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.
Today's Hump Day Miscellany celebrates - Canada! That's where I went last weekend. Toronto, to be precise. I had no idea it was just a big, bustling city. Frankly I'd rather drive in either San Francisco or Boston than Toronto because they have wicked traffic and tons of people on the street and they have signs that tell you you can't turn right OR left. It was tres difficile as some of the people up there would say. Here are some random things about Canada
1). The squirrels are black. Ebony black. Other than that they act just like squirrels
2). Canadians are VERY aggressive about making left hand turns. Right of way? Yield? No way, eh?
3). They call Dunkin' Donuts Tim Horton and they call donut holes Timbits. We confused the lady at the counter pretty badly.
4). The weather was most unpredictable. One minute sun, the next a wicked thunder storm. It wrecked our play day. I did manage to run 6 miles and swim 920 meters (the pool was 23 meters, eh?)
5). Toronto caters to the homeless and my brother in law's van was broken into by a crack head on a bicycle. Fortunatly the van had a great alarm system and they were sitting outside having coffee but still - it was a bummer.
6). My daughter picked up a map that showed where all the gay people live by having a drawing of rainbow flags flying in that neighborhood. It was adorable.
7) Gay marriage is legal and that's why we went. My niece got married to her girlfriend in what was both a traditional and non-traditional wedding. It was lovely and I cried - several times.
8). I learned on this trip to Canada that my little Pookie, having been accepted to the University of Cape Town, SA got a new tat on her wrist that says "Be Brave". I want one, too.
Photobucket is broken right now but I"ll post pics when it is fixed.
I was so hoping for 2 swims from Alcatraz this summer but alas, I did not get picked in the lottery for the Escape from Alcatraz - WAH! What's worse is I told a friend to sign up and she did and she got picked and she registered (for $320!) and now I can't do it with her. Gulp. I will still be swimming with FeLady and her husband at Sharkfest so all is not lost.
Oh - and I DID sign up for this:
(Yay! I finally have a reason to run! hee hee... I'l bee running a 5K before that!)
So get your tutu (after getting your color approved by Ms. DPR) and get registered and get ready to rumble run!
Today I once again entered the ranks of the employed - YES! I am on contract which has some distinct advantages and some disadvantages but no matter how you paint it, it results in money flowing in to my account, instead of just out and that's a good thing.
You know what that means? It means I can finally sign up for an event! I'm not 100% sure which it will be. Either Wildflower Short Course or this revived one called The Golden Bear which is more local but no less challenging. I'm going to give it a few more days before I pick.
It also means I can book a flight to go visit my kids at school and then I can arrange a visit with Humbly Anne.
And there's another thing I realized tonight that I had forgotten about. I have to find something reasonably nice to wear every Monday Monday and all the days thereafter until Saturday when I can go back to swapping in and out of jammies, spandex and jeans. I haven't had to do this for 4 years due to either unemployment or working from home - however will I cope? I guess I'll work that out but for now I have to get to bed because at long last - it's a "school night"!
I've probably lost all my readers by now while you gave up on me ever posting again. Maybe you thought I decided to hibernate for the winter. It feels a little like I am hibernating but I'm not. I just got blogged out during NaBloPoMo and my life has been a little...how shall we say.. quiet for the last 10 days. I decided that it was time for the year in review.
This was my first real triathlon season. Prior to this year I did the Tri for Real sprint distance triathlon (700 yard swim, 18-ish mile bike, 4 mile run) in 2000 and then again last year. I PR'd last year by 23 minutes and by then had started reading triathlon blogs so that was the race that gave me the bug.
This year I raced 6 triathlons, 3 half marathons, 2 bay swims, 1 5K, 1 12K and one 4 mile run. That is more racing than I have done in my entire life before 2007 combined. So how did it go? You can find the boring old numbers after the jump if you are interested. They don't really tell the story, though. That part takes words.
The best part about this season is that I had one. I did it. I toed the line time and time again and raced and of that I am proud.
The not so good part about this season is that time and time again I let my self doubt and a lot of low self esteem and internal self deprecating dialog hold me back. I didn't really train because I figured 'why bother - you suck any how'. I learned a lot about the depths of my image issues and managed, finally, to realize that toeing the line counts and that just having enough faith to make the effort is laudable so yay me! This is a first.
I also learned that if I put my mind, heart soul and body to this and really try I could be somewhat competitive. That's how I took 2nd at Bethel Island. I raced. I could at least give the women in my age group vying for middle of the pack slots a run for their entry fee and next year I intend to do just that. I have a lot more ability and drive than I have ever tapped in to so next year my goal is to really train and to race hard - to give myself some credit to succeed and to train to that end. That will be another first.
Right now I have only 2 events locked in for the season - The Sharkfest Swim (currently sold out!) and Vineman 70.3 (about half sold out so if you want to do it get on it!). I also expect to do the Bay to Breakers, hopefully with a bunch of bloggers in Tutus. I am currently awaiting for the Dec 15 Escape from Alcatraz random drawing. I SO hope I get in. If I don't get in to Alcatraz (and perhaps even if I do) I may very well do Wildflower Short Course again just to transcend my horrible experience from last year. I won't go down until Saturday, though because that camping was kind of awful. 1 night of that is quite enough, thank-you-very-much. I will also do the Tri for Real because that is my "A" race where it all started.
I want to thank each and every person who has encouraged me and told me I rock and reminded me that just showing up not only counts - it's HUGE! It has taken me quite some time to get the message but I think I'm there!!
To the extent that I have been hibernating I am going to do it for a few more weeks. I've been swimming 3 days a week and I've done a bit of running. I've gotten on my bike exactly once since SOMA. I did not go for a ride this morning with my favorite person to ride with because it was cold and I just don't feel like it. I feel sort of bad about that but oh well. I did not do the Bah Humbug 5K last weekend which was a mistake because I could have placed really well and a lot of people from Forward Motion were there and it would have been fun but I'm broke so oh well again. There's always next year and next year is going to be great!
There are 2 really great things about having gone to do SOMA. First of all meeting with all of the bloggers was more fun than can adequately be described but I'm sure you are all getting the picture by now. Second of all I am DONE with triathlon for many, many months. This is a good thing. Also - I sort of came to terms with some stuff as a result of this race and that's good, too.
Swim - I was in wave 3 and, as always, was nervous about this swim. It was a water start which I prefer because it gives me a chance to get in the water and pee in my wet suit get used to the water. I think I figured out in this race that I need to use the time to swim 100 yards or so because I had my second minor anxiety attack in the water. I was stunned. If there is one thing I seem to like it is crazy swimming and I had just done an SF Bay swim and here I was in 70 degree water in a full body water wing thinking I just couldn't do it. Later in the day I figured it out. In any case I did the normal "breast stroke to get things under control" thing and the "swim way off course to add some distance" thing and eventually was out of the water - yay!
Swim stats - 29:17 for 2:56/100 meters (thank you anxiety). Overall place 438
T1 - 2:33 which was great considering how far I had to run to get to my bike and then get it out of there. Of course the swim time probably includes the wetsuit stripping time but I'm not sure. Anyhow I'm glad I figured out that sitting down to put my bike shoes on works much better for me than standing up and wobbling around.
Bike - I was a little nervous about my bike because when we unpacked it the brake cable had come undone and we didn't know how to fix it so I had to take it to the bike tech tent and have them do it. Also, I had trouble finding the marks on the seat post and had the seat up too high and had to adjust by feel. Then I had to test drive it in my jeans and flip flops because we had to drop the bikes on Saturday and I was not dressed to test. This was not ideal. The good news is that on race day while setting up in transition I finally found the mark and fixed the seat height.
My bike performed flawlessly and I felt strong. I even managed to drop a few people on the ride but sadly, they were not in my age group - they were younger. That was good but not good enough as we will soon find out.
The course was this crazy loopy thing with a lot of u-turns and crowding. The Half people were doing 3 loops and the Quarterman people were doing 1 and 1/2. As I came back by the finish I got totally confused about which way to go and started going in. Someone yelled "One and Half loops!!???" and I yelled "NO!" so she said "go back out and follow the signs for the quarterman". Okay fine.
