Sunday Funday

On Sunday, we rode the Silverado Trail up in Napa again.  We will be riding this road a couple more times these next two months since it the closest thing we have that mirrors IMAZ conditions.  It was our first "unofficial" team workout (now that the season is done) and we had a pretty good turnout.  The turnout was most likely boosted because Sedonia, who lives in Napa, hosted a party so we could track our friends that were racing IM Canada and IM Louisville after our ride.  It was also supposed to be a "sign-making" party to remake my signs that that were lost at Vineman (I'll post about that later since I'm still crying about it).

The cooks -- Maria, Margaret, and Sedonia

Needless to say, we didn't make any signs.  But we did make a board to track our friends.  I posted a pic of the board on Facebook thinking about how dorky we were.  However, I got a few comments and emails from other teammates that didn't have access to Ironmanlive.com so they encouraged more updates via the picture.  

And, we didn't really make any signs because the sign-making portion of the party was really disguised as a surprise birthday party for me!  Sedonia made me wear a hat that I'm pretty sure once belonged to a garden gnome.  

And, she even made me a homemade ice cream mint chocolate chip cake! 

I continued to track my friends after I got home.  At one point, we were waiting on Eddie to come in.  Grace posted a status update that just said, "Ed-die, Ed-die, Ed-die, you can do this" and within minutes a bunch of  us were updating her status saying we were there and pulling for him to come in, too.  About 10 minutes later, my heart got all warm and fuzzy when Phil posted that Eddie was running down the chute on ironmanlive.com.  All our runners were in.  The team support is amazing, even when we can't be there in person.  I can't wait to have the virtual support from my team come November (not to mention all the other beautiful people that will be there in person to help me finish this journey)!

And I Would Ride 1000 Miles

Sunday, when I was riding, I received a text message.  Shortly after I heard the ding ding of the phone, I noticed the bike computer went crazy.  After a few minutes, I realized the numbers look like 602.  I'm assuming there was some sort of interference from my phone.  I guess if my bike computer has to break, then having 602 permanently stuck on the face isn't so bad (in case you couldn't tell, this Sun Devil never let go of her AZ number)! :)

Prior to the Cateye representing the 6-0-2, it said it I had ridden more than 1000 miles on Ruby since March (and another 400 on Hank since November), which actually sounds low to me (how absurd is that?).  Since I mostly ride for time and do an awful lot of climbing, I guess it's about right.  Now that all my data seems to be wiped away from the computer, I got to thinking about how many beautiful and amazing places Hank the Tank and precious Ruby have taken me over the past 9 months such as:

1.  North and south the wide-shouldered Foothill Expwy as the gateway to routes in Cupertino, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Los Altos, Woodside, and Portola Valley.  

2.  Shedding a whole lot of tears up Palomares with THREE coaches riding behind me!

3.  Up Mt. Eden and around Stevens Creek Reservoir

4.  Overwhelmed at the thought of climbing Del Valle Rd and Mines Rd, which is hard enough as it is.  And, then add some snow!

5.  Tackling the Wildflower Long Course in the rain that came in all directions

6.  Finding fellow Sun Devil alums on the Tierra Bella organized ride through Gilroy, San Martin and around Uvas Reservoir

7.  Rolling through the unfamiliar towns of Pope Valley and Anguin, swearing for three of the four miles up Ink Grade, and then down to the quaint vineyards in Calistoga, St. Helena, and Yontville 

8.  The beautiful (yet scariest and windiest) ride from Santa Rosa out to the coast

9.  Up Mt. Diablo for the first time (one day I might actually make it to the top)! 

10. Passing through cute farms with those windmills I love, happy cows, and mini goats.

11. Climbing Mt. Veeder -- twice in one day!

12. Making it up "The Wall" at Clear Lake

13. Achieving my first century after a day I thought would never end

14. Enjoying the long straightaway of Canada Road in Woodside

15. Wondering if I could stop at every winery along the Silverado Trail

16. Adoring the old train in Sunol on the way to the top of Calaveras

17.  Completing my first official Olympic Distance event

18. Heat-training in Napa

19. Enduring my first IM bike distance at Vineman

20. Loving the tree-covered roads in Portola Valley

I've written individual entries on at least 80% of the rides detailed in this entry, but stringing them all together always puts things in perspective.  It makes me feel even more grateful to live in such a beautiful place.  I've cried when it hurt.  And when that happens I force myself to look around and take it all in.  I've cried when I thought I couldn't go any further.  And, I've cried because some of it is just so dang pretty.  So I feel pretty lucky that I get to enjoy Mother Nature this way.


And I would ride 1000 more.....     

