaul website, where you can find out which of their hitch installation locations is closest to you. Call the store, tell them the make and model and your vehicle, and they'll search their database to find out which hitch you need. Most likely they will need to order the part for you (takes about a week) and you can schedule a time for the installation.
3. Ask them what size hitch you will be getting: 1.25" or 2". In general, passenger cars require 1.25" hitches and SUVs/trucks use 2" hitches. Also, unless you're going to use the hitch for towing something like a trailer box, make sure they don't install wiring (costs extra).
4. Now that you know the size of your hitch, you can choose a hitch rack to buy! The folks at Rack Attack told me that the two most popular brands are Thule (pronounced "TOOL-lee") and Yakima (pronounced "YAH-kimm-ah").
5. I chose the Thule Hitching Post Pro 2 bike 1.25" 937 because it is suitable for a variety of frames, i.e. womens frames. Other hitch racks may require an additional attachment to accommodate them. I considered getting a post that could carry 4 bicycles, but the friendly folks at Rack Attack advised against it since the weight would put too much stress on my car. When you choose a rack, make sure you're getting one that fits your hitch (1.25" vs. 2")
6. Hitch racks are expensive and can get stolen! So I also bought a Snug-Tite Lock STL to lock the hitch rack to my car, and also a 538 Cable Lock to lock the bikes to the hitching post. Instead of the cable lock, you can also use a regular bicycle cable lock (doesn't have to be Thule). However, in general, I would advise you not to leave your bikes unattended, even if they are locked to your hitch rack.
7. Of course, there are other accessories you can buy, for example, the Zip Stick II 950 which is supposed to "add stability to Thule hitch bike mounts". I hear bungee cord also works.

Track Session After Hiatus

I haven't gone to track for the past 2 weeks. In fact, I haven't run since the Angel Island 12K on 8/23/03. Yikes.

Only four people showed up for track tonite. Ariel lead the training instead of Shannon. In fact, I don't think Shannon will be leading many more group workouts from now on since she's moving into her own core training routine for Ironman New Zealand in March 2004.

We warmed up with 4 laps and then did some drills. Same ol'. The new thing was the actual training: we did four sets of 1000's. Each set consisted of 2-1/2 laps of running at 85% intensity (tempo run, pace for a 5K), with a final 1/2 lap of recovery (really slow pace, can also walk, so that you can almost immediately start another set. I gave myself a 1-minute pause between each set. You're supposed to be able to do each one in the same amount of time. I don't know how I did since I don't have a watch to time myself. Once again, I'm thinking of buying a running watch. Ariel said there are discounted Timex watches available at Campmor.com.

Pool Incident

Tonight, I subbed Loida's Basic Step & Strengthen class at the Palo Alto Family YMCA. That went well, and despite from suffering from a kink in my neck from poor sleeping posture last night, I decided to go for a swim afterwards since Tri for Real is this weekend.

While I sat at the edge of the pool, deciding which lane to jump into, I saw the lifeguard speak to each swimmer. They all leave. I thought there was an event going on, e.g., swim lessons, so I asked another swimmer what was going on. "Somebody went to the bathroom in the pool," one lady said, "So they're closing the pool." Eew.

As though it wasn't gross enough that somebody had pee'd in the pool, I couldn't figure out how they could tell that somebody had urinated in there unless the culprit fessed up. Then I saw the sign: "Pool closed due to fecal incident". YUCK.

Swimming

I was traveling for business this week, and stayed at a hotel with pool access. FYI, guests at the Park Hyatt in Philadelphia, PA (not to be confused with the Hyatt Regency at Penn's Landing) can use the swanky, rocking gym next door that has, amongst other things, a 4-lane 25 meter pool!! I took advantage of this and swam both days I was here.

I become breathless after 2 measly laps which is quite annoying. It's primarily due to my lack of buoyancy on my left side, what Terry Laughlin calls the "vanilla" side. My right side is my "chocolate" side. I'm at the point where I'm extremely relaxed when I'm floating on my back and can travel smoothly and effortlessly across the pool just by kicking gently. I can do the same laying on my right side. When I try balancing on my left however, all the effort I'm putting into kicking goes directly into staying afloat. How can I tell? I don't go anywhere - I'm stuck staring at the same spot at the ceiling!

I know I'm supposed to practice drills to improve my buoyancy but I've been swimming laps lately because Tri for Real is in a week and a half! I have to figure out how to swim 700 yds between now and then. Gulp.

It was the best of rides, it was the worst of rides...

On Sunday, 8/31/03, I participated in the Bay Area Velo Girls' regular Sunday ride. The good news is, I'm cycling much better than I was two weeks ago. The bad news is, I fell twice on the same side, resulting in a sore right palm and two numb fingers.

The day didn't have an auspicious start. I had bought a new floor pump and used it for the first time to inflate my tires. For 15 minutes, the only thing I accomplished was to let out all the air in my rear tire. After tinkering some more, I managed to inflate it, but less than 120 psi which is what was recommended. I only got it to about 90-100 psi.