Now the pre-race newsletter said they had changed the course and it would be 25 miles instead of 28. I rode and rode and rode and as my bike computer turned to 25 miles and I was nowhere near the finish I was sure I had gone the wrong way (which would be quite impossible on this course) or missed a sign and I was worried. Very worried. I probably rode for 3 miles just being worried before I realized there was nothing to be done but keep going and oh, by the way "SPEED UP!" This was where a woman in Tribe kit with "45" on her leg passed me but I had passed her long ago and I was not happy. I started to let her get away and then I thought "not a chance", got up on the pedals, called, "ON YOUR LEFT" and dropped her like last week's gossip. That felt good. Finally I could hear the finish line and decided everything would be fine. Here are my bike splits (click for a bigger view if you care).
I felt like i was working hard and doing well and, according to Garmin I was going 15.8 mps avg and according to my bike computer I was going 16.6 mph avg but according to SOMA - not so much:
Bike Stats:
1:52:42 15.5 mph avg 542 overall (losing ground by 104 racers. No news there).
T2 - 3:28 which seemed okay since it was a long run to my spot and I got a little fumbly with the helmet and hat and all that.
Run - Hot, Hot, so freakin' hot. I guess I was only the high 80s by then but running on white concrete in the blazing sun is not fun. Not fun at all. I started out doing exactly what I had intended to do - run the run and walk the water stations. I was good for the first couple miles but then I started to overheat. I don't think I took an unauthorized, intra water stop walk break until at least mile 4 but there was this shady part going under a bridge and I just had to walk it. And that set the stage for more walk breaks. I pretty much lost it on the run although it never got worse than a jog/walk 30 seconds on/30 seconds off sort of deal toward the end. What really did me in was being passed early on by a woman with a 53 on her leg who was running at a good clip. I never saw her again. And then, at about mile 5.5 a very, very thin woman with a 51 on her calf ran by me. I was sure she would tank soon enough so I kept her in sights for a while but then she got away from me. If only I had known in that moment that I beat her at the Tri for Real it might have helped. Then again, I was really, really hot and there isn't a lot that will get me moving fast in the heat so maybe I would have just sat down and had a good cry instead. Hard to say.
Finally I was close to the end and I was very happy about that and I ran... and ran... and ran... because it was along distance from 'almost done' to the finishers chute. When I got there, there were Momo and Stronger cheering me in and that was the most fun ever. I've never had friends at the finish line cheering me in like that and I'm guessing I'll see my best finisher pics ever because I was smiling like a loon!
Run Stats: 1:24:33 12:55/mile (ugh!) 527 overall so I picked up 15 spots from people who hate the heat more than I do. Here are my run splits
Total time 03:52:31 9/9 in my division 512 Overall.
I'd like to take a moment to thank Coach Bold for suggesting I do the Quarterman and have some fun rather than trying to kill myself doing my first half. Excellent advice.
After I finished I spent the rest of the day cheering with Stronger and Momo. We wandered over toward the run course to find Duane and I finally got to meet Benny which was great. I had missed him and Nytro on Saturday because I had to pick up my packet and rack my bike. Bold came along, too and hung out for a while shucking and jiving with us and just trying to cool down and then he took off to chase down Nytro. 
Duane came along with Comm and we walked with them on the last 1/2 mile of the course. I almost made it to the finish but I was in very desperate need of a porta-potty at that point so I went in a different direction and then caught up with everyone at the finish line. I was there to cheer in Nytro and Bold. It was a great day.
Conclusion - I came in last in my age group which was NOT the plan. This was NOT a Personal Best although it was my best ever bike speed. I had so wanted to end my triathlon season with a race Personal Best but instead of getting a race Personal Best I had one of the best times I've ever had doing a race and had a People Personal Best and that's the very best kind of best to have. Good times.
DPR and me in our awesome sushi hats.
When I thought up this title it was because I thought the classic movie was called 'The Treasure of the Sierra Leone" not 'The Treasure of the Sierra Madre". I thought about switching to 'The Treasure of the Sierra Momo" but it really didn't work so I'm sticking with my mistake because it's thematic to my race report.
This weekend, as noted by others was an epic bloggerpalooza. I met some people for the first time and others I had met before either because they came and visited or because I met them at Wildflower and/ or IM WI. What was so remarkable about this, though is that it felt about as comfortable and familiar as getting together with old friends from high school. In some ways we seemed to have just about as much history with each other as you would if you had really known someone for years. It was very fun.
What was more remarkable was how fabulously well treated I was by my hostess, Momo. She and her husband Big J were the most gracious and warm hosts ever. Momo deserves some sort of really special award for the endless shuttle service she provided. The weekend went like this:
Friday -
See what I mean? The woman is a SAINT! Love you, Momo.
Now I'm too tired to write the race report. But, as our govenator likes to say, "Ahl be baaaach" And yes, there are pics... they are coming. I just have to dig my camera out of wherever it is.
After much deliberation, hemming and hawing and after overcoming some bizarre dread fear of shipping my bike - I am on my way to SOMA today! My bike is currently in Tempe and will soon arrive at Big J's office (Momo's husband). I will arrive tonight in time for a repeat of last weekend's wine, Brie and hot tub experience. Not as crazy wild, though. I could live without the hangover.
Tomorrow I will meet up with a passel of blogger buds, some I have met before, some I will meet for the first time. I am so very excited to have a big community of triathletes to hang out with and to race "with". I use the quotes because I'm reasonably certain I will not actually "be" 'with' any of them on the course but I will be with them at the end. I am doing the Quarterman and most of them are doing the Half so I have faith that I will be at the finish line cheering them in. If not then it means I broke my leg or something.
I am so SO excited that this is last triathlon of the season for me. I won't do another until..... probably May. In the meantime I'm going to go pedal to the metal at this race in search of a final, season ending PR. This will be tough as my last Oly was basically short on distance and this one is a bit long. It's all about the bike, though and I intend to ride hard and just let it hurt, something I've never done before. Seriously. I usually back off for fear of not being able to run. This time - NO FEAR! I'm just going for it. If the run hurts it hurts. If I tank, I tank. NO FEAR! I need to break 3:10 - can I do it?
My transition bag is packed and checked and ready. My boarding pass is printed (flying SWA means printing it out EARLY people - I'm group C - 101 which means I'll have to choose who to piss off as I ask to take the center seat).
Think speedy thoughts for me!
The Book Group is the Quilting Bee of the 21st Century. Although there are some book groups that are co-ed and some that are just guys, a vast preponderance of bookgroups are women who like to get together, drink some wine, eat some sinfully delicious food and talk. The talking may or may not center around the book - it just depends on the group. My bookgroup not only meets once a month to discuss what we read (among other things), we spend 1 weekend every October at a house at Stinson Beach where we up the ante on the extra-curricular book group stuff and just enjoy each other's company.
We bring some wine
and some more wine
and some champagne and orange juice
and food - lots of food.
Our favorite house has a hot tub, and an outdoor fire pit and an indoor fireplace and a lagoon on one side. 
The actual beach is across the street.
Friday I set out for this long anticipated beach weekend, stopping in SF to pick up my race packet for the Nike Women's Half Marathon. Then I headed over the bridge and through heavy, scary fog on the winding and scary road that runs along the cliffs with the waves crashing below. It was terrifying and all I could think of was what it would be like to make that drive at 0dark30 on Sunday morning. Thus was born my first crack at a cheap excuse not to race but as it stood I was still planning on racing Sunday and that had serious implications for how I needed to conduct myself Friday and Saturday. Somewhat painful implications as it turned out.
Friday night was my night to party and let me tell you - I got trashed. Seriously trashed. I drank and hot tubbed and ate about 5 pounds of Brie and made pizzas and laughed harder than I have laughed for years. I probably aged my face 10 years in the process but it was worth it - it was so well worth it. I drank quite a bit of water but alas, Saturday morning dawned clear and bright, complete with the kind of hangover you associate with crazy high school parties where you drink a concoction of whatever booze you could steal from your parents all mixed together and carefully blended with Coke - ugh. I drank some more water, my friend shoved 1/2 a banana under my nose and made me eat it and then I dozed for a bit, overcome with banana vapors and nausea.
When it was time for a beach walk I rallied, took some Tylenol and headed out. I love the beach and it was a perfect day 
The swell was high, the surfers were out and I would not be denied. I had the second moment where I started to think I would not go run the Nike - I would just send my chip back and write a letter asking for my necklace seeing as I had paid for it. After all, what is more important - running a race or spending another night getting wasted in the hot tub and then going for a beach walk in the morning? I mean really - I HAVE PRIORITIES!
