Recently in community Category

Monday Monday - Friends

By 21st Century Mom on August 11, 2008 5:27 PM | 9 Comments

I had a very fine weekend in which I had a great run on Saturday (6 miles at 9:43/mile avg) and a lovely ride with my FMRC friends up Mt. Diablo. I did well. I'd like to thank my mojo for finding its way home to my legs. I missed you.

I did another thing Saturday, too. I worked an aid station at the Headlands 100 race so that I could cheer Donald on a bit and because being outside in the Marin Headlands beat the hell out of working around the house.

First I visited my friend Cynthia of No Regrets so that I could see her fabulous new house up in the hills of Marin. People, you don't know twisty, turny, tight roads until you go up there but I made it and I must say the place is really, really lovely. Cynthia is much relieved to have escaped the hinterboonies as she came to know her last place of residence. Most people call it 'The Gold Country' but the gold is long gone, replaced by a poor economy and people who are just not Cynthia's type.

I got to my aid station an hour late (poor form!) but not before Donald came through the first time at mile 46. When he did get there he looked better than me as is his habit

I worked that aid station long enough to see everything from the guy leading the 100 miler in record time to the people just barely making the cutoff for the 50 mile race. I hate to say it but a 50 mile race may be on my schedule some day. Certainly a 50K. Not possibly this course, though, which was really, really tough. I can't wait to see Donald's race report.

I saw him again, 14 miles further into the run and he still looked better than me. It's uncanny.

I sort of wished I'd stayed some more to see him at 80 miles but it was windy and freezing cold and getting dark so I headed home.

Today I had the pleasure of hosting Coach Tammy for lunch as she makes her way to her new life in Austin. It was so great to finally meet the woman who wrote Science Geek Tuesdays and a lot of other really great stuff. She is just as much fun in person as she is on the interwebs. Here is proof that she was here:

Notice the 21stCentury Motherly hug I gave her. Lunch was all too short but she had miles and miles to go and needed to keep moving.

I had another experience out at the aid station that I'll write about another time but it has to do with really knowing what you want and being comfortable doing it. I was very impressed with one of the runners who made a decision that no one could talk her out of and that she was totally at peace with. We should all be so centered.

For now I'll just say this - friends are great be they real time friends I've known for years and years (Cynthia), new real time friends (my riding partners from FMRC) or creepy internet friends (Donald, Tammy, et al). I'm really glad I have so many.

Monday Monday - Rockin' the Vineman

By 21st Century Mom on July 21, 2008 11:05 AM | 36 Comments

It all started Friday when I picked Jenny up from the airport and we took what seemed like an interminably long drive up to Santa Rosa - the traffic was nasty. Welcome to California, Jenny! We got there too late to go to the welcome reception and just decided not to worry about it and went out to dinner, instead.

Saturday we got up, put the bikes on the car and headed out to check out the course. While we were looking at the river me met another racer, Linda, from Santa Barbara. We all decided to drive the bike course and then ride the run course. Note - riding the bike course is long and boring. Riding it is way better.

While we were waiting for Linda Jenny saw a guy on the bike she is lusting after and in true Jenny fashion said, "you better be fast on that bike!" and then I looked at his helmet and saw the number 7 and remarked that he was a pro so he was probably fast. I was correct - he won the race with a time of 3:49.10 setting a new course record.

Shortly after that I realized that I had managed somewhere along the way to put on my cranky pants and basically had a melt down. I just started to panic that it was 3 PM, we hadn't eaten lunch and I NEED A REST! So I rode a little ways with Jenny and Linda and then I headed back to the hotel to eat and rest while they finished. Only I needed to eat first plus I went to the expo to get my bike checked and to buy a new tube and Jenny ended up back at the hotel before me. I managed to get about 20 minutes rest before it was time to shower and go to dinner but I was all better by then having eaten a ham and cheese sandwich and a smoothy. Then I had spaghetti carbonara for dinner. Can you say "oink*! (I gained 3 pounds this weekend so I guess my nutrition was ... ahem... adequate!)

