Friday, March 25, 2011
Need to learn to swim to complete your first triathlon? Is the swim holding you up on reaching your triathlon goals? Then join RTB's Beginner Swim Class in April.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Mercer Island sightings...
Saturday, March 19, 2011
At long last.....the new webpage is here!!!
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
Bike today starting at the south end of soos creek trail on the Lake Meridian Tri course.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Meet the Team Ride tomorrow 9 AM. Meet at the Soos Creek Trail head by Lake Meridian.
Saturday, March 26 Swim Sign up- Correct link: http://weraisethebar.com/specialswims.html
Fun seeing everybody at Kent Easthill PT last night!
Thanks for hosting us, George & Patti – and thanks Alissa, Phil, and Josh for answering questions and spreading the good multisport news.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Announcing Powerbar's sponsorship of RTB's 2011 Events
Thanks Powerbar for fueling the athletes of the Summit Plummet, Lake Meridian Triathlon, and Friday Night Swim Race. www.powerbar.com
Training and Racing Meeting Thursday 7 PM at Kent Easthill Physical Therapy.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Thanks for the memories @cycleution
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Friday, March 04, 2011
Karen Nolting's Terrible, Horrible, Rotten, No Good, Very Bad Day Training!
Written by Karen Nolting: 3/3/2011
I don't see myself as a negative person and certainly not an athlete with a negative attitude. At least I hope I'm not and I hope others don't perceive me as negative. I might even say I have an even temperament. I'm not super emotional and am pretty logical and matter of fact. If and when things don't go my way I tend to brush it off and say to myself, "that sucked" and then I move on. But today I had to practice thinking positively. I had to practice A LOT! And it wasn't easy at times.
Most of you have had the kind of training day I'm about to describe. If not in the whole at least in parts. Especially if you have a few years of triathlon training under your belt. We triathletes tend to pick an event and a training plan and stick to it to succeed come hell or high water! So, I hope you'll appreciate my prose. It was cheaper than the ten sessions with a good therapist that I considered.
Today started as most of my Thursdays do. Up at dawn- scratch that. Up before dawn to the alarm for the early morning RTB swim workout! Driving to the pool I was already enthused about the day because there were no rain drops on my windshield and I was looking forward to my 3:15 bike ride outdoors! I had ridden far too often on the trainer lately due to snowy/cold weather. However, when I left the pool it was pouring rain and below forty degrees. As I approached home the weather cleared again and elation set in again. An outdoor ride with other friends and athletes is always better than a trainer ride.
I set about getting all my gear and nutrition ready and decided to get an early start on the group because of an appointment at 2pm. I was giddy with anticipation. I could imagine the feel of leaning into the corners, cruising down the hills and finding heart rate zone 4-5 as I pumped up the hills! Clothed in UnderArmour, winter gloves, headband, hand and foot Hotties, plastic bags wrapped around my shoes and my cozy team jacket I felt invincible! I lifted the garage door and discovered it was raining -but only lightly. Off I go on my black Felt stead. I am whipping around and feeling wonderful and free. It starts to rain a little harder. I go by Nancy's house and notice her upstairs workout room light is on and I know she is riding inside. I think to myself what a wise woman she is to be in out of the rain. Briefly I consider copying her wisdom. But I can't stop that lovely feeling of having real pavement under my wheels so instead of turning back toward home I go the other way to meet the group. I'm getting wetter. As the group gets ready I continue to ride a short loop to stay warm and to keep my early lead of time. Then off we go together. But, there is already mud in my chain and my hands are getting really cold. We ride a few miles together and now my hands are very painful. The prospect of getting farther from my warm home is starting to set in. My plastic bag shields around my shoes are failing already. I can feel my back is wet, my legs are cold and my gloves are already soggy. I say good bye to the group and start back to the house the long way. This way at least I have 90 minutes of riding done. By the time I get to my hill to get to my house my hands are painfully cold and I am having a hard time gripping the handle bars and brakes. I am on the edge and talking to myself so I don't completely lose it and burst into tears. I'm finally home! Now I have to at least rinse my bike off with a gentle hosing off. It's not that I' m that obsessive about my bike. Well, maybe I am a little obsessive about my beautiful bike. But really I just hate the thought of using a hammer and chisel to get the mud off of it later. So, I suck it up a few more minutes and rinse it off. So there is the negative side of the ride. The positive side: I had ninety minutes of pavement riding time and a brief time with friends to carry me through the rest of the day!