The Ripple Effect

About two months ago, I wrote about how I have been encouraging my dad to think about doing a triathlon.  He's a fit guy.  He likes healthy activities.  And, something like a sprint tri would be pretty perfect for him.  I tried to get him to sign up for Tri for Fun last year and he made me a deal that he would do it in 2011.  However, he was still on the fence this year and he negotiated he would sign up for a run with me, but didn't want to do the tri.  OK, deal.  So I invited him to Tri for Fun to watch and suggested he run with me, since it is an open park.  After seeing the event, he decided he could do it, too (my whole intention of getting him there)!  So for the past two months, he has been swimming, and riding on a borrowed bike, and going for runs.  And, Steph, my my stepmom, has also been swimming laps. 


Last week, he said he was ready, but didn't want to do the swim and that Stephanie was willing to do the swim portion.  So they formed an unofficial relay and showed up on Saturday for their first Tri for Fun with over 1000 other people!  Steph reminded me that they were doing this because I inspired them.  It's easy for me to take a compliment about my wits.  And, sometimes I can take a compliment on my looks (unless a certain someone is throwing them at me when I'm disgustingly sweaty).  But, taking a compliment on inspiring someone else...that is really hard to accept.


Anyway, I was off to go in my wave and I wished Stephanie luck and reminded her that it would only be 15-20 minutes of her life and that it was ok to doggie paddle or breast stroke or do whatever she needed to get to the end.  I went into the start area and heard someone yell my name.  It was an AKPsi alum from UC Santa Barbara who I met at a Bay Area Alumni meeting last month.  I said hi to her, the horn blew, and we were off.  


I had a much better swim than last time and was out of the water 3 minutes faster, which just reaffirmed that I really had an off day on the swim in the last event (3 minutes is pretty significant for such a short distance).  My time was definitely in comparison to my times from last year and so I felt good that I was back on track.  I got out of T1 in under 3 minutes and had a nice ride.  It was super windy on the bike course and I just couldn't get the speed that I would normally get on those roads.  But, I didn't care because I was passing people.  A lot of people.  Typically, I am the one getting passed.  Of course, I knew they would all be passing me on the run, but that's ok.  Baby steps....


I got through T2 in two minutes.  I knew if I pushed it, I could get under 1:30, which would have been great for a back-of-the-packer like me.  I started the run, but was having significant foot pain that was shooting from my heel spur all the way to the tips of two middle toes.  Unfortunately, last Thursday night's run left me a very painful Friday.  The plantar fasciitis was on in full force.  I spent an hour at PT on Friday, but I just wasn't fully recovered.  As I was running and watching the clock, I finally told myself that I had nothing to prove to myself that day.  I was doing this to get my dad out there and not because I had some record to break.  My focus is to be injury-free for Arizona.  So I slowed my pace and finished the run without killing left foot.


I saw Steph on the way in, and my dad finished a few minutes later.  We stayed around to watch more finishers and caught a 74 year old man run in as well as some women that looked to be more like water aerobics-ers (you know...the suit, the visor, the age, etc.).  Dad then called my aunt.  I don't talk to her very often, but she reiterated to me how wonderful it was that I got Dad and Steph out there swimming laps, and riding bikes, and running.  Dad is thinking about the swim for next year.   And, after watching all those people come in, Steph said she would consider getting on the bike and walking the run next year.  There were some 8 year olds out on the course.  I think this would be perfect for my little sis, Maddie.  They kind of think she might like it, too.


And so the ripple effect begins....  Maybe next year all four of us will be registered!

Dad and I before the swim

Those Damn Geese

As you can assume, training is hard on your body.  It's hard on your mind (a lot of this is all a mental game).  It's hard on your hair from all the shampooing.  It's hard on your crotch (if I get the guts, then I'll blog about that some day).  It's hard on your family/friends/loved ones because you essentially disappear for a year.  It's hard on your work/life balance.  And, it's also hard on your skin from all the sun exposure, the chlorine, the salt water, and the duck/goose poop.  Yep.  Poop!

Geese hanging out on the shore

Yesterday was another Tri for Fun in Pleasanton.  Shadow Cliffs is known for "growing things" in the hot summer months.  When I/my teammates swim there, we rinse off immediately and never have any issues.  However, yesterday, I did Tri for Fun with my dad and stepmom (I'll write about that later, too).  There's no time to rinse in a tri so on the bike I went.   

