Monday, 7/15/13 Rest day and triathlon transition "clinic" for cousin Shayna

I decided to do a juice cleanse on Sunday so it was a good time to do a 3-day cleanse since I had the day off on Monday too.  The day went fairly easily.  I wasn't hungry and I was ready to keep going on Monday.

Monday during the day at work really wasn't bad either; I wasn't "hungry" per se, but I missed chewing food!  On my way home from work, I needed to go grocery shopping for when the juice fast was over and that was likely a poor decision!  :)  I ended up deciding to eat a sensible dinner of FOOD rather than juice.

After my dinner, I headed over to Shayna's apartment to talk her through triathlon transitions...

Shayna in Africa

She is doing her first triathlon this summer (Chicago) and had some questions about how to set up and do a transition.  Instead of going to Northerly Island (our first plan), we decided to meet up in her living room and just lay it all out and have me give her some tips and hints and making transitions easier.  In the scheme of things, Shayna could've completed a sprint triathlon the day she signed up; she is fit and she is a strong swimmer (where many people are nervous in triathlon).  She is riding a hybrid bike with tires that could ride through a mud pit and she isn't going to be clipped in.  This girl is tough!!  That is EXACTLY the way I did my first triathlon (in a relay, no less) and it's a great way to start.  Not a ton of time invested, not a ton of $$ invested and almost assuredly success and time improvement down the road virtually guaranteed by just buying and riding a road bike.  I think, despite her travel requirements for work, she's going to get hooked after this!

A typical transition area

I think now that she's seen how to set it up and since we talked through some faster options and ideas, she will be able to mentally go through it while she's traveling the next couple weeks for work.  Hopefully this will lessen her stress about it too.  When she's back in town, we'll have two weeks before her race to practice together at Northerly Island. 

I should be in taper mode then too, so I can practice and think about my own transitions (which will be VERY different) for Ironman since they're enclosed -and I intend to actually change clothes between disciplines- and get comfortable with my race decisions and transition plan.

In the meantime, I am still firming up my race plan and my visualizations for Ironman and need to get my "assignments" done for my coach and monthly coaching meeting!