After peeling the wet, very muddy clothing off inside out and running my hands under hot water for several minutes I'm back in the saddle. This time the saddle is attached to my warm, dry, boring trainer. Not to worry though. I only have an hour and forty-five minutes of riding to do before my thirty minute run! And, I have several TV shows DVR'd! I'm getting a good workout in and ticking off the minutes when the SUN COMES OUT! Now, normally, the sun makes me smile and feel really good. Today, it was all I could do to choke back the tears. Positive side: I traded my sport drink in for a hot cup of cocoa! Can't do that outside on a bike in the rain.
I am elated when I realize I only have thirty minutes left on the trainer! But an odd squeaky sound is coming from underneath me. What could that be? Yep, my back tire is flat! I cannot figure out WHAT I have done to deserve this today. Maybe it was something I did last week. Something I said in a passing unaware state that left the other person feeling hurt. I must have been a real ass! "Never fear", I say to myself. I have my trusty pump in the garage and not much more time left on the bike. Off I pop, pump, pump,pump. On I pop, pedal, pedal, pedal. Ten minutes goes by and I think I'll be out of the woods and off the bike soon. And then I can feel the tire slip against the trainer and I know the tire is flat. My emotions fall again but I can't bear the thought of stopping before the allotted time. And I have that 2pm appointment deadline so I don't have time to change the flat. Besides, I think I probably will need a new tire too. Twenty minutes left. I decide to have a careful, easy cool down and stay on the flat tire and hope that by the time I am finished that I won't need a new wheel also. Positive side: I finished the ride and am so very happy to slip on my shoes and a dry shirt for my thirty minute run!
Now outside, may Garmin will not find the satellites again so I have to use my wrist watch. No heart rate or pace data. Oh well, I can run without it. As my legs loosen up and transition to the impact of pavement again I relax and take in the sights, sounds and smells of the great outdoors. Once again my spirits lift. What seemed impossible a little while ago is nearly done. I am seventeen minutes into my run when the sky opens and I am soaked for the third time today. I don't normally throw signs around but at that moment I choked back the tears again, threw up my middle finger to La Nina and said an expletive under my breath. I wanted to shout it but I was already embarrassed by my behavior and shunned any more negative attention I might draw from the neighbors that had come to their window to watch the downpour of rain. This is the time I started composing this tribute to my day. It was because I couldn't decide for a second if I really wanted to cry and that's when I started laughing. So anyway, I'm almost finished with my run so I buck up and pick up my speed. I turn the corner toward home and am hit by a full on head wind that slows my pace and sends the cold rain straight into my face. As I near the hill that leads to my house I ponder walking up it as a reward for persevering through the day. But on the rare occasions I walk the hill I am usually flagged down by a friendly, passing motorist/neighbor that always asks, "What's up? How come you're not running up the hill?" Let it be known that I have never been stopped while actually running the hill to be congratulated. And the friendly neighbor is always an arm chair athlete that may not be able to jog the yardage from the couch to the refrigerator-but I digress. My pride won't let me walk and as punishment for even THINKING I could walk I run an extra five minutes. Positive side: I am wearing my Boston Marathon base ball cap and warm polar fleece gloves. I am wet but not cold.
Back in the garage I strip off another pair of wet cloths and now have enough for a full washer load. Positive side: Alisa has started making cookies while I've been out. The sweet smell is engulfing the house. And as Erika says, "Now the house smells like love." I love my girls!
So, tomorrow is a new day of training and living. I have a bike to clean, a tire, tube and wheel to care for. Homemade cookies to eat. Each day gets us closer to spring and better weather. And it's always nicer when you can laugh at yourself and your situation rather than cry about it.
