Abu Dhabi Triathlon - Please, wish me luck!!!

So this year is a big birthday year for me.  Yup, the big 4-0.  So in anticipation of entering a whole new decade, I decided that I need to do something big.  No, not like move 1/2 way around the world.  That was very 39 (okay, that was bigger but doesn't count since it was the wrong year).  Like sign up for a triathlon.  So I did - Abu Dhabi International Triathlon - here I come!  It's a strange distance - swim and run are Sprint distance (750m and 5K respectively) but bike is more than double the standard distance (50 km instead of 20 km) - so although nothing like a 1/2 Ironman or anything, this is no slouch of a race for someone like me.  Never mind that the move (and heat when we arrived) significantly curtailed my ability to exercise for many months.  Or that I'm not particularly athletic or good at cycling, or swimming...or especially running.  I think my brothers still remember the year I told Jake that I would be able to run 10 miles before the end of the year (this was years ago).  Some come December 30th, we all go out in the Arkansas cold (doing this in California before our Christmas trip to Arkansas would have been much smarter).  I don't remember how slow I was (s---l---o---w).  I think it was probably painful to watch.   But I did finish it.

My ambition is really just to finish while still having a smile on my face.  Back in '02 I did the Wildflower Triathlon (Olympic distance so run and swim were longer than this one).  I was so relieved when it was over, I burst into tears when I crossed the finish line.  I was honestly just glad that difficult race, (for me!) was over.  There was an unusual heat wave that day and I remember that the temperature got up to 93 degrees - a fair change from training in the 50s and 60s in San Francisco.

Emirates Palace Hotel - the swim
will take place on their beach.

The swim of this race takes place in the open waters of the Arabian Gulf (known as the Persian Gulf on the other side of the water) in front of the Emirates Palace hotel which is the most famous hotel here.   The waters are crystal blue and the temperature is just right this time of year for an open swim.  Chilly enough that we won't overheat but not so cold that they require a wetsuit. *Much* more pleasant than swimming in the ice cold San Francisco Bay.

Yas Island - part of the bike leg

The bike ride will leave the city and go out towards Yas Island.  Yas Island is all new development.  It's where the Formula 1 race takes place and the giant new amusement park (Ferrari World) which just opened in November.  There is some really interesting modern architecture out there - the Yas Hotel looks *really* interesting.  I will bike out across Saadiyat Island and turn around once we get to Yas Island.  The longer races get to do a loop (or two for the longest race) around the Formula One race track.

Run will be along water/ beach
area (Corniche)

The run goes along the Corniche which is a pretty road between the beach and the big downtown high rises (Jake's work is the curvy building on the right).  It's a lovely place to run with lots of views of the water and this is where the main spectators will gather.  I'm hoping we'll get a decent breeze off the water as well to cool us off a bit.

The triathlon is filled up so there were definitely people who wanted to do the race but couldn't.  I feel fortunate that I signed up in time.

Ok, so those are the details of the race, but what I know you are all wondering is if I am ready?  Three weeks ago I think I would have been more confident than I am now but it may just be pre-race jitters.  I've planned for several years to do a triathlon when I turned 40 but I envisioned doing it with Team in Training (many friends have done events with that impressive organization that raises money for leukemia while getting you very ready for a race).  Unfortunately nothing like that exists here so I've been very much on my own for training.  I'm not the most disciplined person in the world when it comes to working out *and* I don't like to do a lot of things by myself (you can ask my friend Nibal - I don't even like to clean out closets on my own) so this has been a real undertaking for me to pretty much do all my training completely on my own.  So given that background, I am very proud of what I've been able to accomplish.

Exhausted me after my trial-run.  It was my hottest training day
and it really took it out of me.  I made it but was beat!

I did increasingly longer "long" workouts once a week (in addition to a lot of individual and combination workouts during the week).

Two weeks ago I did what I thought would be the full length of the triathlon.  It was one of those pretty hot days and it was really hard (but I did it!).  I did come and collapse inside the house for about 15 minutes after I got home so it was no cakewalk.  Jake took this picture because he thought it was pretty funny.  I have since learned that it will take me longer to do the bicycle portion so my race tomorrow will be a little longer (but I did a longer run on that day so I'm hoping it will be pretty equivalent).  The week prior I did probably 75% of the race (on a nice cool day) and felt great afterwards.

I did start working once a week with a swim coach about a month ago to get my swim stroke in better shape.  I also made a new friend through that connection (Catherine who moved here from San Francisco so we have that connection) and she generously went on a couple of open water training swims with me.  I am feeling very confident about the swim and even wish it were longer (and the cycle portion was shorter!).

I am probably least prepared for the bicycle portion.  For a non-cyclist, 50km is LONG!  I don't feel comfortable riding a bike on the roads here with the crazy driving that goes on (and lots of roundabouts which seem like a suicide mission for cyclists).  The Formula 1 race track is open once/ week for training so that's where I've done all my non-stationery bicycle training.  I didn't get out there quite as much as I would have liked (and many thanks for my friend Sara's brother (Asim) who took me out there the first time to see where to go).  I don't own a road bike so I had to rent one from a shop in Dubai (I actually had to rent two different bikes as neither of the the two bike shops had one available for training and for the race.  So I rented one for training and had to drive back to Dubai to swap out this week for a different bike for the race.  My training bike was much fancier looking but I think this one may be nicer?  I don't know enough about bikes to really know though. So between wanting to minimize my expense on bike rental fees and a week of sick kids that prevented me from getting to Yas and one or two weeks that the training sessions were closed to training, I only made it out to the Yas Island training circuit a few times to train.  All the rest of my bicycle training took place inside in a gym on a stationary bike (which just isn't the same but it did strengthen my legs quite a bit).

Running.  I feel fine about running this leg (which is a big improvement over my last triathlon when it was clearly my weakest link - I'm still thankful for my good friend Lisa who ran most of the way with me - cheering me on).  But even though I'm in better shape for this run, it's after all the rest that makes me hope I still have the energy left!  Which brings me to my biggest concern.  The weather has been *amazing* for training and for triathlons for several months - especially for January until now when I've been training the most.  When I first started training (a little) in November, there were definitely some days where it was really too hot to run outside but it's been great since then.  We had 3 really hot days two weeks ago but that passed.  Unfortunately a heat wave rolled in 2 days ago (or maybe it's not a heat wave and it just means that winter is over??).  I'm really concerned that I'm not really used to working out in this heat.  It's not horrible but it may be over 90 when I am doing the run.  A far cry from my training which has been in the high-60s and low-70s.  So a repeat from my triathlon 9 years ago when the unexpected heat wave hit me harder than I expected?  I hope not and hope the heat doesn't affect me too much.

Gear all bagged up (separate bag for each leg)

So here is a picture of all my gear all ready to get dropped off at the transition points which I took today.  This race is incredibly well-organized.  The transition zones are not near each other but they will manage to all our stuff to us near the finish line (well, I hope).  So be sure and root for #1446!  No matter how tomorrow goes, I feel fit, I've lost the last of my baby weight and feel very healthy going into an important and exciting decade ahead!

Jake made some signs for the girls to hold.  Even though I want to end this race with a smile on my face, seeing four wonderful, adorable little girls all lined up holding these signs rooting me on might just be enough to make me all teary-eyed.  I could only get two to pose for pictures today - hopefully Jake will get all four of them holding signs tomorrow.

Stay tuned - I'll give a report after tomorrow as to how it all went.  Wish me luck!!

2 of my 4 junior cheerleaders (Jake is the main one and has been
a big help on helping me organize my training)