Summer appears to be on a bit of a hiatus and the last 2 mornings have been a bit darker, soggier, and October-esque as I've driven to the pool instead of the lake. Attendance at the pool remains summer-session-sparse and I'm getting accustomed to having my own lane and tailoring the workout to whatever I dang well please. It isn't a sunrise at the lake, but it's not bad, either.
Unfortunately, I'm less enthusiastic about cycling and I think the weather is going to mean another conversation with myself to attempt to drag myself through a session on my bike trainer later today...ugh. I really need a summer resurgence and am hoping for some vitamin D this weekend...I cannot wrap my head around fall yet!
On the way to the pool this morning, my car seemed to be a bit loud and rumbly. Of course, my first impulse when I think my car is making noise is to turn up the stereo (head-in-the-sand strategy!), but I mostly resisted that urge and tried to figure it out. I coasted, idled higher, listened...WTF? I thought the rumbling was a bunch of stuff I threw in the back yesterday, turned the music back up, and took the stuff out when I got home from swimming. A little later, I was driving down the hill to work when people in various other cars started signalling, pointing at my car, and mouthing, "flat tire!" DUH. CRAP. I'd have thought about that right away on my bike, but hadn't even considered it in my car. I limped my car down the hill and into the parking garage since I had to hightail it to a meeting. After my meeting, I got out all my favorite tools to fix any problem: the phone, pieces of paper, the internet, and a credit card (oh come on, you didn't really think I'd wield a tire iron, do you?)! I read my tire warranty/service agreement (which, of course, conveniently expired about 2,000 miles ago) pulled out my AAA card (also expired) , and googled the number for AAA. Within 30 minutes, the tools had all performed in complete synergy and I had a renewed AAA membership (with an extra $20 fee for the "pre-existing condition" precipitating the renewal, they are not stupid), a changed inflated tire, and a nice interaction with a friendly and uber competent AAA worker dude with speedy and impressive REAL tools! Overall, it was a minimally inconvenient morning compared to how much of a hassle it could have been...I must admit, I love city living and convenience!
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
Campin!
I'd like to start with a rant...it is simply not cool that, for the last 17 days when the weather was mostly good and there were a zillion fun outdoor things to do, the Olympics---which I LOVE-- were on TV. But NOWWWWW...when the weather is crap and I'm home from the weekend camping trip...the Democratic National Convention is on TV on every gol-dang channel. What I wouldn't give right now for some abstract Olympic sport I'd never follow in real life like the equestrian competition...or rhythmic gym-spastics...or anything where people are vying for a medal.
But I digress... back to the fun topic of the latest camping report.
Things started off in turbo mode at about 6 a.m. on Friday morning as neither HH nor I were exactly packed and both or us had to run around to get things together to meet Michele, Jill, and Angie to caravan to the ferry in Anacortes...fortunately, as seen below, the most important of the "10 essentials," (wine, more wine, a flashlight, a toothbrush, a tent, and at least one camping pal) all made it to the campsite by that evening and waiting for the ferry wasn't painful at all.
Once we got to Orcas and set up camp, HH and I went for a really great ride around the Island...I had some nostalgic flashbacks of tour guiding and HH was nice enough to let me guide the ride and blather on. Along the way, we stopped at a shop that had "Mad Housewife" wine and it was a no-brainer that we needed to bring back a bottle for Jill. Fortunately, my prior guiding experience included the knowledge that a bottle of wine fits perfectly in a water bottle cage...as demonstrated here:
Upon receipt, Jill promptly demonstrated that the wine was the right choice...
On day 2, I got in an awesome morning swim in Cascade Lake and, after breakfast, everyone went on various hikes...HH and I hiked up Mt. Constitution and had a GREAT time!
When we got back from our hike, we went down to the lake where Michele, Jill, and their dog, Roxy, had Cathy paddling them around and enjoying the scenery. 
HH, Indigo, and I were interested in getting pseudo-clean, but not so interested in taking a real shower, so we hopped in the lake as Diller did a little fly fishing on the shore (while wearing a very snazzy vest that I unfortunately did not photograph--it was way cool). Anyway, I got out first and was lounging on a picnic table in the sun when Cathy came urgently flying up in her car looking for Diller & Indie (who, at the time, was happily heading for the other side of the same toasty picnic table). Indie's plans for lounging were quickly thwarted as Cath explained that Bugsy, their pug, was locked in their vehicle back at the campsite, leaning on the horn, and setting off the car alarm annoying many of our fellow campground residents (and let's just say Bugsy was not the first one to call attention to our campsite on this trip...). Every time we've heard a car alarm since Saturday, we've looked at each other and said "Bugsy!!" Anyway, here's Bugsy with Indie...pretty fierce, huh? Oh, and the other irony is that the little old guy is, um, totally deaf. Gotta love it.
The rest of the weekend was really fun and included several more stories (at least a couple of which are unfit to print) and one major group decision. We're going to train as a group to hike in (and out!) of the Grand Canyon in about 13 months...as soon as we get the trip booked, I'm going to dig out my old coaching whistle (I've been appointed as the coach) and the group training will begin!! 