The Velo Girls met in front of Summit Bicycles. Being geographically challenged, I got all the way to Redwood City before realizing that I had completely missed Burlingame, adding an unnecessary 25 minute to my trip. I got there with only 5 minutes before we ride time. There were three to choose from: 30 miles, 55 miles or 85 miles. We all took a turn sheet with directions, with Lorri's cell phone number printed at the bottom, in case we got lost. Lorri gave an introductory speech and reminded us of the rules of the road. And then they were off.

I say "they" because I had a momentary panic attack when everybody leaped onto their bikes and pedaled down Burlingame Ave. I chased after them on foot, realized that I was never going to catch up, and then finally got on my bike, correct way or not.

All the ladies were blocks and blocks ahead of me. Unfortunately for them, but fortunately for me, some of them got stuck at the intersection at El Camino Real when the lights changed. That's where I caught up with them (barely) and cycled at the back of this pack of 5-6 women.

Melissa was among this group. She was the sweeper for the 30-mile ride, and she rode with me for most of the way, giving me invaluable hints & tips, e.g., how to deal with downhill cycling. Whenever I go downhill, I coast and ride my brakes which is probably the worst thing I can do because I can end up locking my brakes and/or melting them (if it's a super hot day). Instead, Melissa advised me to switch to my lowest gear and keep peddling. If I really needed to slow down, I was told to "feather" (pump my brakes). It's counterintuitive, but supposedly, I'll have more control over my bike this way. I know what she's talking about - because I cycled down hills for the Tri for Fun triathlon when I was using Laura's mountain bike. Surprisingly, I felt very much in control. However, I have a HUGE conceptual problem accelerating down hills on my road bike. My instinct is to brake, BRAKE, BRAKE ALREADY! I guess it all comes with practice.

After weaving aimlessly through the neighborhood, we agreed that we were lost. The ladies I was with were all incredibly empathetic to my fear of cycling. As soon as I told them about my reluctance to stop (because it meant I would have to unclip and then get on my bike again) they all nodded and said, "You just got clipless pedals, didn't you?" YES! People who understood me! And lots of them! It was so nice to be around skilled cyclists who remembered what it was like to be a newbie.

I told them that I didn't know how to get on my bike via the generally acceptable "correct way", which is to clip in with one foot, push off with that foot from the 2 o'clock position, start cycling (standing up), and then sit down only after you're balanced. Melissa told me not to worry about getting on a specific way: she said I should get on my bike using whatever method I felt comfortable. In fact, I didn't even have to clip in right away if I didn't want to. I was relieved after hearing that.

The initial parts of the course were flat (yay) with some stop signs (ick) and not to many cars (always a bonus). At one point, I started going uphill on Crystal Springs Road. The slope looked gentle enough in the beginning, but I kept on switching to higher and higher gears until I had none left - I was already in "hamster gear". I finally made it to the top and rejoined the group who were waiting patiently.

The next part consisted of a brief downhill portion followed by another uphill section. I lost everybody on the downhill but made good time on the uphill portion. Unlike most people, I like going up hills because I can climb hills half decently - it's all about leg power and cardio capacity, both of which I have reasonable amounts. When we got to Skyline Boulevard and Route 92 (Ralston Road) - I turned white - we were going to turn left and cross a HIGHWAY.

Yes, it was a bona fide highway. There were cars. A lot of them. There was an intersection, traffic lights and everything. It was a BUSY intersection. Did I mention there were a lot of vehicles in the road? I reluctantly got off the bike and waited for the light to change. Everybody else started cycling and turned left when it did, but I made the fateful decision to get off my bike and walk it across the road instead.

It seemed like a good idea at the time, but I knew I had made a mistake as soon as I had done it. Because after crossing the road, I had to get on my bike on an incline. I had a really bad feeling about it, but I had no choice. I straddled my bike, pushed down with my right foot from the 2 o'clock position, accidentally clipped in (I knew I was screwed as soon as it happened), didn't have enough momentum to keep cycling, and toppled over on my right side.

At the time, there were two cyclists behind me fixing a bike. After my fall, they both looked up and said, "Are you okay?" I nodded. They smiled and said, "Just a little embarrassed, huh?" I explained to them about my issue with getting on bikes on an uphill and they came over to help. I was on the small ring in the front (good), but also a small ring in the back (not so good), so they put me into the highest gear. One of them even offered to hold my bike still as I got on and start peddling! I didn't want to inconvenience them, however, and told them that I would just walk my bike up the hill.

Partway up, I saw Melissa cycle towards me to rescue me. I told her about my tumble, and she gave me hints on how to deal with starting to cycle on an incline, e.g., get into hamster gear, initially cycle horizontally across the road (although not on the busy stretch we were on), etc. Fortunately, there was a clearing not far up the hill where I was able to get back on and start cycling again.