Alas, - the voice within wasn't letting me off that easy so Saturday night was my night to be good and good I was. I had 1/2 a glass of wine, ate a delicious dinner of sea bass, potatoes and salad and drank a lot of water. I thought about skipping the race one more time and then thought about how there is no honor in tossing off an event you have committed to because you want to defile your body with alcohol and go for a beach walk. Fun perhaps, but no honor. Then I thought, "I could have it all! I could have the beautiful beach weekend AND the race and then some more beach." I envisioned myself returning to the House of Debauchery, triumphant and be-medaled and watching as one by one my friends dropped to one knee in admiration of my triumph over sloth and depravity. It was with that thought that I got all my stuff for the race together and went to bed with my cell phone set to wake me up at 4:30 AM.
In the morning I tip-toed around but I think I woke up everyone in the house - but just for a moment. The ride out was fine - crystal clear. I got to the start line where I was consumed in a sea of women excited to toe the line - many of them for the first time ever. Finally we were o ff - through the financial district, through Fisherman's Wharf, along the water and then over the hill to a most spectacular vista of the Golden Gate Bridge. The sky was a perfect Cerulean and clear and sharp - you could see for miles. The run was a visual feast from the crazy people in costumes to the San Francisco vistas. I felt much better this year than I did last year and managed to jog up all the hills and run strong on the other side.
As I was coming close to the finish I heard someone yell my name - it was Jen, my new best blogging/triathlating local bud who has hopefully joined my run club with her husband. I crossed the line, got my necklace, got my t-shirt, tried to walk back and find Jen but got a little lost and finally struck out for my car. 40 minutes later I was back at the beach. Half of the group had already left and although everyone was impressed that I got up and ran my race there was a distinct lack of genuflecting... sigh.....
I enjoyed another round of hot tubbing and sun soaking but alas it was soon time to clean the place up, pack up our stuff and hit the road. We admired our handwork with the wine 
before tossing out the evidence of our once a year bacchanal.
My race was fine - I finished in 2:29 something. Not fabulous and not a PR but better than last year and more than good enough. I was happy. I did rather enjoy having it all this weekend but next year I'm going to make sure that the beach trip and a race do not coincide as we know it's all about pacing and racing Sunday has me going out too hard and fast on Friday - and that's not a winning strategy.
I finally was able to see the results from my Saturday Triathlon and I'm very happy to say that there were 4 women in my division so my 2nd place win was for reals!
Just as a side note - there were only 2 women in the 55- 59 group, including my friend Melia, but they both kicked the hindquarters of everyone in the 50 - 54 division, half the women in the 45-49 division, half the women in the 40 - 44 division, and half the women in the 35-39 division.
So there's something to look forward to!
Here's my medal, front and back
Also, I forgot to mention that won something in the raffle. I have a ticket for 2 for the Wine Train (but not for the wine or food) and this beautiful plastic mug. It really was a great day!
It wasn't enough for me to get up at 5:00 AM on Saturday. I needed to do it again on Sunday, this time to go swim with the sharks in the SF Bay again. My friend Melia was in on this one, too. I picked her up at 5:30 and we headed over the bridge to partake of the YMCA's TI 2 Y swim (Treasure Island to the YMCA). Same set up as Sharkfest but a different area of the bay.
This event is extremely well organized. You start at the Y's fantastic facilities on the Embarcadero. They have 3 or 4 floors, one of which is a huge gym and some really big locker rooms. The prospect of taking a hot shower and putting on regular clothes after the swim made it all the more exciting.
We got our packets and went to put our stuff in a locker. I made an attempt at putting my Garmin in a baggie and putting it under my cap but it wasn't working out so I abandoned that idea and left it in the locker. We headed down for the pre-swim briefing where we were told where the ferry would stop and roughly how our swim route would go. The guy describing all of this mentioned that whereas last year the current was with the swimmers and created some really fast swims, that would not happen this year - the current would not necessarily be our friend. He wasn't kidding.
Melia and I decided to try to stick together if we could. We jumped off the ferry and lined up together and when the gun went off we did manage to stay together for quite a while. We were sighting on a large building and it all seemed to be going really well in calm water. We lost each other for a while but then there she was! All was great until all of a sudden the water started undulating and rolling and was not so calm any more. I lost her and I just started focusing on swimming.
I soon found myself all alone but there were kayaks just to my left so I (wrongly) figured I was on course. In fact, I thought the kayaks were there to keep you from getting too close to the Bay Bridge so I sort of swung right, away from the Bay Bridge and toward the ferry building. Then, I saw what I thought was a kayak right in front of me. I started to go right around it and I heard a voice say 'Get on - you're about to end up getting swept out the Gate" It wasn't a kayak at all - it was a jet ski with a SF Police officer on it. "Get On - come on - get up here".
I really didn't want to do that because I was sure I'd be DQ'd but he was a cop giving orders so I got on and held on and he took off passing a whole bunch of swimmers. All I could think of was "WAIT - I was right there - right with THOSE people... why are you doing this??? And I wondered as we buzzed past a lot of people if he was taking me in. I looked back and saw Melia and waved knowing she would have no idea who was on that jet-ski. In fact I wasn't positive it was her but I thought it was and then I was triply bummed out because we had been so close together and now I was being given assistance. What happened?
Then he stopped and said, "slide off the back and finish your swim".
Huh??
But I was happy because I didn't show up for a ride on a jet ski - I showed up to swim to shore and now I would get to. As I swam and swam and swam (because I was still way out there), I thought about what a surreal experience it was. There you are in dark, green, murky water doing something that is very unnatural. You put your face in the water to exhale and pull it out to inhale, all the while propelling yourself forward, mostly with your arms and hands. Bizarre. As strange as it is, it is very meditative and other worldly. You get that out of body, out of this universe experience without the drugs. Nice!
At one point I found myself swimming through a very warm current of water. I got a little frightened and started thinking "is this the hot breath of Shamu I'm swimming through? Am I about to be eaten by a sea monster? Is this some tropical, Portuguese man of war infested water?" I swam a little faster but soon realized that if Shamu were in the hood I couldn't swim fast enough to escape so I might as well keep a comfortable pace. 
I finally made it to the stairs to exit the water and I thought I felt a cramp coming on so I beached myself like a seal and told the handlers I was just going to sit for a minute - big mistake. When I was sure my leg wouldn't cramp up I stood up, crossed the mats and told the guy taking down times I thought I should be DQ'd because I got a lift on a jet ski. He told me not to worry about it and sent me on my way.
I walked a few more steps and there was Melia. WHAT??
"How did you get in so fast? I had to be picked up by the jet-ski and I buzzed right past you and waved!!!"
"That was you??? I got picked up, too!"
Turns out a lot of people had to be rescued from the current. They were just stuck and not getting anywhere and there was no way for them to break free. I just got picked up before she did and, I would assume, dropped off sooner. Or not. I think my aim on the final approach was wrong and I managed to have to fight the flood tide in, too. I really wish I had persevered with the Garmin because I would love to see just how far off course I was but alas, I'll never know.
I came in last in my age division. While I was sitting there getting back my land legs another woman in my division crossed the line - 5 seconds ahead of me. GGGGRRRRR.... But the important thing is that I showed up, I swam and I did not get washed out to sea. What a great weekend.
Today I raced the Bethel Island Olympic Distance (sort of ) Triathlon. It was a day of firsts.
If I did the standard race report it would read:
Swim - too long and sort of hard - water had weird stuff in it that stained my cap and the letters on my wet suit
T1 - comical. I really wish someone had filmed me wobbling around trying to get my shoes on
Ride - flat but windy - great scenery
T2 - uneventful and probably too slow
Run - I ran, I finished - yay!
But I'm not going to do that. Instead, I will recount the 'firsts' that this day included.
1). First event I went to with my friend Melia, We go way back to when I first started running. I'll tell you the whole story some other time but for now I'll just tell you that years ago we ran together for many months and then our little group separated for some reason and then, a couple years later when I saw another woman we ran with she told me Melia was doing Ironman. She has done 4, to date.