Race Report

Sunday we were waking up at 4:45 to try to hit the road at 5:45 so we could get to Guernville, 30 minutes away and be ready for a 7:18 start time. That was already not enough time and little did we know how far away we would have to park. We got started late (6:00) and got to transition just about at 7:00. I did my best to hide my panic and just focus on finding rack space (we had to move other people's bikes to do it), set up, pull on the wetsuit and get to the water. Finally ready we headed the long, long way to the start and once we got to the beach 2 things happened. First, the announcer said it was time for our wave to get in the water and then I realized I had forgotten to put on my timing chip - OH NO! Jenny waited while I ran back to my T1 spot, put the chip on, ran back and immediately got in the water. We had about 3 minutes before our wave started. A little too close for comfort.

SWIM - The swim was absolutely typical for me. My goggles fogged up immediately and I could barely see where I was going the entire time. At one point I was smack dab in the middle of the channel separating out from back and I was not supposed to be there. I got back to the right place and just kept going. If only they would give extra credit for extra yards - I'd take first in the swim every time!

I am never quite comfortable in the swim - it just seems too long. I kept reminding myself that this would be the easiest part of my day and that I should just enjoy it and I sort of did except I had to keep stopping and clearing my goggles. No amount of spit has ever solved that problem. Must be time to get some of that anti-fog spray.

Swim time 44:04 - pretty much as planned.

T1 - I ran back to our racks and woke Jenny up from the little nap she was taking while she waited for me and worked as quickly as I could to dry off, put on arm warmers, Garmin, socks, shoes, helmet and glasses and we were off.

T1 time - 5:07 (a little bit slow but oh well).

Bike - the bike course for Vineman is just beautiful and really not very hard. There are some hills here and there but mostly it is gentle rollers and great scenery. My goal was to ride at an average of 16 mph for a 3:30 ride and Jenny was there to help me do that. The thing is, 16 mph is super slow for Jenny so she needed a strategy.

She's a smart one, that Jenny and she soon figured out that if she stopped and enjoyed the wine country she could just ride her normal pace and catch up to me so that's what she did. She visited a couple wineries, sampled some local fare, checked out a yard sale and asked them to put a few things aside for her, admired and played with babies the spectators had with them and just generally enjoyed the day. I think she might have attended a 'cooking with wine' class, too. When she'd had her fill of wine and cheese and bread and cooking and looking, she'd hop back on the bike and pass me and try to get me to pick it up. It was a beautiful plan.

Make no doubt about it, though - Jenny had me in her sights at all times:

There comes a time for me in every race where I have a very dark moment. I am filled with doubt and absolutely positive I have no business being out there. Vineman was no exception. I can't tell you how many times people would blow past me cheerfully shouting out words of encouragement - KEEP GOING! YOU'RE DOING GREAT! NICE JOB FORWARD MOTION! As nice as that is it only happens when you look pathetic and slow on your bike, a reality that is not lost on me. And so, at about mile 30 I was hating on myself, hating on triathlon and wishing I had just stayed home puttering in the garden and cleaning the house. And then I snapped out of it and remembered that I love my current level of fitness and that I was riding faster than I had ever ridden in a race before and that very few people are willing to toe the line at all and that I was doing something great and that I SHOULD JUST FOCUS AND PEDAL HARDER, DAMNIT! So I did.

Chalk Hill is 'the big one' of Vineman and honestly it just isn't that big. It also marks the beginning of the end because once you've made it up that hill you head down and to the finish line which is just some number of miles away. That's when I really picked it up. I even passed a woman in my age group and that was truly the highlight of my ride.

Bike time - 3:37:20 avg 15.5 mph. Close

T2
My feet were numb at the end of the ride because it was kind of a chilly morning but the approximately 800 mile run from dismount to our rack took care of that little problem. By the time I got there, swapped shoes, dropped the helmet for a cap and switched sunglasses my feet almost had feeling in them and I was ready to go!

T2 time - 4:44 which was still a little slow but oh well!

