So after a couple months of no training due to ulcerative colitis, I've signed up for my new A race this year: Big Kahuna 70.3 in Santa Cruz in September. So training commenced on July 1 and I'm finally getting back into the swing of things. I'm still not 100% yet... this bugger is mild, fortunately, but also tenacious. And so while I continue to lose weight while training (and I have very little left to lose) I'm piling on the calories to make up for it. Thanks be to Carbo-Pro which I now mix into everything!
This morning I swam in the 1.2 mi Catfish Crawl OWS, which I was concerned about as my stamina in the pool is just not there yet. But it was a gorgeous day, totally calm water, and I cut 3:46 off last years' time and lucked out by getting 2nd AG!
I say "lucked out" because 39:15 Garmin (39:50 official clock) should not have gotten me 2nd, but there were only 6 non-fast swimmers in my AG. I have never been remotely close to a podium spot, so during the awards I was sitting on the bus chatting with the girls waiting to be driven back to the parking lot. Then a friend came through and said, "hey, you should go claim your award, they called your name." Doh!
So my one chance at a lovely podium photo went out the window. Needless to say, it was all quite motivating, and I've needed a bit of motivation on the swim. I'm pleased with my sighting... I wore my Garmin in my swim cap and was happy to see a near-perfect map. Let's see if I can replicate that on race day.
Last thought for today: I've been on an experiment with a lower carb, low sugar diet as it's needed for ulcerative colitis, but of course with all the sugary gels and drinks it's tough to do this as an athlete. My next post will share more about how I'm doing it and how it's working.