2). First little panic attack in the water - It was a deep water, mass start. I was not to the side an in the back where I belong. I was smack dab in the middle of things and had no time to reposition. When the gun went off I started swimming with the washing machine and soon found myself puffing shallow little breaths. Oh NO! I thought I was suffering an anxiety attack. But then I realized I was suffering a sprinting attack - swimming way too fast. I decided to just breaststroke for a bit and let people go by. Then I started swimming at a comfortable pace and all was well. Everything except for the fact that they had exactly 2 buoys on this course - 1 at the start and 1 somewhere waaaaay far away that I could hardly see. I just kept going and eventually found it. It was also my first time drafting off a breaststroker. That guy was really good at it.
3). First ever snot rocket experience - I have never blown snot out of my nose on the bike. It just seemed too gross. But the snorfeling and no oxygen getting into my system thing was not working out for me at all. So I finally tried it. There was a Clydesdale guy coming up the road in the opposite direction who saw the whole thing. I swear I saw a thought bubble pop out of his helmet that said "That's hot". I'm hooked now because it's really a wonder what all that extra air does for your stamina. Next thing you know I'll be peeing on my bike (NOT!)
4). First time having my bottle cage and pump holder fly off my bike - nice. The bottom screw had come out of my bottle cage on the vertical bar below the seat. I did not have a bottle in it until the 1/2 way point of the ride when I was given a 2nd bottle. I put it in the cage and 500 feet later the entire assembly flew off the bike. Oh well. I'll have to have the hole re-threaded and get a new cage and probably a whole new pump. sigh....
5). First time on a 2 loop run where you have to run past the finish and do another loop - I have but one word for this CRUELTY!! Cannot even fathom the pain of that when you are 13.1 miles from finishing an Ironman.
6). First time placing in my age group - YES! I took 2nd. Woo Hoo!! Now there is some possibility that there were only 2 women in my age group but based on the past history of this event I doubt it. I'll find out in a few days. Be that as it may I have a 2nd place medal and I'm quite happy about that.
I theoretically PR'd except this race was short at least 3 miles. 1 or 2 on the bike and about 3/4 on the run. My finish time was 3:10.22 which is better than FIT but I'm not sure it was my best time ever. It was a good effort though so I declare success!!
No - I didn't win my triathlon - I didn't even place. I didn't even make my goal of going sub 2 hours but I did win something in the post race raffle which I'll tell you about in a minute and I did win having a great day and I did PR so before I go on let's celebrate
My official time was 2:06:19. This is not a USAT chip timed event so you have to sort of wing it on the times but by my various chronometers my times came out like this:
swim 15:09
bike 1:01
run 44
Total ~2 hours
That means I screwed up transition big time and took a total of 6 minutes. There's something to work on. Also, my bike was not so good. My bike computer says I was going an average of 15.4 mph which is definitely a best effort to date but not so hot. The course is basically flat. There was a headwind that did some damage but mostly I just need to push harder on the bike. I get too worried about trashing my legs for the run and I just don't step it up enough. Lesson learned. I actually had a good run with an average pace of 10:35. On a wicked, tough course. Here's the elevation map and it's no lie.
The course is littered with these short, steep hills that are nasty. Fortunately the weather was perfect - overcast and cool. My very first bead of sweat hit my eyes with just 1/2 mile to go on the run. Very tolerable.
Shout outs to the guy with a "49" on his calf who ran by me and said "Hey - I think they got the numbers for your age transposed" Love that guy!. I yelled "Oh man - I HATE it when that happens". Then I picked it up a little but alas, he was too fast to catch.
I had a great time, though and that's what counts. As I was coming out of T2 I heard someone yell "go Pamela!" and looked up to see Jen of RunningStories . She and her husband Zach came out just to cheer me on - how cool is that??!! When she yelled for me so did some other people which was a huge boost and really energized me. Pictorial evidence of our meeting was gathered by Jen and I'm sure she'll post it soon. Jen is local so I've been working to recruit her and Zach to join my race club, Forward Motion (FMRC) - I think it's working!
FMRC was out in force - 40 people participated in the race and about another dozen people were on the course as volunteers. As though that weren't enough we had a club BBQ this afternoon that was attended by about 100 people. I mentioned before that the race was handicapped so that people like me could experience placing something other than last. Okay - I'm the only one who consistently places last but you get the idea. Everyone who raced got a certificate and a little medal and some of us got prize titles. I'm not sure what my place was but I was given 2 title awards.
"PR Pamela" and "Most Likely to Write an Entertaining Race Report". I felt honored. I ♥ my race club. Once more:
If you have a race club in your area I can't encourage you enough to join. Getting up the nerve to join FoMo was one of the best things I have done in a while. It's fun and the really good elite athletes are helpful and encouraging to us struggling age groupers and there is nothing better than participating in a race with a bunch of other people all in the same team kit. If it's an option for you, go for it - you won't be sorry!
So what did I win besides the PR and the great time? The raffle included such things as bike jackets, messenger bags, gift certificates to Fleet Feet, gift certificates for a massage and then there was my prize - a free entry for another Olympic distance race. Oh yeah - lucky me? Think it's a hint? If nothing else it gives me another chance to get faster at the bike and transitions before SOMA and yet another chance to PR. What better way to live up to my new title?
My next race is Sunday. It is my "A" race because this event was where it all started for me with triathlon. In 2000 I did this race on a Schwinn Varsity 10 speed that I had ridden 3 times. Those were the first 3 times I had ridden a bike since I was about 16. I had been swimming quite a bit but not really running all that much. The race is 700 meters swim in open water (a first for me), 16 miles bike, and a 4.2 mile run on a convoluted, run in circles dirt trail - with hills. My swim was a predictable first effort replete with panic, rolling on my back and sputtering. The ride was sloooooowwww.... and by the time I got to the run it was about 95 degrees and I ended up walking repeatedly. I finished in 2:31, just ahead of a 9 year old kid and a man who was limping. I guess there were about 5 other people behind me, too.
In the summer of 2005 I went on vacation with my siblings and their spouses and my sister and brother in law and I rented bikes and went for a ride. I was SO impressed with myself. I could ride hills! Thus began my life as a cyclist. I started on that Schwinn but quickly decided to buy a hybrid bike. I thought it was so sleek and cool despite it's hefty 22 pound weight. I rode and rode that bike with my friends. Last year I did my "A" race again but this time I had way more time in each discipline. I came in at 2:08 - a 23 minute PR. Woot!
This year I approach this race with 2 Olympic distance and 1 super sprint under my belt. I have trained like a triathlete doing brick workouts a few times a month. Okay so I train like a lazy triathlete but it's better than last year! My goal has always been to break 2 hours and I have every confidence that I can do that.
As though that isn't enough, my race club has decided to make this a team challenge and they've developed some sort of handicapping system. This makes my "A" race exceptionally "A" for me because with my hideous Wildflower time I expect my handicap is HEEEOOOOGE! I could place in the top 3 for my club! Maybe. In any case I will have a lot of buds out there and that alone is worth the price of admission. The club is having a BBQ and doing some awards later in the afternoon so it will be just a ton o' fun on Sunday.
Here is an excerpt from last year's (absurdly long) race report:
"The run on this thing is hard because it loops around a couple of times. I kept thinking I was done but then there was another loop or another hill. The thing that made the run so much better than it was last time was the Forward Motion Race Club who came out to pass out water and encourage the participants. This is the club I believe I will join so that I don't have to cry in my beer about doing these events alone any more. They were fabulous, yelling out 'Way to go! Looking Strong!" and that meant a lot to me because I was tired. "
Of course I picked up some airplane spooge on the way back from Madison and my throat has been sore all week and I'm a little snotty in the head. Hopefully this will clear up by Sunday AM. Sick or not - I'm going for for it! In fact 
I'm so excited about this race that I bought myself some new toys. A swanky new transition bag and a white helmet, because my blue helmet clashes with my team kit. A girl has to do what she has to do, you know?
** minor update** The handicaps were posted and mine, as predicted, is the worst/best. My number is the lowest so I think that's good - very good. I still have to race really hard to grab a spot. Excellent incentive.
See what I mean - I HAD to get a new helmet. It was not optional. I can't believe Brightroom thinks I would buy this photo. No way!
I raced the Folsom International Triathlon yesterday and had a pretty successful day. In fact I had a big PR and I owe it all to Chris Lieto who gave me some really valuable feedback for my bike ride. I didn't get this out of a magazine or off of a DVD or a web site - I got it from the man himself.