After a lot of campsite eating (ok, and drinking) all weekend and sitting around waiting for the ferry, riding the ferry, and sitting in traffic yesterday, I felt like a total slug...got in a 6 mile run first thing this morning and went to spin class at lunch. Spin kicked my butt as it was the first speedwork I've done since the race 3 weeks ago. I'm pretty dang sure I've decided there will be no more races this season...
But I digress... back to the fun topic of the latest camping report.
Things started off in turbo mode at about 6 a.m. on Friday morning as neither HH nor I were exactly packed and both or us had to run around to get things together to meet Michele, Jill, and Angie to caravan to the ferry in Anacortes...fortunately, as seen below, the most important of the "10 essentials," (wine, more wine, a flashlight, a toothbrush, a tent, and at least one camping pal) all made it to the campsite by that evening and waiting for the ferry wasn't painful at all.
Once we got to Orcas and set up camp, HH and I went for a really great ride around the Island...I had some nostalgic flashbacks of tour guiding and HH was nice enough to let me guide the ride and blather on. Along the way, we stopped at a shop that had "Mad Housewife" wine and it was a no-brainer that we needed to bring back a bottle for Jill. Fortunately, my prior guiding experience included the knowledge that a bottle of wine fits perfectly in a water bottle cage...as demonstrated here:
Upon receipt, Jill promptly demonstrated that the wine was the right choice...
On day 2, I got in an awesome morning swim in Cascade Lake and, after breakfast, everyone went on various hikes...HH and I hiked up Mt. Constitution and had a GREAT time!
When we got back from our hike, we went down to the lake where Michele, Jill, and their dog, Roxy, had Cathy paddling them around and enjoying the scenery. 
HH, Indigo, and I were interested in getting pseudo-clean, but not so interested in taking a real shower, so we hopped in the lake as Diller did a little fly fishing on the shore (while wearing a very snazzy vest that I unfortunately did not photograph--it was way cool). Anyway, I got out first and was lounging on a picnic table in the sun when Cathy came urgently flying up in her car looking for Diller & Indie (who, at the time, was happily heading for the other side of the same toasty picnic table). Indie's plans for lounging were quickly thwarted as Cath explained that Bugsy, their pug, was locked in their vehicle back at the campsite, leaning on the horn, and setting off the car alarm annoying many of our fellow campground residents (and let's just say Bugsy was not the first one to call attention to our campsite on this trip...). Every time we've heard a car alarm since Saturday, we've looked at each other and said "Bugsy!!" Anyway, here's Bugsy with Indie...pretty fierce, huh? Oh, and the other irony is that the little old guy is, um, totally deaf. Gotta love it.
The rest of the weekend was really fun and included several more stories (at least a couple of which are unfit to print) and one major group decision. We're going to train as a group to hike in (and out!) of the Grand Canyon in about 13 months...as soon as we get the trip booked, I'm going to dig out my old coaching whistle (I've been appointed as the coach) and the group training will begin!! Fortunately, it didn't rain until Sunday morning and we got out of there without getting ourselves or all of our crap TOO soaked...shew.
A few more photos of the weekend...
After a lot of campsite eating (ok, and drinking) all weekend and sitting around waiting for the ferry, riding the ferry, and sitting in traffic yesterday, I felt like a total slug...got in a 6 mile run first thing this morning and went to spin class at lunch. Spin kicked my butt as it was the first speedwork I've done since the race 3 weeks ago. I'm pretty dang sure I've decided there will be no more races this season...
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Look out for your eye sockets!
I went to swim team this morning for the 2nd time this week...kind of depressing to be indoors when we SHOULD be in the lake, but it's been pouring rain a good bit and windy. I do love a good pool workout, though, and the pool is pretty deserted in the summer so I had my own lane again. By the afternoon, I needed to do something to wake myself up from the post-lunch slump and resorted to the elliptical machine at the gym. I haven't "hamstered" in months and (didn't I say this about the bike trainer on Monday?) I have not missed it.
I really need summer to come back and lake swimming to be appealing and wonderful like it was last week! Summer is so NOT over, that's just not allowed...especially with it being 2 days until the next camping trip.
Speaking of open water swimming, the first 10k open water Olympic swim was today in Beijing. Of course, I didn't see any of it on TV (big bummer), but I looked up the results/story online. When thinking about the distance of this race, I realized that it is about double the distance of Fat Salmon. If I were to double my Fat Salmon race and really beat the crap out of myself, I MIGHT be able to do it in 3 hours. Time for the 10k Olympic swim? Just under 2 hours. Geezis!! Although that little stat is beyond humbling, I did love the article on SI.com about the sport itself and how it's not for the faint of heart (even if I did weenie out and hit the pool this week instead, I'm still an open water swimmer,right?).
From the article, "...adding to... these things, is the intimidation factor.
Though open water swimming may appear a rather placid sport, it's actually a full contact aquatic roller derby. There is punching, kicking and slashing; the ripping off of goggles and caps; there are elbows rammed into eye sockets, and hands grabbing at legs. Overt violence is illegal according to the official rules, but some amount of jockeying within the pack is inevitable and anyway, the judges can't see underwater.
When you add all of these things together, this isn't a sport for the faint-hearted. Which brings us to Wednesday's most impressive first of all: When the 25 female competitors lined up for the open water start, among them was Natalie du Toit, a 24-year-old South African. Du Toit, who qualified for Beijing with a fourth-place showing at the 2008 World Championships in Seville, Spain, happens to be missing the lower half of her left leg. As she dove in at the Shunyi Rowing-Canoeing Park, she became the first amputee to compete in Olympic swimming."