Run
The run was amazing. Jenny and I just ticked off those miles one after the other and I felt fine. I couldn't even believe I was running that strong after riding my bike for 56 miles - it was like a miracle. We went out too fast I think but it wasn't killing me and I just tried to focus on the fact that my breathing was okay and I was doing it - I was running strong! By then the weather had warmed up, the sun was sort of out but not beating down hard and we had a nice breeze. Every time we hit a mile marker Jenny would say ,"see that - ANOTHER mile down. We're just ticking them off! Pretty soon I'll be able to go pick up that stuff I bought at the yard sale!"

The run course was just as pretty as the ride course and was also a series of gentle rollers. I walked up the hills toward the top and we stopped at every aid station to drink or get salt or eat. We made 2 port-o-potty stops, as well. I never got sick and I felt pretty strong until the last 3 miles and then I started to fade a bit and my knees started to hurt. My glutes and quads were sort of sore, too but not unbearably so. Jenny just kept pep talking me telling me to empty my mind, focus on running, and remember "we only have 3 miles to go - we only have 2 miles to go" and then we only had 1 mile to go and the horse could smell the barn and was ready to finish!

We passed many, many people throughout the run and it was very satisfying. It validated that being a little conservative on the bike was a good plan for me for this race. Not that I intend to make that my strategy for every race but for this one it was the right choice.

Finally there it was - THE CHUTE! They called Jenny's name and then they called my name and she started yelling out to the crowd "First time Half IronMan here - doesn't she look strong!!" and the crowd roared and I threw my hands over my head and ran to to mats with a huge smile on my face. We did it!

Run time - 2:24.16 (11 min/mile) which is a 7 minute half marathon PR for me. booyah!

Total time 6:55.33 which met my goal of going sub 7.

Jenny has all the pictures - my camera just didn't seem to make it out of the bag. Have no fear, people - it happened and you'll see visual proof soon enough.

Shout outs
Jenny was a joy to have on this maiden voyage. She's a ton of fun to hang out with, she's easy to travel with and she kept me strong out on the course. I think it was a little hard for her to go so slow but she's feeling great and she has another Half Iron race next weekend. That's right - Jenny is doing back to back half iron distance races because that's how she rolls. She also missed the wedding of a very good friend to be here, a sacrifice that has not gone unnoticed, my friend. Thank you so much for being here with me and for me.

To several people in Forward Motion Race Club for mentoring and encouragement. In particular to Joe Foster and Monica Mazzocco-Zucker for bike help and to Chris McCrary for swimming and running help (I tried to lift my knees -I really did!). To Dana, Maggs, Liesbeth, Sharley, Carrie, Kelby and Roberta I send thanks for all of your words of encouragment.

Shout outs to the Good Doctor for all those early morning rides on Tuesday and Thursday. I hope we get to that next week. It made a difference. Double shout outs for telling me I needed to put on a little weght (tee!)

Thanks to every single other person out there who sent encouragement and who asked about the race and who gave me cheerful comments and wished me luck. It really does make a difference.

I'd also like to thank my bike for not breaking down on me or flatting. I am always so grateful to my bike when I get to T2 and nothing bad has happened. The bike's reward is that it is in the shop being cleaned and tuned up right now. I may not be able to ride until next Monday but I'll live with it.

Aftermath

My knees are still sore, my legs are getting more sore by the minute and what was a sore throat and some minor head congestion over the weekend has blown up in to a full scale head cold but in spite of all of that I feel great. I met my goal and did something extraordinary and find myself, once again, deeply thankful for my health and vitality and the inner drive and bravery to train up and toe the line. Life is good.

It's A Small World

By 21st Century Mom on July 18, 2008 9:28 AM | 7 Comments

Like a lot of you I am on Facebook and like a lot of you I am connected to other bloggers. Some of you read me and some of you are connected to people I'm connected to and so you connected yourself to me and that's all great because I love the internets and some of my favorite people in the world are my creepy internet friends.

