Triathlon - the day after

Thank goodness for Tylenol 8 hour! I first used it a few years ago when I ran in the Phoenix Rock 'n Roll marathon where I was part of a study comparing the effectiveness of Tylenol 8 hour in reducing muscle pain and soreness after running the marathon. This stuff works! I started taking it yesterday after the triathlon, and will continue through today.

Other tactics to reduce muscle soreness and recover after a hard event or workout:
- Rehydrate for the next 24 hours. I drank a bunch of water, Gatorade, and V8 right after the race and throughout the evening and into today. V8 is a summertime post-race favorite because I'm craving sodium due to all the sweating.

- Eat every 2-4 hours to fuel recovering muscles. This part is easy! I brought food with me to the triathlon, plus they had bananas and pizza for the racers. We had too-ripe bananas at home, so I made banana bread last night, using a healthy and delcious recipe from http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=549764 Add in some fruit, salad, BBQ chicken, yogurt/fruit smoothie, peanut butter sandwiches and I'm feeling great!

- Stretch. I sat in the shade yesterday after the race, chatting with the other racers and stretching while we listened to the race results and cheered for the winners. At home, I used the stick, a great tool for self-massage of sore muscles. Check it out at http://www.roadrunnersports.com/rrs/products/HSP003/ It really helps get the kinks out.

- Rest. Yesterday I took it easy after the triathlon. Today is another rest day: no running, biking, swimming, or weight-lifting. Just some more stretching and using the stick. Tomorrow I'll get back into activity with a run and hopefully bike ride.

Feeling great!

Triathlon completed!

My August challenge is finished! Today I completed the Lake Dunmore Triathlon, which is the Olympic distance of a .9 mile swim, 28 mile bike, and 6K run.

The weather was perfect: not too hot, a few clouds, and a light breeze. I met some helpful and friendly 40- and 50-something women as we were racking our bikes and getting our gear ready before the race began. That's the great thing about triathlons: some people are super-fast and very competitive, but everyone is willing to share suggestions and tips (and tire pumps, if you forget yours!)

The swim was two laps around a line of buoys parallel to the shore in Lake Dunmore, in Brandon, VT. The start of the swim is always hectic, with everyone running into the water and jockeying for position. Even though I'm comfortable in the water and have been swimming for years, it's still a bit nerve-wracking. I used the breaststroke for the first few minutes until everything settled down, then switched off between the crawl (faster) and the breaststroke (I could see where I was going) for the rest of the swim. Piece of cake!

Run to the transition area, where I stripped off my swim cap and goggles, dried my feet and slid on bike socks and shoes, put on my helmet and sunglasses, grabbed part of a Clif bar and water, and headed out on my bike. Again, two laps mostly around Lake Dunmore. I pedaled faster than usual, and passed a few people climbing up the relatively few hills. But then THEY passed ME on the way back down the hills! I guess I need aero bars to make me more aerodynamic.

Back to the transition area where all the bike gear comes off, running socks and shoes go on, plus a hat (both to keep the sun off my face and to hide the horrible hair-do I'm left with after swimming and biking), and my waist belt with water, Accelerade, and Gu. At the start of the run my legs are shaky from biking, and it takes a good 10 minutes to work out the kinks and settle into a regular stride. Thank goodness for shade along the course, because by this time it was getting hot! The water at the water stops was used to douse my head to help cool me off (I drank the water and Accelerade I carried with me). Everyone on the out and back course was friendly and encouraging, with shouts of "Looking great!" and "Almost finished!" from just about everyone.

A final surge through the finish chute, with a time of 3:21:28. Certainly not a very fast time (I came in 5th out of 7 women in the 45-49 age group bracket) but I wasn't last, either. Plus, I had a lot of fun, met great people, and completed my goal.

Check out http://www.vermontsun.com/triathlon.html for more info on the Vermont Sun triathlon series and race results. Maybe next year I'll set my sights on the Half-Ironman....