tri countdown part I: predicting an uphill battle
so many thoughts are swirling around in my head. it's mostly normal pre-race anxiety, but i've got a couple of concerns: the 1st is high altitude. this is the denver danskin. my sister warned me about the altitude, but i admit i initially dismissed her concerns. that's b/c i hadn't had much discomfort other than slight fatigue and dehydration the last two times i was out there. i worked out in a gym there last time w/o feeling particularly out-of-shape. but this is a longer endurance event, and i'll likely feel more wiped or uncomfortable than than i would doing the same activity here at home. remember how in 2003, when i came back after spending a month there, i exercised with much more ease? will the reverse happen next week?
my doctor, who is from CO, medically cleared me for the race. when i expressed concern about altitude, he mentioned a drug he sometimes prescribes to prevent altitude sickness, called Acetazolamide--brand name "Diamox". i recognized it as a drug some of my clients at work take for glaucoma or epilepsy. this medication also prevents altitude sickness by changing the pH-balance/alkalinity of blood and urine. but he said that since aurora (the triathlon location) is on high prairie but not actually in the mountains, it was my choice. then i discovered it's a "sulfa" drug, so its possible side effects made me rule it out. instead, i'll exert my best & honest effort and let the chips fall where they may. hopefully i don't get too out-of-breath or badly dehydrated in the process.
speaking of elevation, my 2nd worry is the bike portion. it's supposed to be HILLY, and well�i haven't biked many hills locally. boy was i wrong when i signed up for the denver race thinking it'd be flat! you see, many people assume denver is hilly and mountainous, but it's actually on flat prairie/plateau just before you reach the foothills of the rocky mts. so it's wide open grassland. but as i've now learned, there are still "gentle rolling hills" there, which is a euphemism for "hilly". my sister's friend who is doing the tri with us, checked out the bike route recently, and reported it was tough, that she felt her thighs burn, that those rolling hills were deceptively hard b/c it felt like an unrelenting incline.
HA HA--to think that i decided against the Boston or Seattle Danskins b/c of their hills! i should have considered doing the Chicago Danskin instead--just imagine how fast i'd be zipping along that flat midwestern course! but each leg of a triathlon comes with unique challenges, which is expected. i feel least prepared woefully underprepared for the bike part since i'm so new to cycling. BUT, i think there's more than one way to skin a cat, and if it takes me 1+ hours to finish the bike course, and/or means getting off my bike and walking it up some hills, so be it. i'll do it. at least it's scenic, and if i'm slow, i might as well enjoy the gorgeous backdrop of the front range rocky mts while i'm at it rather than curse the entire 12 miles! (there's my optimism speaking)!
[�tri talk be continued later�]
**{NOTE: i'm a participant, not a competitor. please don't confuse this with olympic or ironman competitions, b/c before you truly conclude i'm crazy, i must clarify that this is a "sprint" length triathlon}.