I spent most of Saturday obsessing about this race. The event organizers didn't have elevation maps so I went to MotionBased and found an entry for the race. I went nuts with the pace calculator trying to figure out how not to DFL. I looked up results. I fretted and wrung my hands. Then I got the brilliant idea to go for a bike ride and see how fast I could go if I really tried. That tempered my expectations a bit but it was still a good thing to do.
I spent the evening at an event held by my race club. It was an Evening with Chris Lieto. Chris is represented by a guy in our club named Chris McCrary and I am embarrased to admit I had them mixed up - twice. I need to spend more time watching Ironman shows because although McCrary is a very accomplished triathlete himself he is not featured in IM videos.
Before the thing started I walked up to Chris Lieto and asked, "If you were racing a triathlon tomorrow and you maybe didn't really train that well and you wanted to go much faster than you've ever gone on your bike before what would you do?" I could tell I pretty much lost him at "didn't really train" and he was thinking "lady, you must be kidding" but he's a really nice guy so he hemmed and hawed for a moment trying to get past that and then told me I should focus on cadence - hold a good 90 rmp cadence. Always looking for the magic in sports I responded, "Oh - so lower the gears until doing 90 is comfortable?" and he said, "Oh no. Don't do that". It was like being mentored by Yoda. "Easy path there is not. Pedal hard you must" I thanked him and sat down to listen to his presentation which was very helpful. After talking about training plans Chris told a funny story about Kona last year. You probably had to be there to get the humor but the lesson learned is pretty accessible.
At the end of the bike portion of IronMan Lieto was just behind Norman Stadler. At the beginning of the bike he was just ahead of Stadler but not by much as the swim had been particularly difficult due to the currents which cut down his expected lead. Not too far into the race Chris decided to do a strategy check so he asked Stadler "so what's your plan? You going to hang back for a while or are going to head out sooner?" In telling the story he dropped his voice about an octave and in a perfect Stadler impression he says "I go now". So Stadler took off and Lieto decided to hang with the group for a while. Long story short Stadler got way ahead of him and he had to work really hard in the second half of the bike and that resulted in GI issue which screwed up his run. He said he would never let that happen again. I got it at that point but that lession really came home at the end of my event the next day.
Race morning I got to the race venue, found some other FoMo members, got a rack spot close to the swim transition and also pretty close to the bike and run out. Life was good. I went down to the shore to watch the elite guys go off. Just as the first couple were coming in (16 - 18 minutes after the start!!!) a guy in the water started yelling "Help me - I can't move!" Everyone nearby mobilized and swam to him, a kayak went over and he grabbed on and that's when I notice he had no cap and no goggles. They got him into shore and he was wearing cut off blue jeans. The medics were there to help but of course it turned out that he was homeless, crazy guy who needed some attention. He got plenty, a reality that came back to haunt me later.
Swim - The swim seemed fine. I had company all the while which meant that I wasn't the slowest person out there. My sighting was good and I did not bump into a single boat - Hooray! It seemed very long, though - much longer than Wildflower even though I didn't veer off course over and over. Coming around that last buoy there was a little pile up and some guy gently and accidentally kicked me and my left calf got a little cramp. The bottoms of both feet started to cramp a little, too. I wasn't too worried because this happens to me in the pool at almost every workout. I tried to flex my feet while kicking to work out the cramp just as I do in the pool.
The shore finally arrive under me and went to stand up. It is really rocky right there so you have to find your footing over these big and small river rocks. As soon as I tried to stand my calf cramped up - hard. It hurt like hell. I fell down, on the rocks (hey ART for the hips right on the course!) I pulled on my foot and sort of got it under control and tried to stand again and then it really cramped up. I fell down again and started screaming "OW!!! My LEG!!! I nedd HELP!!" My leg was so visibly contorted that people coming out of water and running over me would look down and say "Oh- whoa. Ow" and things like that. Meanwhile I'm yelling, hoping someone will get a medic over to me to help me straighten out my leg. Then, this guy standing behind me says, "oh - do you have an annoying little cramp in your leg". As I live and breath the only reason that guy is still alive is because I couldn't stand up and kill him. I screamed again "I NEED SOME HELP!" One very nice woman stopped to help me and by then I had gotten things under enough control that I figured I didn't need to ruin another person's race so I thanked her and told her to get going. I wish I had gotten her name - she was the bright spot in a very dark moment. Finally, through the process of stretching and massaging my calf I managed to be able to stand and run out to the applause of all the people who stood there and watched me suffer. That cramp cost me about 2 minutes.
T1 - I was totally pissed off about not getting any help in the water. In that moment it was Crazy Homeless guy 2, Pamela 0 and it made me mad but I had a race to finish so I dried my feet, put on my shoes, sunglasses and helmet and headed out for what I wanted to be the ride of my life.
Ride - I spent pretty much the whole ride trying to ride harder than I have ever ridden before. For a while I watched my speed and just kept trying to get up and over 16 mph. That worked okay but not great. Then I heard Yoda Lieto in my head and switched the computer over to cadence and just focused really hard on staying at or slightly above 90. I got passed - a lot. I got passed over the entire race course. I got passed by all kinds of women who apparently swim slower than I do. I got passed by Clysdales and Athenas who started 6 minutes after me. I was already pissed off from the cramp incident and now, when I was giving it a lot more than I had ever given it before (notice I did NOT use the expression "my all") I was being passed repeatedly.
I was so hating on Triathlon. I was hating on continuing to beat myself up doing something I am just no good at. Then I let it go. It wasn't about me and them it was just about me and what I could do better than I had done before. I carried on. I drank water and pedaled and watched the cadence and worked it. At the halfway point I decided to see how I was doing timewise so I looked at my Garmin and realized that although I had managed to put it on in transition I had failed to push the start button. Nothing but zeros. I decided that was also a good thing because I didn't need any more disappointment and I was already trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear so I just told myself to carry on and keep those cranks going!
T2 - could not find my spot. I knew exactly where it was and yet I didn't recognize it. I wandered back and forth, freaking out and finally gave myself a virtual slap across the face and went to the spot I knew to be mine and looked a little harder. Of course everything had been kicked around but there were my shoes, my towel, etc. I swapped shoes, helmet for hat and headed out. oops - forgot the thermotab and Gu so I went back, took the Thermotab and grabbed the Gu and headed out again. Of course there were all kinds of guys who had long since finished and lots of people telling me to 'finish strong. just find your pace and have fun'. Right - it's so fun when you are so far behind.
That little transition problem cost me another 2 minutes.
Run - I was running. I had on the Garmin and it was turned on but I decided not to look. I was running at a pace that I felt was sustainable and that's what mattered to me. What I really wanted was to run the entire run and not give up and walk as I had at Wildflower. I felt pretty good so I just stuck with that mantra - run, don't walk. I made it, too.
About 50 feet from the finish I was passed by a woman with a "52" on her calf. DAMNIT! I thought to myself, "you must pick it up and pass her - DO NOT LET HER GET AWAY!" Sadly, I am not a born competitor and I was just glad to be finishing and I let her go expecting she would beat me by a minute or so. If only.
Final result:
Swim 37:44.0 T1 02:43.6 Bike 01:38:24.7 T2 04:12.7 Run 1:10:36.5 Finish 03:33:41.6 9th out of 10 in my age group; 153 out of 164 women. I'd like to thank the poor girl from Sacramento Triathlon Club who flatted out and let me come in ahead of her. I did ask her if she had everything she needed as I passed her and she said she did.
That woman who passed me at the end of the run beat me by 18 seconds. 18 SECONDS!! All I had to do was find a little more strength - just a teeny bit of fight and I could have passed her and come in 3rd to last instead of 2nd to last in my age group. Like Chris Lieto, I will never let that happen again.
Overall I'm happy with the result. This is a 62 minute PR over Wildflower and although the Wildflower course is much tougher than Folsom not too many people enjoy a 25% improvment in time at their next event. It was definitely as much me as it was the course and the advice I got from Chris. So maybe I don't owe it ALL to Chris Lieto but he was and will continue to be a definite factor in my races. Thanks Chris!
ps - I already have an appt with my friend at Chez Marquis de Sade to get my calf worked on.