Dude. She got 16th without one of her LEGS, how amazing is THAT?!?!
I really need summer to come back and lake swimming to be appealing and wonderful like it was last week! Summer is so NOT over, that's just not allowed...especially with it being 2 days until the next camping trip.
Speaking of open water swimming, the first 10k open water Olympic swim was today in Beijing. Of course, I didn't see any of it on TV (big bummer), but I looked up the results/story online. When thinking about the distance of this race, I realized that it is about double the distance of Fat Salmon. If I were to double my Fat Salmon race and really beat the crap out of myself, I MIGHT be able to do it in 3 hours. Time for the 10k Olympic swim? Just under 2 hours. Geezis!! Although that little stat is beyond humbling, I did love the article on SI.com about the sport itself and how it's not for the faint of heart (even if I did weenie out and hit the pool this week instead, I'm still an open water swimmer,right?).
From the article, "...adding to... these things, is the intimidation factor.
Though open water swimming may appear a rather placid sport, it's actually a full contact aquatic roller derby. There is punching, kicking and slashing; the ripping off of goggles and caps; there are elbows rammed into eye sockets, and hands grabbing at legs. Overt violence is illegal according to the official rules, but some amount of jockeying within the pack is inevitable and anyway, the judges can't see underwater.
When you add all of these things together, this isn't a sport for the faint-hearted. Which brings us to Wednesday's most impressive first of all: When the 25 female competitors lined up for the open water start, among them was Natalie du Toit, a 24-year-old South African. Du Toit, who qualified for Beijing with a fourth-place showing at the 2008 World Championships in Seville, Spain, happens to be missing the lower half of her left leg. As she dove in at the Shunyi Rowing-Canoeing Park, she became the first amputee to compete in Olympic swimming."
Dude. She got 16th without one of her LEGS, how amazing is THAT?!?!
Monday, August 18, 2008
Languishing???
From dictionary.com:
Languishing: becoming languid, in any way.
Languid:
1. lacking in vigor or vitality; slack or slow: a languid manner.
2. lacking in spirit or interest; listless; indifferent.
3. drooping or flagging from weakness or fatigue; faint.
Yesterday Tatyana accused my blog of languishing(!). Ouch! My cousin, Liz, also sent me an email a couple of days ago to see what was up with my lack of bloggliness. Not to worry!! Although there has been an short absence of regular posting and my blog perhaps has been slightly faint lately, I myself am NOT drooping, listless, or lacking in spirit...This is despite the fact that the weather has been crappy the last day or 2 and that never makes me happy. And for godsake, the Seattleites who say they want a "respite" from real summer weather make me want to shake them! Are you KIDDING me? Anyway, the weather was crap yesterday and I actually dusted off my bike trainer and dragged myself through 50 minutes of pedalling in the Shoebox...I love that thing in the winter, but have NOT missed it while being outdoors the last 2 months, that's for sure. Fortunately, the sun is predicted to return by end of the week.
Let's see...catching up...I had another mountain biking lesson last week with the group which was a total blast, although they probably couldn't tell I was having fun...I had to completely focus and couldn't really multi-task enough to participate in the ongoing banter on the trail. I actually fell, too, which was kind of cool and made me feel like I might actually be able to call myself a "mountain biker" at some point soon. I must, however, find some mountain bike shorts pronto (or, as HH would say, "Stat!") so I look like less of a roadie on the trails...
This past weekend was mostly consumed with working on the Danskin triathlon...I was the bike course coordinator again this year and managed to herd up about 40 volunteers, including HH who got up at 4:00 a.m. (champ!) to support the efforts, and a big team of Cheryl's group who handled the start/finish area uber-efficiently under Nancy's bossiness. I think I put on at least 6 dropped chains on the Day St. hill and pulled up at least 4 cyclists who fell over...but overall, the triage was very minimal and the event was great as always. My BFF, Heather, did GREAT and Karin G. took 6th overall...way cool!
Despite the languishing blog, there are some other writing ideas in the works. HH and I had dinner with her pals, Michele & Jill, on Saturday night and had a lengthy conversation about writing a book about HH's life and antics (yours truly has a serious writing fantasy going for putting this one together). We're at the point of having a title for the book and several of the chapters...and then, of course, everyone picked who they wanted to play them when it becomes a movie and I was thinking about the songs for the soundtrack...HH is hell bent on buying an airstream "Basecamp" which would be the perfect accessory for a book-signing/adventure tour...and guess what, there's one that's a screaming deal on eBay...
T-minus 3 days until the next camping trip...whoop!
Languishing: becoming languid, in any way.
Languid:
1. lacking in vigor or vitality; slack or slow: a languid manner.
2. lacking in spirit or interest; listless; indifferent.
3. drooping or flagging from weakness or fatigue; faint.
