Brush Your Shoulders Off...YOU DID IT!

Welp, that's a wrap, folks. You did it! Congratulations! If this was your first triathlon, you have my permission to walk tall for the rest of the week. If this was just another flash in the pan during your season of races, a round of applause equally. That was a tough course! Weird how a place so beautiful can be so unforgiving...

Mike Wollinger and Noelle McKay,
after finishing the afternoon race, in quite the daze.

We had a gorgeous morning for the first race, and come second race the clouds were compassionate by blocking out the worst of the sun's rays.  Overall a total of 89 triathletes registered, making the event a success for Mainstay and Housing Assistance. In first place for the Advanced Triathlon overall was John Henis with a time of 1:45:08. Second place was Karen Masson close behind at 1:49:07, and third place was first-time triathlete, Clayton Sanders, with a time of 1:55:36.  For the Novice Triathlon, the top three were Scott Laffin came in first with a time of 58:23, Ed Lilly came in second at 1:02:41, and Brian Augustine was a cool 5 minutes behind him at 1:07:20. 

Me crossing the finish line!

My experience was strenuous but ultimately so rewarding. 100 meters into the swim I was ready to give up. Everyone was splashing around me, people zipping past me like they were shooting for gold, no shores to be seen, and the vast, open sky above me made me feel exceptionally abandoned. But after flopping around for 50 strokes or so, I made it to the bridge and then it was gravy.  Enclosed in the channel, it became much easier for me to forge ahead to the next buoy, and then the next, and then the next, until I had passed two swimmers from the first wave and left two swimmers from my own wave in my wake. That ego boost was equivalent to a whole box of energy gels. I finished the race in 2:40, winning in the Athena category for the Advanced race. (Athena = women >150lbs. I may have been one of two who had the guts to put their actual weight down on registration. Eh, I'll take it.) 

Volunteers and participants enjoy Terry Foxworth's delicious
bar-b-q and Sierra Nevada's generous donation of beer.

Bikers coming out of the 10K bike course

Rodney Robinson was the (evil?) mastermind behind the bike course. For those of who you were more technical mountain bikers, I heard it was a terrific ride, with all the narrow turns and bits of tree trunk to navigate around. Funny, that wasn't what it felt like from a novice perspective.. Still, many thanks to him for marking the trails and working with the organizations to come up with the best routes.  And to the volunteer lifeguard and kayakers out there on the water with us, your presence was most definitely a beacon of refuge for many panicked swimmers at one point or another - or maybe I'm just speaking for myself. Thank you to all the volunteers who helped set up the day before and who stayed after both races were over to clean up. You were ultimately responsible for alleviating worries of all parties involved, participants, organizers, and spectators alike. We can't thank you enough. 

To everyone who kept up with my blog during these last 7 weeks, I hope there was at least one nugget of advice from here that you took with you to Lake Summit.  It was great getting a chance to meet a few of you out there who were in the same boat as I, being totally new to this experience. I had the fortunate opportunity to be interviewed by someone from the Hendersonville Times who also kept up with my blog. Gotta say, that was icing on the cake. :-) Unfortunately/fortunately Housing Assistance nor Mainstay are organizations who put on triathlons on the regular, so this is it for for that subject. However, we hope you will continue following Housing Assistance's blog that will keep you up to date on all the happenings of our sweet organization. We'll be adding volunteer opportunities, DIY tips on basic home maintenance, and other pertinent information related to housing in Henderson County. Definitely check back every now and then, as we thrive on your attention (seriously, I've been refreshing the stats page of Google Analytics since the moment I started this blog. I crave your attention, people.)

Stefanie Kompathoum of HAC and Mainstay Executive Director,
Tanya Blackford, are soooo happy the race is finally over.

Reasons to Tri

Last Friday a friend and I stood outside the REI in Asheville for three hours dressed in full triathlon-garb, trying to reign people with our attractive spandex and knee-high socks.  It worked...sort of. One volunteer and a handful of "Yeah, I'll check that out".  At least we looked good, though!...right?

With the triathlon only 9 days away, here at the Housing Assistance and Mainstay, our efforts to get people to register have doubled.  As have our stress levels. Yesterday we had another grueling meeting tackling all sides of logistics (who knew there were so many facets to consider when organizing a triathlon?)  But as we sort through all the necessary kinks to make this event run as smoothly as possible and all loose ends are tied, we sometimes forget our own bottom line: raising money so we may continue serving our community efficiently.  I want to take a breather from the training tips and turn the spotlight on the organizations that are making all this happen. We get so caught up in the physical preparation (which is, don't misunderstand me, extremely necessary) that we forget about who is really benefiting from our participation.

The Housing Assistance Corporation (HAC) is a private, non-profit organization committed to providing safe and affordable housing for persons of limited income, serving those living in Henderson County and surrounding areas. Their programs include Self-Help housing, a sweat-equity building scheme where neighbors help each other build their own home; a home-repair program for people who may be physically or financially unable to maintain the condition of their homes; a credit counseling program to ease people into home-ownership; as well as developing beautiful multi-family complexes for low-income individuals. The development of Oak Haven, a low-income senior living community, was just completed this month. One resident says of the apartments, "They're more like mainstream apartments than traditional handicap places." "I don't feel like I'm being put into an ugly, utilitarian place. These are beautiful." The grand opening will be held at Oak Haven Apartments on Old Spartanburg Hghw September 21 - open to the public!

In Henderson County, based on projected in come and population growth, an estimated 482 units of affordable rental housing and 138 units of single family housing will be needed each year for the next ten years.  However, current development plans project annual construction of only 30 units of affordable rental units and 20 units of single family housing[1]. Therefore it is imperative that a region deeply rooted in agriculture and rural neighborhoods has access to the affordable housing accommodations that HAC provides.  