I had a dream last night that I needed to go somewhere but I didn't have a car. I hopped on my old hybrid bike and started pedaling to this place but soon realized that it was pitch black, I had no headlight, no reflector in the back and I had no idea how to get there. I found someone to give me directions but the first thing I had to do was head straight down a flight of stairs.
I consulted my friend Dr. Jung and he said, "Vaht ve haf here iss the anxiety." (he likes to be inclusive). "Ve haf to focuse on ze tahsk ut hahnd und trust our training"
English translation - someone is a little freaked out about her triathlon this weekend. Not on the surface, of course, but the good doctor can see what's going on under the covers, so to speak.
In other news - Sadly, I will not be attending IM Moo. I will be cheering on all of the participants from afar and wishing I were breaking bread and hoisting a pint with the spectators but alas, I have decided to dedicate the time and funds to being with my youngest daughter before she goes back to school. My son is also about to take off for school. My oldest daughter lives with her husband a couple of time zones away. The dog is very old and in rapidly declining health. The nest is about the empty out and I will be left a crazy old cat lady with my very fat cat. So - I need to stick around here that weekend and make the most of my non-empty nest time.
Today's helpful training hint is this: If your weekly running has averaged 3 - 6 miles per week and you are doing a half marathon on Sunday, do not run 9 hard miles the Monday before. And if you can avoid it, don't do a triathlon event the Saturday prior, either - even if it is a sprint distance.
I ran the SF half Marathon yesterday and it was not pretty. I was fine going out and even tried not to run too fast once I remembered that (okay my first mile was 9:54 but then I slowed WAY down). I did fine all through Golden Gate park, over the various hills and along the paths. I was okay coming out of the park and running through the Haight. My goal was 2:15 and at one point I caught up with the 2:20 pacer but then it seemed like we were going too fast so I fell off. I had a cramp in my side. I kept running. I watched as her pace balloons got further and further away. I walked the water stations. My legs got heavier and heavier and my knees started to hurt. I cursed my decision to wear my Sauconys even though they only had 300 miles on them.
I kept running through the ugly industrial backwaters of San Francisco just waiting and waiting for the Ball Park to show up in the distance. I know that when I see the Ball Park I'm almost done. And there it was! And then we had to veer right - drat! I kept running but now my legs were hurting like I had run a whole marathon, not a half.
I finished. I was in pain. The clock said 2:32 when I crossed but I knew I'd had a 5 minute delay to start (wave 2). Garmin said 2:26:07 but I had left it on auto pause and there had been a porta potty break in there. I was happy to be done but not happy with how I had done or how I felt.
The mind is a powerful thing. After I got home and showered and was about to take a nap I checked the official times. 2:22! Wahoo! That made no sense to me but I was elated. I wondered if the timing system had had a problem and they corrected it (yeah, sure). When I woke up I checked again - was I dreaming? Well no but then again my time no longer said 2:22 which I KNEW was wrong. It now said 2:28.42 which seemed exactly right. So then I was sad. Isn't that absurd? Same race, same me, different number and it impacted how I felt.
Today my legs are so sore - more sore than they have been in ages. My knees are recovering so I'm pretty sure it was the shoes which are now retired. I have a new pair of Asiics to break in. I am delighted that I could go out and run 13.1 miles on nearly no training at all but I don't recommend it. I also don't recommend putting together some crazy, hodge podge season that has you jumping from one kind of event to another.
Next up is an Olympic distance triathlon - on August 12. I MUST work on my bike skills but I MUST NOT burn out my legs in the week before the race. That means I need to recover and train and then taper over the next 13 days and then race on the 14th day. Terrific. Good thing I did so poorly at Wildflower and that I have scheduled SOMA because this one will be a PR but will not be the Oly to end all Olys for me this year.
Sept 19th I have my "A" race which, as I mentioned once before, got much "A"-er but you'll have to wait for the next post to find out what that means.
Today I had a race. I know - I didn't talk about it much but there it was - Tri for Fun! And so I did try for fun and it worked - fun was had. This race had its ups and it had its downs but overall I'm happy with the results and I guess since I've never done this distance before I PR'd. So
After the flat the other day I was nervous, particularly since at about 5:30 PM yesterday I checked my rear tire and it was flat - FLAT! I freaked out OMG! What is wrong with my bike!! I ran down to the bike store and got 2 new tires and 2 new tubes and came home and thought "No No No - you DO NOT switch tires the night before a race". I took the rear tire off, inspected it closely and found no tears or holes so I just replaced the tube. Then I discovered that when I changed my flat on Sunday I neglected to replace the nut that holds the valve tight to the rim. I hoped that was the problem. I pumped up both tires and crossed my fingers.
As always I woke up at 4:30 wondering what the hell I was doing. I mean come on - it's Saturday! Why in the world would I want to get up, put my bike in the car and then go subject myself to a swim. bike, run experience? I mean WHY!? I always feel that way before and event and it always takes getting to the finish to remember.
I had 2 choices to start - I could go out with the 'competitve' people who knew what they were doing or I could go out, 4 waves later with the women 37 and up. I fretted. I just knew - KNEW! that if I went out with the first wave I would still be out there looking for a buoy when the next wave cruised past me. I was wrong. My swim was just fine and I even passed people!! Go me!
Then the bike. Harumph. I need work on the bike. My computer was all screwed up (no doubt due to changing flats) and the speed would go from 8 mph to 15 miph to 11 to 10 to 16 - I had no idea. What I did know was that I got passed by probably every single guy in the 19- 36 age group (not to mention the ones in committed relationships) and at least 1/2 the guys from the 37 and up age group . This made me grumpy and I kind of wanted to pull a Stadler but I did my best to channel that energy into pedaling harder and going I have no idea how much faster.
And then, about 8 miles into an 11 mile ride I heard the sound I was in dread fear of - pssssffffft. Damn! But then it turned out to be a truck on the other side of the road releasing the air brakes - HUZZAH! I was still in the game.
The run was not bad. The weather was a little warm but not killer and I ran the whole thing, no problema. I got passed by a few more guys and then a few of the younger women started passing me and I hated that because I had a 15 minute head start on them - grrr.. But then the most magic thing of all happened - I passed someone! And then I passed someone else. Woo Hoo! Good thing I'm no Stadler.
Coming in on the home stretch there was a younger woman just ahead of me. I thought about kicking it and passing her and then I thought "no - I can't" and then... and then I thought 'HELL YES!" and I kicked it and passed her in the last 50 yards because what I really wanted, and what I got was to come in under the timer at exactly 1.25:00. Go me.
Estimated stats:
400 yd Swim + part of T1 - 8:02 (~2 min/100 yard)
Rest of T1 - ??? maybe 2:30 ?
10.34 mile -Bike - 39:30 (give or take a few seconds, it was supposed to be 11 miles) = 15.77 mph
T2 - 2:42 (really need to work on that)
3.2 mile run - 31:52 (~ 10 min/mile)
This event has no official time and no places - it's for fun. And it was! It did, however raise some doubt in my mind about doing this Olympic distance event on August 12. I really want to focus on my "A" race on Sept 19, particularly since it just got a littler A-er. I'll explain that in another post.
Next up - SF 1/2 Marathon next Sunday.
Then an Oly on 8/12
Then my "A" race.
I have no idea how I can train for these things but I"ll manage something.
This is what you get when you are a bad planner.
*final note - the little magnet on my rear spokes was at an angle, up away from the sensor. I fixed it.
When I get to the edge of the pool for my workout I never test the water - I just jump in. That's kind of how I roll in life, too. If I spend too much time testing and thinking and considering things I can just rationalize my way out of taking action and that's not good. I can't say that being impetuous has never hurt me but by and large it works.
So today I looked up flights to Phoenix and they weren't too expensive and so I held my nose, squeezed my eyes shut and bought a plane ticket to Phoenix on 10/26 and then I went to the SOMA site and registered for the Quarterman. Arizona here I come!
That will make 5 triathlons I'm doing this year. I've also got 3 1/2 marathons, 1 swim across SF Bay and a couple of 5Ks. I'm thinking I need to toss a 10K in there, too. I'm still wondering what happened to my summer of hiking and kayaking and not training. I must have accidentally kicked it under the bed when I got up to un-hydrate during the night sometime last spring.
Yesterday was a wining day for me.