There is one such person I am connected to in Facebook whose last name seemed kind of familiar. It tickled my brain ever so lightly from time to time but I just didn't make much effort to put it together with a memory. As it turns out I didn't have to make much of an effort to figure out why her name rang a bell because last night the reason exploded in my head like a piece of freshly lit flash paper.

I was going through a drawer full of some very old letters trying to see if I had kept any from a steamy little relationship I had with a college professor about a zillion years ago. I didn't find any from him but I did find one from an old friend and on it was a little note that said "ps - thus and so got officially married" and in that second I flashed on my niggling memory and wrote a note to Running Chick With an Orange Hat.

I'm sorry to have to report that I inadvertently made that note as maximally creepy as it could be. The note:

If the answer to this question is "yes" you will undoubtedly be slack jawed but first I need to ask the question.

Are your parent's names Thus and Such? If I've got that right let me know and I'll tell you a story.

Far be it from me to just say "I grew up in such and such town and knew these 2 people Thus and Such who had a daughter with your name. Is that you?" Oh no - Must be a drama queen. I wanted to envision RunningChick having the same explosive moment I had. What a tool I am. A very effective, tool, though because I got this response:

{blink blink}
{rubs eyes, re-reads question} followed by words that clearly said "you are really creeping me out"

Let me just say this - I'm SO sorry. I didn't mean to freak you out.

Turns out I knew the Running Chick with the Orange hat when she was but a wee one. I was thinking I knew her parents before she was born but maybe not. I do remember her as a teeny little thing and that makes me both creepy and old. Very old. I was only in my late teens then but still.... I moved away from Connecticut when she was probably about 5 and I did inquire after her later in life when she was a teen and was told she was "a really solid kid". And so she is. Solid and fast and smart and happy and successful.

I hated to bring new meaning to the term 'creepy internet friend'. Fortunately we have communicated and she is not freaked out or creeped out - yay! And I must say once again that I loves the internets. How else would I ever have re-connected to a little girl I once knew 30+ years and 3,000 miles ago?

Chums or Chum? That Was the Question

By 21st Century Mom on July 1, 2008 2:35 PM | 22 Comments

On Saturday June 28th I met up with FeLady, Mr. FeLady and their friends Mr. and Mrs. Chico to take my second shot at swimming from Alcatraz to Aquatic Park without getting eaten by a Shark. It was the FeLadies 5th swim. Mrs. Chico is the smart one of the group and was just along to socialize and be our sherpa. Her husband is the loony one in the family and was also out for Sharkfest #5.

As you can see, Cheryl and I suited up in sushi just to make things a little more interesting. Were we being chums or would we be chum? That was the question. Interestingly enough, both of us had had fantasies that the event might be canceled due to low visibility. No such luck. The skies were gray and there was wind but you could see just fine.

We suited up in neoprene and headed over to the ferry. This is a fairly long walk that must really amuse the tourists. Where else can you see 800+ wetsuit clad people and 20 or so non-wetsuit nut cases marching along one of the world's most famous tourist attractions? Fisherman's wharf's finest hour if you ask me. Not that it took an hour to walk to the ferries but it does take about 15 - 20 minutes. It's a good time to take a few deep breaths and get in touch with the reality that you are about to jump off a boat in dark and very cold water and swim for quite a while.

The ride out is the ride out. More time to panic if you don't mind your mental machinations. I did not panic. I trusted myself and my experience and tried not to think about how badly I wanted to run out of the water at Couer d'Alene where the water temp was at least 1 or 2 degrees warmer. I kid you not. Sharkfest allows neoprene hoods but not booties. I had neither. I did have 2 caps, though.

T-minus no more time left and we are at the door with the guy yelling "JUMP!". As soon as I hit the water I hear some woman from the other ferry screaming over and over and over "WAHHHHH! WAHHHHH ! WAHHHHH!". I really wanted to yell "STOP THAT - YOU ARE TIPPING MY WAH"* but I knew she could never hear me over the din of her own terror and besides I figured she was one of the nut jobs with no wetsuit so who was I to criticize?.