Yesterday Tatyana accused my blog of languishing(!). Ouch! My cousin, Liz, also sent me an email a couple of days ago to see what was up with my lack of bloggliness. Not to worry!! Although there has been an short absence of regular posting and my blog perhaps has been slightly faint lately, I myself am NOT drooping, listless, or lacking in spirit...This is despite the fact that the weather has been crappy the last day or 2 and that never makes me happy. And for godsake, the Seattleites who say they want a "respite" from real summer weather make me want to shake them! Are you KIDDING me? Anyway, the weather was crap yesterday and I actually dusted off my bike trainer and dragged myself through 50 minutes of pedalling in the Shoebox...I love that thing in the winter, but have NOT missed it while being outdoors the last 2 months, that's for sure. Fortunately, the sun is predicted to return by end of the week.
Let's see...catching up...I had another mountain biking lesson last week with the group which was a total blast, although they probably couldn't tell I was having fun...I had to completely focus and couldn't really multi-task enough to participate in the ongoing banter on the trail. I actually fell, too, which was kind of cool and made me feel like I might actually be able to call myself a "mountain biker" at some point soon. I must, however, find some mountain bike shorts pronto (or, as HH would say, "Stat!") so I look like less of a roadie on the trails...
This past weekend was mostly consumed with working on the Danskin triathlon...I was the bike course coordinator again this year and managed to herd up about 40 volunteers, including HH who got up at 4:00 a.m. (champ!) to support the efforts, and a big team of Cheryl's group who handled the start/finish area uber-efficiently under Nancy's bossiness. I think I put on at least 6 dropped chains on the Day St. hill and pulled up at least 4 cyclists who fell over...but overall, the triage was very minimal and the event was great as always. My BFF, Heather, did GREAT and Karin G. took 6th overall...way cool!
Despite the languishing blog, there are some other writing ideas in the works. HH and I had dinner with her pals, Michele & Jill, on Saturday night and had a lengthy conversation about writing a book about HH's life and antics (yours truly has a serious writing fantasy going for putting this one together). We're at the point of having a title for the book and several of the chapters...and then, of course, everyone picked who they wanted to play them when it becomes a movie and I was thinking about the songs for the soundtrack...HH is hell bent on buying an airstream "Basecamp" which would be the perfect accessory for a book-signing/adventure tour...and guess what, there's one that's a screaming deal on eBay...
T-minus 3 days until the next camping trip...whoop!
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Bring on the mountain bike!
Ah, recovery...when I chose to end this tri season at the beginning of August, I didn't even remember that the Olympics would be starting this week...how very cool to be done and watching the real deal on TV. But what the hell is a "water cube?" I just hope they show some of the open water swimming...and that maybe, just maybe, triathlon will get a little air time in between the vaulting, bars, and floor exercise...
So I basked in lazy recovery for approximately one day after last week's race before I started doing things again...but...to give myself a little credit, I have not been killing myself. There were a couple of great lake swims last week including a stellar sunrise swim on Friday... and a couple of short bike rides including one during which a water bottle cage completely broke off my bike and went tumbling with the bottle into the road near Leschi (as I was thinking, "thank god, that didn't happen in Spokane...").
The highlight of my recovery activities, however, was my first mountain bike lesson yesterday. As usual, it takes a village to put me together...Tatyana loaned me her mountain bike and Jenny P. took me to St. Edward's yesterday and very patiently launched me up my learning cliff. The first activity was Jenny making me bounce around in the parking lot on the bike to feel the shocks...when I got a little too excited and pogo-sticked the bike around and started yelling, she reeled me in and took me out on the trails where I promptly shut the hell up and hung on for dear life. As soon as we started, a little kid about 2 feet tall busted down the trail toward us with his dad...he had a cute little T-shirt on with a "95" on the back and clearly, he was about 95 times as confident as I was on a mountain bike...for godsake, this is a sport that could kill someone. I kept catching myself white-knuckling the handlebars and tried to relax a little...and I think I actually improved a little during the hour or 2 we spent out there. Here's what I like about mountain biking...it requires complete focus and attention. I am psyched about the possibility of an activity that can really provide a mental vacation. Although I love long road rides & runs, and swimming in the lake, they facilitate my tendency toward over-processing. If my mind had wandered yesterday, I'd have wrapped myself around a tree upside down (me being upside down, not the trees). I also like going over logs and roots on the bike, way fun. 180 degree turns...not so big on those (humbled, out of my pedals, several times...). Jenny asked me if I'd fallen in love with mountain biking and I said that I'm not sure about that quite yet, but I certainly want a second date. Lucky for me, HH will be back in town soon and I think there will be a group ride on Wednesday where I can embarrass myself in front of a whole bunch of people...She can get her paybacks --and then some-- for me calling her ZigZag in the lake a few weeks ago, that's for sure. Jenny and HH have both threatened to leave me at home if I try to bring a heart rate monitor or any gadgets...another new chapter begins...
So I basked in lazy recovery for approximately one day after last week's race before I started doing things again...but...to give myself a little credit, I have not been killing myself. There were a couple of great lake swims last week including a stellar sunrise swim on Friday... and a couple of short bike rides including one during which a water bottle cage completely broke off my bike and went tumbling with the bottle into the road near Leschi (as I was thinking, "thank god, that didn't happen in Spokane...").
