Triathlon at Retirement

A lot has happened since my last post. Training has been going well, and I have been getting stronger and faster.  In April, I signed up for the Texasman triathlon, serving as the North Texas Championship. During the swim, a storm came in and it became the most difficult swim I have ever done, waves were big! I am comfortable in big waves, but I was not fast. I think the swim got canceled for the Olympic group that had a later start. Fortunately, no one got in serious trouble. I felt strong, won my class and became Grand Master too! Thats quite an achievement as Grand Master is for 55 and older, and I am 68. In May it was time for Multisport Nationals. I had signed up for two duathlons and one triathlon. It started with supersprint duathlon and considering all my injuries and illnesses, I did very well and secured second place! I think my speedwork on the treadmill gave results. But I was tired, clearly not well trained. I was so tired, I decided to not participate in the supe...

After winter triathlon nationals, I am happy to report that I have been healthy and training is progressing okay. I added some vitamin supplements to my diet, and I suspect that has been helpful. My bad left leg has slowly healed, and I have very carefully added som running in my training. At first, just a few minutes, often at the end of biking or after half an hour on the elliptical. With a few days in between sessions, I have progressively added time and speed. Most of it has been done on the treadmill, because there I can control and understand exactly what load I am taking.  My last successful run was 7 X 4 minutes intervals with 1-3 minutes rest at an average of 8.40 per mile at inclination 0.5. Fine, that is competition speed! A week ago, I did a "safe" powerwalk with my dog in the neighborhood including some large hills. The day after my left leg was screaming. It looks like the problem is uphill. With just a week to go to US Nationals in cross triathlon, I took it ea...

It has been a while, but I have not been idle. Despite infections and injuries, I have continued to train and race as best as I can. I did have a course of antibiotics in January when another cold continued to a chest infection. Due to problems with running, I have started to work on the elliptical in the gym, and I can get a fairly effective workout with the right resistance. It saves my running legs, and it also imitates cross country skiing, so a double benefit! The big goal was the winter triathlon in early February. It was actually two events in one, as it combined with the Empire State Winter Games (ESWG) which is like a mini winter Olympics at Lake Placid, where the real winter Olympics have been held 1934 and 1970! There is lot of infrastructure, ice rinks, skating oval, ski jumping, bob sled and luge tracks. And of course, tons of snow and skiing opportunities, both downhill and cross country. Games took place February 6-9 and winter triathlon Friday the 6th at 9 am, followed ...

My last post was mostly about my illnesses and injuries.  I did some decent bike training during December; due to my left leg I stayed off running. I tried to compensate for the lack of running by walking uphill, which I can do, and it works for zone 2 endurance training. I also spent a lot of time in the gym doing strength and yoga which definitely gave some results. Unfortunately, my regular pool closed temporarily, so I did not get much swim training. Over Christmas, I was in Toronto with family. A stationary bike gave me some really good Zwift workouts, and I traveled to a cross-country track and got 2 days of skiing in, almost 25 miles. I did not catch flu or a cold on the flights! Instead, I caught a cold at home. My husband got it on the same day too. After 5 days, he was fine. Despite resting, I went into a secondary nasty chest infection that I am now dealing with. No training for another week. World Championship in winter triathlon is definitely out of the window. Just tr...

Last year was not my best sport performance year. I had a meniscus injury that severely hindered my running training, I had Covid and I had the flu. Altogether, there were too many breaks in training, and it showed in the results. I still placed in nationals, even won nationals in winter triathlon, but all my times were slower by about 10%. This year was going to be different, at least that was the plan... Well, I plan and reality rules. The meniscus injury is much better but not completely gone. Now I have added a brand-new injury in the other leg, seems like a strained hamstring. In August the problem was not there at all, but I started to feel it a little bit in September. I rested, I stretched, I warmed up every time, but it has got worse and worse. Last week, on dog agility training I felt it burn. That was it, now I cannot run at all. In between my leg injuries, I have also dealt with a big cold and a UTI. I forgot to mention a tooth infection and a root canal.  In fact, this...

My sports watch (Coros Apex) died suddenly in July, and it took several weeks before I had a new watch, so I did not upload anything to Strava for about a month! It was the battery that gave out. I was sitting calmly reading and I felt something on my left arm. After a while, I realized it was the watch heating up. I took it off and it got hotter and hotter in my hand, so I had to throw the watch into the sink to not get burned. It was quite scary how fast it got so hot. I now see how small batteries can cause a fire. I have read on-line that this has happened to other people, with various common brands. As my watches newer last more than a few years, I do not want to spend a ton of money. I have been happy with my Coros, so I got the updated version of the same one: Coros Apex 2 (pictured here). Hopefully the battery does not misbehave on the new watch. The old watch lasted about four years. I have a theory that the 220V in Europe is harsh on the American charging systems that normall...

Orienteering is going back to my Swedish roots; it was my first serious sport. I still love it; it is a hard physical challenge with a serious mental component. Orienteering is a big sport in Scandinavia; my American friends fell off their chairs when the world championship was headlined and shown on the national news television. Oringen 5-day competition is one of the most important events for age group racers. This year, over 15,000 participants from 10 years old to over 90 competed every day!  I signed up for the female 65-69 long course, there is also a short course and an easy course in each age group. There were about 120 people overall in my age group. Each day, my course lasted about 45 to 70 minutes for me to complete. Five different finish lanes to accommodate incoming runners. I definitely have lost my edge in pure orienteering skills which is not surprising as I have only practice about twice a year for the last 35 years. Fortunately, I did not make any serious orientee...