It started out with my daughter Pookie and me going to the kickoff training session for the Nike Women's Half Marathon. This event sold out in hours to the people who got the early registration email. I was one of them but didn't register soon enough. Then they had a lottery and I didn't get in that way, either. The only avenue left open was to join the 'Club Run SF' program, a.k.a. "Come Be a Nike P1mp". You have to do a lot of stuff to get a spot but if you do it you pretty much get one. What you have to do includes show up at training runs, bring friends, go to retail outlets and try Nikes on your runs. It's a little obnoxious but not only do you get to run a race that has beautiful SF Firemen handing out Tiffany necklaces as prizes, you get to access special tents with warmth and water and Luna bars and, at the finish line, a lot of very good food.
They had a pre-kickoff 'retail' event a couple of weeks ago where, in exchange for visiting all the stations (see -Nike p1mp!) you could enter a drawing to win a spot in the race. I did that and yesterday I WON! And I'm one of those people who never win - ever. And I won! I'm so happy.
As though that wasn't enough, I got have lunch with the traveling Family Momo. I gave them directions to a Park and Drive lot right off the freeway and then picked them up from their luxury liner RV and off we went to a local diner. As detailed in previous posts by others, the Angelones are just great, great people.
Melisa and I sat and jawed away through lunch (were your ears burning, peeps - we talked about you!) and the kids were just too adorable. They sort of pay lip service to sibling rivalry but they are obviously really close and really like each other as demonstrated in this fine photo. I also spent some time talking to Big J aka 'one of the nicest guys in the world'.
The visit was all too short but it was truly a winner. Momo is every bit as gracious, fun and down to earth in person as she is in cyberland and Big J and the kids are equally great people.
Who all is going to Wisconsin on 9/9 either to compete, sherpa, volunteer or just cheer? I know all the rA peeps are going so need to weigh in but who else will be there? Please leave a comment to let me know. Thanks!
The 16th annual ALCATRAZ SHARKFEST is planned for June 28th, 2008. Registration for this event is now open!.
but don't tell anyone - it sells out fast. Of course that won't impact me - I'm already registered.
Today I ran a local 5K that was well attended by my race club. My goal was to beat my last 5K time of 29:29 although I failed to note a few key differences about these 2 races.
When I lined up I was standing right next to a woman who just did IMCDA, her first IM ever, in the very impressive time of 12:13. I asked her if she was really ready for this and she said it was all just for fun so I said, "hey - you could pace me" and told her my goal. She thought that was a fine idea.
It was hot. Really hot. She kept on me the whole way,though.
"Come on - keep it going"
"Deep breaths"
"We're going downhill now - this is nice"
"Don't you slow down now! Come on!'
"2 more corners, Keep it going"
She kept that up the whole way - she was awesome.
I didn't run out of legs until the last little bit but I felt like I was suffocating almost the whole run. Had she not been there pacing me I would have tossed it and run about a 12 min pace. As it was I just missed my goal by some seconds. I forgot to turn off my Garmin which now reads 29:59 so I'm thinking I did about a 29:40. Sort of disappointing but not really.
I thought about it afterward and my last 5K was run after having done both a marathon and a half marathon and some track work prior to the race. This time, not so much. My running has been abysmal this year. I've only got a total of 150 miles in on the year and zero track work compared to over 400 miles last year and at least a few trips to the track. So all in all it was a great effort and I feel good. I really can't thank my pacer enough, though. Pacers rule!
Happy 4th, everyone!!
When I pack to go on a trip I start out thinking about where I'm going, how long the trip is and what I need to bring. I gather the clothes and accessories together and carefully put them in my bag. And then my mind starts thrashing with 'what if's and 'I really like that shirt' and 'I might want to wear those other pants' and before you know it I am just tossing random stuff in the bag and end up carrying enough stuff to keep me in clean clothes for any occasion for months even though it's just a weekend trip.
My events list for the next 6 weeks was apparently constructed using the same haphazard, undirected methodology.
Here is what I am doing in July and August
4th - 5K run
21st - Tri for Fun
29th - 1/2 marathon
8/12 - Olympic distance (Wildflower redemption event).
How nuts is that? I ask you - how in the world do you train properly for a lineup like that? want a PR in each thing and yet, I haven't really been training for any of them. I can't tell you how relieved I am that the Tri for Fun really is - they don't even time it and I've never done it before so PR!
Wednesday I'm just going to run as hard and fast as I can and try to PR over my last 5K of 29:29. So what if I puke at the end? That just leaves more room for 4th of July brownies.
I really need to get my run on for 1/2 IM marathon (Mr. Subliminal you can leave right now!) because I have to beat Nancy's PR of 2:26:38.65, She needs a new goal, right? and as her blogbuddy I take personal responsibility for delivering that to her. Yeah - that's what it's all about. That means a significant increase in run volume seeing as my last 10 weeks of running look like this: 2, 2, 3, 9, 6, 8, 6, 3, 11, 6. So yeah - more volume.
And of course - I need to get my bike on for the Oly because I want a serious, serious improvement over Wildflower. This course is kind of flat so that shouldn't be too hard but it will be hot and I just need to train. I had a fabulous ride yesterday which I may recount in another post but for now let's just say I'm looking forward to more riding.
Good thing I've been swimming a lot - no worries there.
So maybe I came up with this 'plan' to get me going again. And maybe planning isn't my strong suit. You think?
In other news - I got digital cable some time ago because there was deal if you got VOIP, internet and TV all at once. The big bonus is that for the first time in for ever I can watch the Tour de France!! Huzzah!
note - noting new here but apparently the "w" word in the title attracts spammers like nobodies business so I had to send it underground.
Of course my daughter did most of the planning for the w3dding so it was super easy for me and I tried to get all of you to plan the rest of my season for me but there seems to be a fly in the ointment - my brain. So before I reveal the results of our joint planning efforts I'd like to thank you all again for your feedback much of which makes up the bulk of this post.
So far it looks like this:
July 4 - 5K
July 21 - Tri for Fun (teeny sprint, not timed)
July 29 SF 1/2 Marathon
Aug 12 - Folsom International
Sept 16 - Tri for Real Sprint distance ("A" Race!)
I may do one or both of the Alcatraz swims but they are expensive and therefore optional. They don't really interfere with anything else so I don't have to worry about it right now. I am also busy being a Nike pimp to get into the Nike Women's Half. There are ways but you have to genuflect at the alter of Nike to get there. We'll see how far I'm willing to take that.
So that leaves us (by "us" I mean "me") with the question - what to do about SOMA??
When pondering whether to do the Half or Quarterman I asked myself "WWBD" (What Would Bold Do)? And then I thought, "hey - I could just ask him!" so I sent an email to Coach Bold who responded,
"the answer is simple.
you should do the short course.
you are doing it the right way, giving yourself the
opportunity to enjoy the shorter distances, like the
Oly at Wildflower, before you subject yourself to the
long...
(if it weren't for that capitaliztion of Oly and Wildflower I might have to start calling him -ee Bold, but I digress)
He also said: "having done from super-sprint to Ironman... let me assure you, it's just more of the same and you are not missing anything."
And, "just remember, don't buy into the hype. you don't have to be an Ironman, to be a triathlete."
Hmmm.... true dat but there's no IM on the table here so I kept searching through my comments section. You can see everyone's feedback after the jump. The upshot is that several people said to go for the half but others agree that a half is just a longer version of an Oly so why not have fun and do what you know you can do?
I get that 'more of the same message' but there are a bunch of other reasons to go long on this one. First of all, this year I am doing more events than I've done in the last 10 years combined so this is my big year and it would be good to get a 70.3 in there. Second of all, if I do Wildflower next year I'd like to do the half so that I can party on Saturday night. I know, I know... that was spoken like a truly committed triathlete (hee!). Lastly, going to do SOmA is a huge deal involving airplanes and bike boxes and lots of expense so I might as well do it up. And last, but certainly not least, I want to see if I can. Isn't that a lot of what this sport is about? I want to feel my limits and then push them out a little further.
All I have to do now is get past the fear of failure that plagued me with a dream this morning of being on my bike and desperately wishing to be done and wondering 'why oh why did I sign up for this disance??!!" and I'm set. I have a strategy for quelling my fear and moving from talking myself into it to making an informed decision. Next weekend I will do a long bike ride (~50 miles)followed by a 6 or 7 mile run. It will probably be really hot by the time I get to the run which is probably a good simulation. If that goes okay I'm in for the 1/2. Otherwise I'll stick with the quarterman. I'd ask you if that all sounds good but I think I've asked enough of you. Thanks again for your feedback with a special shout out to Coach Bold.
or training or watching Ironmanlive I was roaming the heartland enjoying yet another fine celebration of my firstborn's marriage and touring hundreds of acres of corn and soybean fields and chatting with cattle and climbing grain silos and well... you get the picture. And if that didn't do it I will post pictures when I get home - I have some great ones.