We lined up at the kayaks and waited and waited and waited and waited some more for the horn to blow. Finally something happened and we all started swimming and that's when things got really dicey. First of all it meant that it was time to put my face in the ice bucket - ow. Second of all I soon discovered that it was very, very rough out there.

My last recollection of being tossed around by water was when I was a kid playing in the surf at the beach on Long Island sound. Scary but I could touch the bottom. Not here. The water was sort of roiling and rough and I think there were currents to deal with. All I could do was poke my head up once in a while and try to find the 2 towers I was sighting on. The problem is that I'm not good l at stopping and looking around. I just want to keep swimming and swimming but I have no skill at all in holding a line. Can you spell z-i-g z-a-g?

So the swim went like this - zig, zag, roll, bounce, blub, blub, blub, swim, swim,swim, look up, correct, zig, zag, blub, blub, blub.... you get the idea. I drank quite a bit of salt water. I'd draw you one of those amusing pictures but honestly I have no idea. I just kept going. I was gratified to find myself not all alone after 15 minutes like I was last year. I could always look up and spot yellow caps and boats and that gave me great comfort. In fact, there was a guy in a speedo (crazy bastard!) who I met up with repeatedly. I knew he was making the best time he possibly could for shore so I took that as a good sign.

The amazing thing about an event like this is that all you can do is keep trying to move forward no matter how totally unnatural it is and let me assure you, clawing at water from a horizontal position to gain forward momentum and trying to breath and not panic is about the most unnatural thing I've ever done. That's the part I love. It is positively surreal - no drugs needed!

At some point I realized that I could see the porches on the building I was sighting on and then I could see the orange buoy on the lead boat and I knew I was actually making progress. Then I could see the seawall and the masts of the C.A.Thayer and I swam harder and there was the speedo guy. I probably headed more to the left of the entrance to Aquatic Park than I needed to but there is a current that will pull you back toward it so it's better to head left than to try to hit the thing dead on.

Finding that opening and getting through it was a kind of relief you feel only when the traffic jam you are stuck in breaks up in just enough time for you to make your flight. It's just like that. In that moment you know you will get to the shore and get out of that water and you will live to tell the tale. Last year I was so knocked out I couldn't even find the buoys that mark the exit but not so this time. I saw those buoys, made a bee line and finally realized that my hand was hitting sand and I was in about 12 inches of water. HUZZAH! I stood up and ran out on the stubs at the end of my legs. My feet had checked out of service about 10 minutes into the swim.

As soon as I stood up I turned around and was elated to see the waters of Aquatic Park chock full of swimmers who were coming in behind me. My time was not so great and I was 15 out of 18 in my AG (FeLady was 9th - TOP TEN!!) but I was 171 out of 223 women (FeLady was numbah 100!) compared to last year when I was 162/209. So I moved up a few slots. The important thing is that I lived, trust me.

There were really 2 great lessons in this experience. The first lesson is that if you just keep going and don't give up you can get there (absent any medical issues like hypothermia or broken bones). I used that thought extensively on Sunday when I decided to climb Mt. Diablo after riding 35 or 40 miles. I wanted to quit and just head down the hill but I kept envisioning orange buoys and shore and I kept pedaling and I got where I needed to be. The second lesson is that FeLady and I are chums. Not chum - chums. We had a great time together.

*ShoGun reference. I think that was the phrase. Does anyone else remember?

Good Vibes to all you Racers!

By 21st Century Mom on June 19, 2008 8:40 AM | 5 Comments

Whether you are doing an Ironman for your first or fifth time, running your first marathon (Steve in a Speedo ) or your 9th (his lovely wife IronPharmie) or doing your first ever triathlton (Go Jeanne!) make this your day! I hope everyone has a great race and remembers this day as a fabulous achievement.

REMEMBER YOUR REASONS

REMEMBER YOUR ONE THING!

It's all about you, baby! You and the things you care about.

Monday Monday - It's the little things....