The highlight of my recovery activities, however, was my first mountain bike lesson yesterday. As usual, it takes a village to put me together...Tatyana loaned me her mountain bike and Jenny P. took me to St. Edward's yesterday and very patiently launched me up my learning cliff. The first activity was Jenny making me bounce around in the parking lot on the bike to feel the shocks...when I got a little too excited and pogo-sticked the bike around and started yelling, she reeled me in and took me out on the trails where I promptly shut the hell up and hung on for dear life. As soon as we started, a little kid about 2 feet tall busted down the trail toward us with his dad...he had a cute little T-shirt on with a "95" on the back and clearly, he was about 95 times as confident as I was on a mountain bike...for godsake, this is a sport that could kill someone. I kept catching myself white-knuckling the handlebars and tried to relax a little...and I think I actually improved a little during the hour or 2 we spent out there. Here's what I like about mountain biking...it requires complete focus and attention. I am psyched about the possibility of an activity that can really provide a mental vacation. Although I love long road rides & runs, and swimming in the lake, they facilitate my tendency toward over-processing. If my mind had wandered yesterday, I'd have wrapped myself around a tree upside down (me being upside down, not the trees). I also like going over logs and roots on the bike, way fun. 180 degree turns...not so big on those (humbled, out of my pedals, several times...). Jenny asked me if I'd fallen in love with mountain biking and I said that I'm not sure about that quite yet, but I certainly want a second date. Lucky for me, HH will be back in town soon and I think there will be a group ride on Wednesday where I can embarrass myself in front of a whole bunch of people...She can get her paybacks --and then some-- for me calling her ZigZag in the lake a few weeks ago, that's for sure. Jenny and HH have both threatened to leave me at home if I try to bring a heart rate monitor or any gadgets...another new chapter begins...
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Troika Race Report!!
Who knew that the best summer ever could get even better???
HH and I bagged the Seattle swim on Friday pre-road-trip and went for coffee with Tatyana, slowly got our crap together (oh, and HH bought a new Tri Top and some socks at REI on the way out of town because...well, why would you do that more than 2 days before a race, right?) and had a leisurely drive over to Spokane. We stayed with some friends, Barb & Ingrid, whose home could kick any B&B's butt (and let's just say Barb could take Martha Stewart hands down in any cooking contest...effortlessly). They are amazing hosts and we started off the weekend on Friday night with a great outdoor sunset dinner and some wine on one of their patios. Then we slept 10 hours...yup, I slept till 9:00 a.m. for the second time in a month!!
On Saturday, Barb busted out the usual amazing breakfast on their other patio and then we went to the bike shop...because, of course, HH decided to get a bike computer and some aerobars on her bike for the race the next day. Yup, that's right...brand new equipment, untested...that girl nailed the Shotgun Half Iron from beginning to end. And, of course, the bike shop dude, Tomas, was more than happy to fit her (in her skirt and flip flops, of course) to some sweet new bars. We also went out to Medical Lake and had a great swim on the race course...then to the athlete meeting and the big 'ol group dinner in town. Minimal beer, we actually behaved responsibly.
By Saturday night (when HH tested her aerobars for, hm, it must've been 5 whole minutes in her flip flops--good to go, no worries), I was definitely twitching and getting excited...in between laughing at/with her, as usual.
On race day, I woke up at 3:30 a.m. and made myself go back to sleep for an hour...at 4:30, I was pretty much jumping on HH like a kid at Christmas and saying, "We get to race today! We get to race today!!" To which our rookie shotgun triathlete replied, "Can't this thing happen at 10:00?" She rallied, though, like a champ, and we were in the car headed to Medical Lake pronto as my phone started dinging with text messages from Tatyana that started with, "Ready to play hard?" Giddyup!
We beat all the shuttle busses to the lake, got good bike rack real estate next to Stacey in T1, and had plenty of time to visit the portos, set things up, and shoot some photos. It was only about 50 degrees and pretty brisk, so getting in the water was a welcome idea by 7:00 a.m.
SWIM: There were 2 waves...the first wave of yellow caps were the men and the second were pink caps of women and teams. It was a beach start (thus, had to pee standing on the beach, everyone was doing it) and I pushed my way up to the front as my stealth goal was to win my age group...busted right out and had immediate swim space with no combat...sweet. I busted out pretty fast and wondered if maybe it was TOO fast, but settled in pretty well and started picking off yellow caps by the second buoy. Love that. The water was perfect and calm and I had a great swim...31:51. I was the 4th woman out of the water and first in my age group, mission accomplished.
T1: Not the most efficient, but not too bad...I was out on the bike pretty quick.
Bike: First 10 miles: Brrr. It was shady and still cold...toes were numb. I warmed up by mile 20, but didn't feel the toes on my left foot till about mile 30. The bike course was beautiful...great scenery, rolling hills, no wind, some blazing descents...perfect. I kept seeing things like a really cool yard full of sunflowers and thinking that I hoped Heather and Tatyana noticed them (of course they did, we de-briefed later, they were all over the scenery, too). There were lots of big open spaces where I was riding totally solo and could sing when I felt like it...way fun. I made up a new nutrition schedule en route that I really liked...I'd done the usual fillet of PowerBars in my bento box and cut 2 bars into 5 pieces each. I drank Nuun and ate a fillet as soon as I was out of T1 and every 5 miles up to mile 40 and then went with the bottle of Perpetuem for the last 16 miles. Perfect. I really pushed this bike ride more than I have in any other race...I can honestly say that I really left it all out there and met the "slightly uncomfortable" goal. No wondering this time, "Could I have gone a little harder?" I was worried a couple of times (as I had been in the swim) that I might be a little closer to redline than I should be, but I was right on. I finally figured out how to "race" this distance! Psyched about the bike and killed my goal time: 2:58:12.