Before long, we reached Canada Road, which was closed to traffic for pedestrians, roller bladers and cyclists. I felt much better cycling along there because there were no cars (if it's not completely obvious by now, I am completely terrified of cycling in their general vicinity). I was much faster traversing Canada compared to my first time riding that same stretch with hubby a few weeks ago. In fact, when I rode with him, I didn't even make it all the way. It took me half an hour just to cover a third of the distance.

Unfortunately, the carless section was far too short (boo hoo), and I was back cycling in CarLand again. At least there was a separate bike lane for which I was very grateful. I had trouble staying in the lane because I get nervous cycling too close to the right side because there's no curb, just a drop. I worry that if I cycle too close to the right, I'm going to go over the edge if I accidentally swerve. I ended up cycling close to the line demarking the bike lane from regular traffic. At one point, I even wandered into the car lane, and a helpful cyclist warned me to avoid doing that as he flew past me.

The stretch ended in Woodside Road at a freaky looking intersection with cars going in all four directions. You're supposed to stop there because cops will ticket cyclists ($250 - the same as a car driver). Again, not wanting to stop, I slowed down, veered right and ended in a very familiar looking parking lot. I was at Buck's Restaurant! I'm lucky I didn't get ticketed. Cops may have turned a blind eye to my rolling stop at the intersection, if only because they pitied me. I met up with the primary Velo Girls groups and was quite proud of myself for making it that far.

Most of them headed back soon afterwards, and I took off after them 10-15 minutes later. I didn't have anybody to follow this time, so I kinda made it up as I went along, following random cyclists that I assumed were headed in the same general direction. I made it as far as the downhill part of Crystal Springs when Melissa came by, reminding me to stop braking. I tried. I really did. But I had to brake on the hairier parts, especially as cars honked me as they passed me.

Instead of winding through the backrounds, we took California Ave. on the way back. Per my usual operating procedure, I walked my bike across intersections and said a prayer each time I stopped or started riding again. I was slow but successful... all the way up to the end when we reached Burlingame Ave. I unclipped my left foot, got ready to step down, leaned to the right, on the side I was still clipped in, and wiped out. Again.

I don't think I fell any harder than I did the first time, but it hurt a lot more, probably because I landed on the same side as before and reinjured the same part of my hand. Melissa went over to a cafe opposite Summit to join some other Velo Girls, while I went to the parking lot, locked my bike in the back of my car and looked for somewhere to detox.

I went to Copenhagen Bakery & Cafe for some brunch (I highly recommend it) and examined my hand. The palm of my right hand had some red spots on it and felt sore and bruised. What really concerned me, was the fact that three of the fingers on my right hand were numb. It hurt even to pick up a fork. I ate with my left hand all the while contemplating what to do for upcoming events. I still wanted to do Tri for Real, only because I was familiar with the course, but Windman was completely out of the question. Treasure Island looked dubious too, but I decided to wait a while before making any decisions on it.

I wanted to call D but he was at his bachelor party in Yosemite. I missed him a lot that day.

After brunch, I went to Freewheel to get my bike repaired because I couldn't shift properly. The mechanic asked whether I had crashed because it looked like I had knocked my derailleurout of place. "Yes," I admitted, "Twice." He nodded and told me that derailleurs can become damaged that way. "So is what you're telling me," I asked while smiling weakly, "is that I should stop falling off my bike?" He laughed.

I then showed him my damaged paw, and asked whether my hand would recover. He asked whether I could move my fingers (I could), and he replied, "Then you'll be okay. You should regain feeling in a couple of hours. If not today, then probably tomorrow." He says he bangs up his hands all the time when he mountain bikes. My mood picked up considerably at that point once I knew that I had not instantly given myself carpal tunnel syndrome and was probably not crippled for life. I did, however, look into buying gloves with considerably more padding in the palm. I bought a pair of hard core Axo gloves used by BMX and mountain bikers. It's probably overkill for most road bikers, but I was willing to buy full body armor if I thought it would help.

So there you have it. It took me a while to write this post, only because it hurt to type before today. I am pleased to report that I have regained 99% of feeling in my fingers and my palm isn't as sore anymore. I am undeterred by my accident and am even more determined than ever to learn how to ride my bike, even if it kills me (only figuratively of course *touch wood*).

Bailing from Windman 2003!

I had signed up for Windman Triathlon 2003 (Olympic distance), but withdrew. Here's the email I sent to the organizer, Adel Dessouky, with the explanation behind my decision:

I am new at road biking (well, new to biking in general after a 15 year hiatus), and on top of all the regular challenges associated with balancing on two wheels, I am learning how to use clipless pedals. I have not been successful. During a ride this weekend, I fell twice, hurting my right palm and causing three of my fingers to become numb. I have since recovered 95% of the feeling in my fingers and so expect complete recovery, but the experience has made it painfully (pardon the pun) obvious to me that I have no business trying to cycle 25 miles in a triathlon, let alone under windy conditions!

So with regrets, I am withdrawing from the race. I hope to one day ride properly without constant fear of death &/or dismemberment, with the goal of participating in Windman 2004.

I'll post details of the aforementioned fateful ride soon...