This triathlon is HAC's biggest fundraising event of the year. This year will also be the organization's 25th anniversary.  Help them ring in their silver anniversary by showing your support.  Because they "believe every human being deserves the opportunity to live in a decent home."

Mainstay is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization and is best known to the public for its shelter for battered women and their children. One of the largest in Western North Carolina, their facility has twenty-three beds and six cribs. While the shelter is, without a doubt, a critical part of the agency's programming, Mainstay is more than a shelter as they offer a variety of services to the community. Programs include a 24-hour response telephone line and 34 bed emergency shelter, individual counseling for adult victims and their children, case management, court advocacy and support groups.  These groups emphasize anger management skills and encourage individuals to take responsibility for their actions. Outreach services are available to the community through their Family Services Center.

In 2011, 120 shelter beds were offered to women, 92 beds to children; the average length of time spent at the shelter was 34 nights; 200 individuals participated in the Family Violence class.

Mainstay is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. A broad range of services, provided by a small paid staff and over 100 dedicated volunteers, are available to the individuals and families that we serve. Mainstay continues to rely on the generosity of the community for donations of money, time, and goods for our shelter, store, and other programs.

 Over time, Mainstay has evolved from a strictly crisis-driven agency to one striving to develop longer-term services addressing community needs such as low-income housing and the unavailability of medical, mental health and substance abuse resources, especially for the uninsured. An additional concern is the risk to children who are homeless due to domestic violence or poverty.

This is Mainstay's 7th triathlon that they are hosting. By supporting the triathlon you are also helping to sustain the persistent and efficient care Mainstay provides to the whole community of Hendersonville, NC. 

So this next week, as you are preparing your minid for what is promised to be a fulfilling and fun event, keep these two organizations in your thoughts as well. If completing the race isn't enough for yourself, then do it for the Housing Assistance Corp and Mainstay! 

[1] Asheville Regional Housing Consortium Housing Needs Assessment and Market Study, November 2009.

Week 2 of Training

One week has passed since I've begun my training for the Mountain Medley Triathlon.  In that time I've run a total of 12 miles, biked a total of 25 miles, and swam for a total of 200 meters. (Hey, you gotta start somewhere.)

I want to share with you a few amateur tidbits I've picked up over the last week through my meager training experience thus far. Please don't read any of this information as the final word on triathlon training because I'm not a professional trainer, and I'm most certainly not a professional triathlete. But those of you who are beginners and are desperately looking to an equally lost, equally sadistic soul for guidance, I think you can trust my words. At least to give you some sanity and some peace of mind in your process. So without further ado, my instinctual, sage wisdom -- for free!

 Keep these three rules in mind
and you'll be winning races in no time! 

Rule One: Remember what you're getting yourself into!! Really, though, I'm not trying to insult your intelligence, obviously you know that this full triathlon is a 800m swim, a 6-mile bike-ride, and 10K run. It's on the website, on the pamphlets - you get it. You might be able to bike 10 miles, no-hoh sweat. You might even be able to run 6 miles, no sweat! Both of those activities, for me anyway, might take an hour each to finish. But when it comes to putting them together, you cannot be so egotistical. You forget that you have to put them all together. At least... it slipped my mind, anyway.
So yesterday I practiced, as I do, and I did some hills on the bike. Five times up a hill, back down, and then back again. Five times. And it was brutal. But just to see how it felt, I took off my cleats, put on my running shoes and took off on a relatively flat grade. Oh. My word. That was the moment I doubted my decision to sign up for this event. Immediately I thought, "I need to tell Noelle right now that I need to do the mini triathlon because there is NO way I'll be able to handle all this at once." I had only biked but a mile, but the minute my leg muscles readjusted to standing, I thought my legs were going to throw in the towel without warning - it was a worthless effort. Why was I even attempting to move them?? I should have been walking. I should have been sitting, honestly.
But I kept going, just to see how it felt. And it's funny how much your body can adapt. A few yards out I fell into a pace. Not a fast one. But it was a pace. And it was comfortable. And I was able to keep going a little bit further, keeping the pace. And then after a mile I turned up a hill to go back home, and at that point, it truly was time to turn in. Humility learned.


Rule Two: Show up in one piece. After all, you paid for the race - might as well be able to see it through, right? This entails stretching at least 5 minutes before and after you do any practice.  Also, when you're training to put these activities together, whether you're biking after swimming, or running after biking, or any combination of the above, remember to keep your form. Don't flail your arms, don't let your feet clobber the ground beneath you. You'll hurt your knees that way. Make sure you're maintaining bodily integrity throughout the duration of your training. What I mean by that is, have control over your body. It helps you stay present throughout the duration of your training, and it'll be easier to monitor your progress when the form stays the same.

Rule Three (and this is the most important one): At the end of the day, after you train, regardless of how long you were out, or far you went, or how much effort you felt you put in, be so proud of your accomplishments. You have the confidence to do this. And you have the will-power to do it. Clearly you do, you're training for it after all! Don't put yourself down ever - be thankful and be grateful for any amount of energy you put forth. Because if you really want it, you'll do it. That's how it goes. Don't worry too much about meeting a personal record, or worry that you might be at the tail end of the pack come Race Day. Show up feeling positive and the rest will sort itself out as you go.

In summation, yesterday was great. Even though the biking was brutal, and that the third hill felt more like the third ring of Hell, and the running looked more like limping, it was great. I went inside dripping with sweat, bright red, and looked at the clock: 7:06. I remembered I had only left at 6:20. Meaning that was only 40 minutes worth of work. And I'm looking at a race that might take up to three hours to finish. Crrrrraaap.