T2: Wow, they set this up so streamlined and supported...I think I was under 30 seconds. (Now let's talk for a minute about HH's T2 time of something like 3-4 minutes...I had to ask, "jesus, what'd you do, read a magazine?" I wasn't there, but I'm pretty sure the volunteers were telling her she had to get her ass out on the run course and clear out some bench space for the cyclists coming in behind her...too funny)
Run: I hit the portos right out of T2...had to pee for a long time on the bike, but waited till transition. As I headed out on the run, I was again a little worried that I may have pushed too hard on the bike and might not have left enough for the run...I could definitely feel it a little more than usual. But I figured wtf, I'm still learning how to race this and I'll know if I screwed up pretty soon. I set my intention to stay steady and inside my ability...and managed to keep that strategy for the whole run.
The run was out-and-back flat on a trail with some shade, but plenty of sun. Guess who forgot to put sunscreen on (I swear I forgot and didn't bag it on purpose), but fortunately, I didn't get fried. About 2 miles into the run, a chick went blazing by me and we briefly chatted about the fact that she should "just go with it" while she felt good and I laughed out loud when she said, "yeah, you know what they say...if it feels good, just wait, it'll pass!" The run was well-supported with great volunteers, sponges, etc...the only bummer was that they were giving out Heed and I can't friggin' stand that crap. However, I walked a little and drank some at every station religiously. By the turnaround, I'd only been dropped a few times and had counted about 10-12 women coming back toward me. I was feeling pretty competitive to hold my ground...I was also psyched to start looking for "my" people on the way back and saw Tatyana right away, looking strong like always. At about mile 8-9, Heather and I passed each other. She looked really strong, too, and of course, her smile was visible from a LONG way off, as always...so fun! And getting a brief kiss in the middle of the run course was (1) a first and (2) quite the energy boost (and fortunately, despite the fact this was Spokane, we were not assaulted by any offended locals in pick up trucks). I also saw Ann, Stacey, Deb, LaVonne...it way fun to keep high fiving along the route. By the time I hit the last couple of miles, though, I was feeling a little stomach-y and was thanking the universe that this was NOT an Ironman (and that there is no Ironman next month, too, btw). I was really getting DONE and didn't have much left...one more chick passed me, but she wasn't in my age group, and I had no interest (or capacity) for chasing...just finished it out respectably. I was, of course, crunching the numbers throughout and realized that I'd be able to smash my goal time, so I finished pretty beat, but sky high. I was psyched to hit the run under 2 hours. Nancy and Cheryl were at the finish and Nancy led me around like a mom to get some recovery food and my sweatshirt...very sweet.
Run time: 2:58:12.
(Run splits: 9:50--including porto stop, 8:40, 8:50, 8:46, 9:17, 9:21, 7:47 (huh? marker off, maybe), 9:12, 9:46, 8:39, 9:39, 8:43, and last 1.1 = 9:59)
Total time: 5:31:11!!!
I went 3rd in my age group and actually picked up a little hardware later!! Whoop!!!
I didn't have to wait very long until HH came in (Holy crap, 6:08!!). And let's just re-cap THAT story for a minute, shall we? Shotgun Half Iron Girl raced this thing with almost nothing she'd owned for more than a month (other than her sports bra and a pair of the crappiest bike shoes ever that should have been replaced)...her bike, running shoes, tri suit, aerobars, all new...oh, and a running hat of Cathy's she found in her Jeep about an hour before the race started. She also did 2 bricks in her month of training, learned to swim in open water, had no race plan, stopped to pee 6 (that's S-I-X) times during the race including once on the bike course...and basically napped in transition (when she wasn't putting conditioner in her hair post-swim, no I'm NOT kidding, cause a girl can't have tangles, you know). Did I mention she was not nervous one damn bit for this thing, either. All of THAT being said, she did a 6:08 (hmmm, exactly my PR prior to this race after I'd done 3 years of training). Pretty cool and couldn't happen to a nicer person!
Here's a shot of us de-briefing with one of our hosts, Barb, after the finish...
Here's a pre-race shot in T1...
HH and I bagged the Seattle swim on Friday pre-road-trip and went for coffee with Tatyana, slowly got our crap together (oh, and HH bought a new Tri Top and some socks at REI on the way out of town because...well, why would you do that more than 2 days before a race, right?) and had a leisurely drive over to Spokane. We stayed with some friends, Barb & Ingrid, whose home could kick any B&B's butt (and let's just say Barb could take Martha Stewart hands down in any cooking contest...effortlessly). They are amazing hosts and we started off the weekend on Friday night with a great outdoor sunset dinner and some wine on one of their patios. Then we slept 10 hours...yup, I slept till 9:00 a.m. for the second time in a month!!
On Saturday, Barb busted out the usual amazing breakfast on their other patio and then we went to the bike shop...because, of course, HH decided to get a bike computer and some aerobars on her bike for the race the next day. Yup, that's right...brand new equipment, untested...that girl nailed the Shotgun Half Iron from beginning to end. And, of course, the bike shop dude, Tomas, was more than happy to fit her (in her skirt and flip flops, of course) to some sweet new bars. We also went out to Medical Lake and had a great swim on the race course...then to the athlete meeting and the big 'ol group dinner in town. Minimal beer, we actually behaved responsibly.