By 21st Century Mom on April 29, 2008 8:17 AM | 8 Comments

It's Tuesday! So shoot me - I just didn't feel like writing yesterday. I thought about all of you all week and all weekend as I blogged in my head repeatedly. I thought about how it's the little things in life that make a lot of little smiles grow into a big one. Little things that happened that made me smile:

1). The cat ate a teeny, tiny piece of turkey that I didn't have to cram down her throat. And then she stopped and it was back to the force feeding. At least she tried.

2). The cat has started leaving my bed to come sit on my lap when I'm watching TV. This is HUGE

3). The cat visciously attacked my hand the other day while I was petting her - she's coming back to life!

4). I had a great call with Humbly Ann who was struggling with some stuff and I helped her feel better. Nothing warms a Mom's heart more than helping her child out of a shadow. (That and learning that she didn't get eaten by a shark - see previous post).

5). I was good about getting my 2 weekday rides in. I even rode the road that has the hill that kicks my butt and it did not. Good times!

6). The weather was gorgeous this weekend. My 90 minute run did not suck as much as last weekend's 70 minute run so I was very happy about that.

7). I ran out of book on the run and started listening to music and heard the most perfect, sunny day running song, Sunny Day by Hyim If you click on that link you can hear it, too. The tempo is a little slow but on a hot sunny day when you are out running it feels just right.

8). I went to a bike maintenance clinic and not only learned some stuff but was finally told I look like I've lost weight. It wasn't really the first time. Humbly Ann told me I looked skinnier in early April but I hadn't started noticing it yet so it didn't have the same impact as me noticing I'd lost weight and then not hearing that from other people. Now I SO appreciate both comments. I'm 6 pounds down and doing fine.

9). I climbed to the junction of Mt. Diablo again on Sunday. It wasn't quite as hard as it had been the week before. The rest of my group went on to the top but I just didn't feel like it was my day to do that so I'm scheduling that for May 17.

10). I have 2 events coming up! Next Saturday I am riding the Wine Country Century (metric) and May 10 I have my season opener triathlon, The Golden Bear. I'm excited!

11). I went to swim clinic Saturday morning and went from flailing in the water like a crazy person to actually pulling some water and making some progress. It was really great to have that experience BEFORE my first tri where I'm sure I would have gone nowhere fast for the first 10 minutes of the swim, otherwise. I love my race club!
And all of those little things add up to big things - sunny days, training progress and happiness.

This is my life with the cat now. We do this 2 or 3 times a day:

The Mom vs. The Triathlete

By 21st Century Mom on April 25, 2008 2:29 PM | 7 Comments

By now I'm sure we've all seen this very tragic and horrible story about a man who was killed by a great white shark off of San Diego while swimming with his tri club. Commodore even knows a guy who is a friend of the victim. It's a small world.

I first saw this story on yahoo at about 10:30 AM and instantly remembered that my daughter has a surfing lesson, off the coast of San Diego, at 10 or noon or something. I was very, very uncomfortable. The first story wasn't very specific and I was worried. Then I saw a story that said the tri club was off Solana Beach, 14 miles north of San Diego but it didn't really help much because for all I know they put the kids in a bus and take them wherever.

I sent email and then I called and told her to call me IMMEDIATELY. The fact that this guy was on an open water swim with his club wasn't really registering yet - I just knew where they were.

She called and told me she was fine and did I realize how far away that was? I said I figured 14 miles wasn't very far for a fast moving shark but I did realize she wasn't at the same beach. She said the Coast Guard helicopters were overhead and there were lots of life guards and it was fine. And then she proudly told me that her teacher says she is a natural and can't wait to get her further out in the water to see her ride a wave for a long time. Go Pookie! But not if there are seals nearby. This shark was probably hunting seal which had been seen in that area recently.

So now I"m thinking like a triathlete and like a human and my heart goes out to that man's family and friends. And especially to any friend who feels like it might not have happened had he been there. Sharks are fast - they don't target the fast swimmers vs. the slow swimmers. They just see something in the water and they bite. The really tragic part of this is that sharks don't like human flesh at all. That's why they bite and then leave which is what they did with this man. Unfortunately the bite was fatal.

« Book Review | Main Index | Archives | Cycling »