A huge thank you to everyone who responded to my poll. A plan is forming and I will share it soon, too. An extra HUGE thanks to those of you who have so much confidence in my ability to handle a 1/2 IM. The jury is still deliberating in my head on that one but it's very nice to know that so many people think it's time for me to step up to that distance.
Before all of that, though I would like to congratulate this weekend's Ironpeeps - Momo and Benny must have high fived each other out there once or twice and they both had great races. Jenny ripped it up in Europe in her inimitable and indefatigable way (the woman is a MAHCHEEN!) and to Mrs. Everyman for being able to get her race on in spite of a nasty eye infection. Several members of my race club crossed the line, too. Wil and Michelle and Shelly and Triboomer and Greyhound all did 1/2 IMs as did the DPR - she rocked that Buffalo Springs 70.3 - woot! The Kahuna evaded the sharks and conquered the hills. It was a good weekend for racing and for being an Iron Sherpa for Nytro and Carrie.
CONGRATULATIONS!
** If you don't see the poll below it is because PollDaddy.com is down. I guess you get what you pay for. Please try again later if you think of it**
I need help choosing my event calendar for the rest of the year. So far I have registered for:
A July 4th 5K
A Tri for Fun on July 12
A Tri for Real (my "A" race) on Sept 19.
I feel like I need a 10K some time this year and I'd like to do a 1/2 marathon. I also need another Oly. I also really loved that Alcatraz swim.
Keeping in mind that this stuff costs money and I have a limited supply I need some help choosing.
The SF 1/2 Marathon is a strong contender because my race club has it as a focus event and it is local and I kind of like it. That is at the end of July so I think I've got July covered.
Additional important info:
The Folsom International has a smokin' hot field. In my age group there were 8 women last year with times ranging from 2:33 to 3:20 which means that in order not to finish dead last I have to PR by a lot. Of course Wildflower was a disaster for me but be that as it may, going sub 3:20 at FIT vs. 4:39 at Wildflower is very intimidating. Not that I mind being last but still. Okay - I do mind being last but if I'm not last by a landslide I can live with it.
The Treasure Island event is flat, flat, flat. That is a man made island and they skipped building in any hills. Flat can be exhausting but it's fast. The field for that event is also much slower (2:41 to 4:29). I would do fine.
The Alcatraz Challenge involves jumping off the ferry, swimming back to Crissy field and then running across the Golden Gate Bridge dodging tourists, strollers and cyclists. Big time fun and no time pressure since you are at the mercy of the tides - both water and people driven. I'm not sure about the Race of the Centurions except it commemorates the 100th swim of the guys who just finished their 500th swim (and one of them gave FeLady his cap!)
SOMA is a really, really strong contender for several reasons. Momo has offered to host me so that would be awesome. Benny and Nytro will be there so that would be awesome. The DPR might just show so that would be awesome. I'm probably leaving out half of the other bloggers who would be there, too. You are all a great reason to go. I could probably get my sister to join me and then we could go to Sedona after it is over and recuperate at a Spa and dig on the spiritual vibes so that would also be .... excellent. The real question is do I do the quarterman or the half and you get to pick! I don't care about placing - there are not very many women in my age group so finishing is good.
The Nike Women's Half is sold out but I managed to get a spot last year so it's still open as far as I'm concerned. Where there is a will there is a way. It is a week before SOMA, though so that's a consideration.
Please feel free to vote 3 times. I'd like to see the choices somehow ranked. Also, feel free to leave comments explaining your choices. You also have the option for write-in votes. I didn't list any 10Ks because they are common, easy to find and I can fit one in anywhere. In fact, there is one the Sunday after Thanksgiving I might do.
GO!
About a week before Sharkfest I heard enough people say it was fun that I was all excited and ready. The night before I realized I stil needed to go get new goggles and when I found myself in the store, surrounded by open goggle packages and getting increasingly upset that NONE of them were right I realized I was nervous. Sigh..... I calmed down, chose a pair, went home and proceeded to freak out because you aren't suppsed to try something new when you have an event and what if the goggle leaked? - OH NO! So I filled the bathroom sink with water, put the goggles on and tested them - no problem It was a sign of good things to come.
I got to Aquatic Park SO early. 6 AM. The registration went from 6 to 7"30 so I had plenty of time to hang out, try to relax and take some pictures. The water was absolutely flat, the temperature was mild and the sun was peeking in and out of clouds. It was a perfect day.
A cruise ship came through and I hoped the event organizers were aware of that and that it wouldn't leave port half way through the swim - it was big!
FeLady and company got there and got registered so all we had left to do was hang out and chat and get ready. And ready we were
An announcer explained how the event would work, how to site and what to do after so we all marched en masse, through the tourists on Fisnerman's wharf and over to the ferry. I wish I had a shot of 800 people, most of whom were in wetsuits meandering along the waterfront.
On the short ride out there I briefly considered just staying on the boat but when the time came I stepped up to the door and when the guy yelled 'GO!", I went! 
The water was cold but I used the time honored tradition to warm things up a bit in my wetsuit (shablam! it's like having your own mobile hot tub!) and my face got used to the cold pretty fast. The biggest shock for me was the salt water. I haven't been in salt water for years and I forgot how... how salty it tastes. My feet and hands were cold but not unbearably so. Once my face decided that the cold and the salt were okay I was all set.
The swim was so amazing - I can't really describe the feeling of swimming across something as big as the SF Bay. Initially there are lots of swimmers around you but before long it seems like you are out there all alone. As you get closer to the shore the swimmers coalesce again, giving you yet another sign that you won't be swimming forever although at that point it really feels like it. I can't even imagine swimming the 2.4 it takes to do an IM. I guess it's all relative and if you train for it you can do it but 1.5 was plenty, thank you.
I sited off those 2 white towers toward the right in this picture. The building that looks like a boat is the museum we had to swim back to. The towers were easy to see without having to stop and tread water and worked as a target for much of the way in.
When I got closer I saw the buoy off the back of the lead boat and then finally the opening in the breakwater. The only mistake I made was allowing myself to hook to the left once I got into Aquatic Park so that I ended up coming out of the water to the left of the correct landing zone. I just ran (in a manner of speaking) over there and ran across the mats at 50:17, 15th out of 21 women in my age group. Not bad.
I was so woozy I had to be helped on to the stairs but I think most people were. You can't be horizontal for that long and not get dizzy when you stand up.
I felt wonderful and strong and accomplished once I got my bearings. Before that I felt like a madwoman. If you watched 'Dancing with the Star' you'll understand when I say I had the voice of Bruno Tonioli in my head yelling "She was like a crazy fish, flopping around the deck of a boat!" Some nice people let me hold on to them to get my wetsuit off and then I went and got a piece of banana and then raided the Lara Bars (I blame DPR for my greedy ways with them - she taught me to plunder the Lara Bars at the Bay to Breakers).
Sharkfest was a very cool event and I got some Shark-a-licious swag, too.
I'd like to thank Cheryl again for turning me on this event and for being my Sharkfest mentor and for inviting me to join her and her husband and friends for a delicious brunch after the swim. She even let me take a shower at her hotel room. I had such a great time and am still enjoying a tremendous sense of wonder and self satisfaction.
Could you tell that is the theme from Jaws? Okay fine -it doesn't translate to ascii. They did play it just before we headed over to board the ferry to Alcatraz today. I am way too tired to trot out the details but suffice it to say that swimming from Alcatrz to Aquatic Park is an experience like no other and I felt like Superwoman when I got out of the water. A woozy, light headed, dizzy Superwoman but Superwoman none the less.
I had a fabulous time with FeLady, Mr. FeLady and the friends of the FeLadies. Just excellent. I can't thank FeLady enough for getting me in to this. It is by far my favorite athletic experience of all time.
Results have not been posted yet so I have no idea. I was not last. I did fine. I loved it. Pictures to follow.
Sunday is the big day
Sharkfest!