By Saturday night (when HH tested her aerobars for, hm, it must've been 5 whole minutes in her flip flops--good to go, no worries), I was definitely twitching and getting excited...in between laughing at/with her, as usual.
On race day, I woke up at 3:30 a.m. and made myself go back to sleep for an hour...at 4:30, I was pretty much jumping on HH like a kid at Christmas and saying, "We get to race today! We get to race today!!" To which our rookie shotgun triathlete replied, "Can't this thing happen at 10:00?" She rallied, though, like a champ, and we were in the car headed to Medical Lake pronto as my phone started dinging with text messages from Tatyana that started with, "Ready to play hard?" Giddyup!
We beat all the shuttle busses to the lake, got good bike rack real estate next to Stacey in T1, and had plenty of time to visit the portos, set things up, and shoot some photos. It was only about 50 degrees and pretty brisk, so getting in the water was a welcome idea by 7:00 a.m.
SWIM: There were 2 waves...the first wave of yellow caps were the men and the second were pink caps of women and teams. It was a beach start (thus, had to pee standing on the beach, everyone was doing it) and I pushed my way up to the front as my stealth goal was to win my age group...busted right out and had immediate swim space with no combat...sweet. I busted out pretty fast and wondered if maybe it was TOO fast, but settled in pretty well and started picking off yellow caps by the second buoy. Love that. The water was perfect and calm and I had a great swim...31:51. I was the 4th woman out of the water and first in my age group, mission accomplished.
T1: Not the most efficient, but not too bad...I was out on the bike pretty quick.
Bike: First 10 miles: Brrr. It was shady and still cold...toes were numb. I warmed up by mile 20, but didn't feel the toes on my left foot till about mile 30. The bike course was beautiful...great scenery, rolling hills, no wind, some blazing descents...perfect. I kept seeing things like a really cool yard full of sunflowers and thinking that I hoped Heather and Tatyana noticed them (of course they did, we de-briefed later, they were all over the scenery, too). There were lots of big open spaces where I was riding totally solo and could sing when I felt like it...way fun. I made up a new nutrition schedule en route that I really liked...I'd done the usual fillet of PowerBars in my bento box and cut 2 bars into 5 pieces each. I drank Nuun and ate a fillet as soon as I was out of T1 and every 5 miles up to mile 40 and then went with the bottle of Perpetuem for the last 16 miles. Perfect. I really pushed this bike ride more than I have in any other race...I can honestly say that I really left it all out there and met the "slightly uncomfortable" goal. No wondering this time, "Could I have gone a little harder?" I was worried a couple of times (as I had been in the swim) that I might be a little closer to redline than I should be, but I was right on. I finally figured out how to "race" this distance! Psyched about the bike and killed my goal time: 2:58:12.
T2: Wow, they set this up so streamlined and supported...I think I was under 30 seconds. (Now let's talk for a minute about HH's T2 time of something like 3-4 minutes...I had to ask, "jesus, what'd you do, read a magazine?" I wasn't there, but I'm pretty sure the volunteers were telling her she had to get her ass out on the run course and clear out some bench space for the cyclists coming in behind her...too funny)
Run: I hit the portos right out of T2...had to pee for a long time on the bike, but waited till transition. As I headed out on the run, I was again a little worried that I may have pushed too hard on the bike and might not have left enough for the run...I could definitely feel it a little more than usual. But I figured wtf, I'm still learning how to race this and I'll know if I screwed up pretty soon. I set my intention to stay steady and inside my ability...and managed to keep that strategy for the whole run.
The run was out-and-back flat on a trail with some shade, but plenty of sun. Guess who forgot to put sunscreen on (I swear I forgot and didn't bag it on purpose), but fortunately, I didn't get fried. About 2 miles into the run, a chick went blazing by me and we briefly chatted about the fact that she should "just go with it" while she felt good and I laughed out loud when she said, "yeah, you know what they say...if it feels good, just wait, it'll pass!" The run was well-supported with great volunteers, sponges, etc...the only bummer was that they were giving out Heed and I can't friggin' stand that crap. However, I walked a little and drank some at every station religiously. By the turnaround, I'd only been dropped a few times and had counted about 10-12 women coming back toward me. I was feeling pretty competitive to hold my ground...I was also psyched to start looking for "my" people on the way back and saw Tatyana right away, looking strong like always. At about mile 8-9, Heather and I passed each other. She looked really strong, too, and of course, her smile was visible from a LONG way off, as always...so fun! And getting a brief kiss in the middle of the run course was (1) a first and (2) quite the energy boost (and fortunately, despite the fact this was Spokane, we were not assaulted by any offended locals in pick up trucks). I also saw Ann, Stacey, Deb, LaVonne...it way fun to keep high fiving along the route. By the time I hit the last couple of miles, though, I was feeling a little stomach-y and was thanking the universe that this was NOT an Ironman (and that there is no Ironman next month, too, btw). I was really getting DONE and didn't have much left...one more chick passed me, but she wasn't in my age group, and I had no interest (or capacity) for chasing...just finished it out respectably. I was, of course, crunching the numbers throughout and realized that I'd be able to smash my goal time, so I finished pretty beat, but sky high. I was psyched to hit the run under 2 hours. Nancy and Cheryl were at the finish and Nancy led me around like a mom to get some recovery food and my sweatshirt...very sweet.
