Little Liz’s Training Blog

On nutrition:
I think the biggest reason my body kept going strong through the finish (well until 1/4 mile from the finish) was highly influenced by the nutrition it had received. I stayed very well hydrated throughout the week before the event. I tried to eat a lot of protein the week before the event, carbs the night before and the morning of, and I had a lot of nutrients the day of. Immediately upon waking, I took some vitamins and drank an essentials drink. I ate a well-balanced breakfast and through the race I ate clif shot blocks and hammer gels. I honestly believe without the vitamins, essentials drink or any of the clif shots or gels, my body would have been really worn out nearing the end of the bike and I would have seriously struggled throughout the run. At the halfway point of the run my sister and I were giggling and playing around (very unlike a lot of the serious athletes around us), a clear sign that I still had a LOT of energy left in me.

On what I feel good about:
I am honestly really proud that my swim time was ranked 37th. I try to tell myself that maybe I pushed a little too hard on the swim, perhaps that’s why it took me so long to recover on the bike. But honestly, how can you slow down in a 300m swim? I don’t know how to slow down… I feel like that is a sprint distance and for me to slow down would not really be a great idea. So many people seemed absolutely worn out after the swim, I feel like it was o.k. that I was, too. I feel really great about my swim time, but I also think it means I need to not spend so much time training in the water. That’s probably where I trained the most this time simply because I like it the most and it takes the least amount of time to train. (For me anyway.)

On where I want to improve:
My biking and my running, of course.

On my plan to improve running and biking:
This year I have a goal to run in a 1/2 marathon on August 31st, so hopefully that will help me improve my running skills. Also, I plan to switch my bike pedals to clip pedals and invest in some good biking (clip) shoes. And just to get more miles on the bike! With those two simple goals this year, I’d like to re-race this tri next year and see how much of an improvement I can make without any specific training plan (except for a beginner’s 1/2 marathon training plan).

Overall, it was an awesome experience. I had a really fun time. I tried to soak it all in as best as I could. The cold weather kept a lot of people away, but my sister and I hung around throughout the awards ceremony and enjoyed the whole environment as much as possible. It felt fantastic being surrounded by all of those athletes. I really get excited thinking I could be like them one day and it really felt great telling myself “Self, look how active you are becoming… be so PROUD!”

Even though I didn’t train nearly as much as I should have, I still have done more than I ever thought I would have done. I don’t think any of my friends ever thought I would really accomplish this goal. Just Saturday morning my mom was talking to my younger brother and telling him where she was headed and he couldn’t believe I was doing a triathlon. He said “Liz?! She’s fat!!” I know… right?? So… it’s great. I am really excited to continue on this journey, to get better, to be healthier and to improve.

And honestly, the most exciting part is that I have SO MUCH to improve on, it really can only get better!

Filed under: Triathlon, Goals, Just for fun, Nutrition, Joys of Life, Race Report