Run time: 2:58:12.
(Run splits: 9:50--including porto stop, 8:40, 8:50, 8:46, 9:17, 9:21, 7:47 (huh? marker off, maybe), 9:12, 9:46, 8:39, 9:39, 8:43, and last 1.1 = 9:59)
Total time: 5:31:11!!!
I went 3rd in my age group and actually picked up a little hardware later!! Whoop!!!
I didn't have to wait very long until HH came in (Holy crap, 6:08!!). And let's just re-cap THAT story for a minute, shall we? Shotgun Half Iron Girl raced this thing with almost nothing she'd owned for more than a month (other than her sports bra and a pair of the crappiest bike shoes ever that should have been replaced)...her bike, running shoes, tri suit, aerobars, all new...oh, and a running hat of Cathy's she found in her Jeep about an hour before the race started. She also did 2 bricks in her month of training, learned to swim in open water, had no race plan, stopped to pee 6 (that's S-I-X) times during the race including once on the bike course...and basically napped in transition (when she wasn't putting conditioner in her hair post-swim, no I'm NOT kidding, cause a girl can't have tangles, you know). Did I mention she was not nervous one damn bit for this thing, either. All of THAT being said, she did a 6:08 (hmmm, exactly my PR prior to this race after I'd done 3 years of training). Pretty cool and couldn't happen to a nicer person!
Here's a shot of us de-briefing with one of our hosts, Barb, after the finish...
Here's a pre-race shot in T1...
Another pre-race shot with Stacey (in between her doses of Pepto Bismal...way to hang in there, Stace, rock on, sister!)
And another post-race shot of some happy happy girls!
Friday, August 01, 2008
Troika Race Plan
Yesterday was a nice easy 4 mile run near Greenlake in the afternoon. I felt pretty good and didn't need it to be any longer. Planning to get in a lake swim today before the road trip to Spokane, but it's looking pretty windy out there...
I looked over my race plans and race reports from the other 2 Half Irons I've done and have a decent idea of what my race plan should be. I really want to get my time down to 6 hours and hopefully I'll be rested and twitchy by Sunday. At this point, though, I'm not feeling that all the training has quite caught up...good thing it's still 2 days out.
Race Plan:
Swim: Get on the outside if possible and out in front. Settle in, this is the confidence builder...goal time 32-34 min. Smooth and strong, visualize T1 toward the end of the swim.
T1: Calm and efficient.
Bike: This is where I need to do some work compared to other races...I want to push up to "slightly uncomfortable" and be a little less conservative. My base training and hill work is in the bank, so the rollers on this course should be fun and will make me feel strong. For nutrition, I'll have Nuun (re-fill with loose tabs in bento box), 1-2 powerBars on the first half of the ride, and save the bottle of Perpetuem for the 2nd half of the ride. If they're giving out Gatorade, take it. Goal time on the bike: 3:15 - 3:20 (16.8 mph).
T2: From last year's Troika results site, it looks like this one will be super quick. Swoop through the porto if necessary...
Run: On the run, I want to relax and not go out too fast. I will walk briefly through all aid stations and will get ice, sponges, gatorade. Try to work on leaning forward and small steps. I know this course is flat (zzzz), exposed, and out-and-back. It should be really fun to see all the people I know on the run course and get/give energy...look for HH, Ann, Tatyana, and everyone else. Goal time: 2:00 - 2:05 (but with the heat, who knows...)
Total Goal Time: 5:51 - 6:05
I looked over my race plans and race reports from the other 2 Half Irons I've done and have a decent idea of what my race plan should be. I really want to get my time down to 6 hours and hopefully I'll be rested and twitchy by Sunday. At this point, though, I'm not feeling that all the training has quite caught up...good thing it's still 2 days out.
Race Plan:
Swim: Get on the outside if possible and out in front. Settle in, this is the confidence builder...goal time 32-34 min. Smooth and strong, visualize T1 toward the end of the swim.
T1: Calm and efficient.
Bike: This is where I need to do some work compared to other races...I want to push up to "slightly uncomfortable" and be a little less conservative. My base training and hill work is in the bank, so the rollers on this course should be fun and will make me feel strong. For nutrition, I'll have Nuun (re-fill with loose tabs in bento box), 1-2 powerBars on the first half of the ride, and save the bottle of Perpetuem for the 2nd half of the ride. If they're giving out Gatorade, take it. Goal time on the bike: 3:15 - 3:20 (16.8 mph).
T2: From last year's Troika results site, it looks like this one will be super quick. Swoop through the porto if necessary...
Run: On the run, I want to relax and not go out too fast. I will walk briefly through all aid stations and will get ice, sponges, gatorade. Try to work on leaning forward and small steps. I know this course is flat (zzzz), exposed, and out-and-back. It should be really fun to see all the people I know on the run course and get/give energy...look for HH, Ann, Tatyana, and everyone else. Goal time: 2:00 - 2:05 (but with the heat, who knows...)
Total Goal Time: 5:51 - 6:05
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