The ducks and geese poop in the water.  The snails eat the poop.  And, there is a microscopic parasite that lives off the snail.  When you swim in water with lots of duck poop, that snail parasite can burrow in to your skin.  If the water evaporates from you before rinsing, those parasites can remain on your skin.  But, humans aren't a good host so they die pretty quickly.  And, when they do, they leave bumps like this:

Well hot diggity damn.  I've got Swimmer's Itch (sometimes called duck itch, or lake itch, or officially cercarial dermatitis).  I started itching around 10pm last night.  They say it takes 12 hours for the symptoms to appear and it will last about a week.  I pretty much knew what it was as soon as it started happening.  Mine look like hives or flea bites.  I have sensitive skin so any allergic reaction pretty much always forms welts on me.  And, they are everywhere.  Eventually they will turn in to blisters.  Gee, great.  Zyrtec is helping keep the itching at bay.  But there is really nothing that can be done other than OTC medine and home remedies like baking soda paste, Aveeno (the oatmeal), and calamine lotion.  In severe cases, you can take prednisone, but prednisone keeps me up until 3am every night. Unless this gets worse, I'll just stick with the home remedies and hope I can handle it for another week.   

The Change-up

After the Team In Training season ended, I was planning to train on my own using the Ironteam training calendar.  But I found a coaching deal that I just couldn't pass up.  So I'm now working with a new coach and his wife, who is a nutritionist.  They are just starting up their business, so there will be learning curves for all of us over the next few months, but I'm excited for the change-up.  The workouts are higher intensity with less hours required (bonus for a road warrior like me).  And, because it is personalized coaching, I have someone working around my travel schedule and providing unique workouts for what I can do while on the road or even on vacation.  As far as the nutrition goes, I'm sure I will have plenty of material to write about that in the future, but from what we have gathered so far, I am under-caloried.  A chubby girl's dream, right?  It's actually quite sad to think about someone who struggles so much with weight and eats what I would consider "normal" and doesn't "diet" and then find out it is still not enough.  There are a few changes we are making to see how I fare, but after logging food for the past few days, I truly don't know how I can possibly eat more!  Overall, she said my choices are not bad, and that I need bigger breakfasts and bigger lunches with more protein earlier in the day.  I'm a little overwhelmed and intimidated about the next three months as this is going to be so challenging mentally and physically, but change is a good thing.  The past 9 months got me to Vineman successfully and it could easily get me to Arizona.  However, now I'm getting personal attention and who doesn't like that?  But, in all seriousness as much as I am freaked out right now, I know working with an individual coach will make it that much easier to get to the finish line before midnight in November.

A Leisurely Weekend

What constitutes a perfect weekend?  For me it is a balance of socializing, being productive, and getting to relax.    


As I mentioned on Friday, I got my workout in (it's easy to skip Friday workouts as I'm sure you could imagine).  And, I had an official date night with Nick, (we don't get to go out as much as I'd like due to this early rise and shine business).  


On Saturday, we semi-fitted me for new pedals and met our friend, Andrew, for a ride through Mountain View, Los Altos, Palo Alto and Woodside.  It was so nice to leave from my house instead of drive somewhere.  The weather was gorgeous and so was the ride.  I didn't pass a single car for the 3 mile climb to the top of Alpine Rd and there was no wind up there.  The only things I could hear were my wheels spinning and a creek gurgling.  It was awesome.  I still had some foot pain, but I am convinced it is related to my plantar fasciitis and not the pedals.  Either way, I am sticking with the latest ones.  After the ride we went to dim sum (yum), ran a few errands (the productivity factor), and caught an early movie.


On Sunday, we drove up to SF for our celebration and send-off of the IM Canada and Louisville athletes.  I thought about not getting in the water.  I really hate swimming in the bay.  And, then I saw a seal.  

And, I got all excited so I decided to go in. Yes, I know that sharks eat seals.  But I'm not too worried about a shark in Aquatic Park. 

The current was so strong it felt like I was in an endless pool.  Jasmine and I did some drills with Coach Mike on swimming really close to each other, drafting, touching, feet-tickling, getting pushed down, etc. while still maintaining our strokes.  


After the swim, we did an hour run toward the bridge where I ran into my ex-boyfriend.  As a sidenote, I randomly ran into someone I knew at each of my workouts on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday!  

After a little bit of core...  

and some stretching...

...Tammy and I took a quick walk to Farmer's Market.  Then, the team went to lunch to celebrate our last team workout! 

Go Team!

A few of us ended up hanging out at Ghiradelli for a couple hours after lunch. It is always so crowded with tourists that I avoid it, but since we were right there and managed to get a table outside, it was perfect.   I thoroughly enjoyed my first ice cream from Ghiradelli.  And, it felt great to relax and hang out with friends and not feel some sort of time pressure to get home, pack and worry about a trip to LA, since I get to stay home this week!  Yay!


And, that is my perfect weekend -- training, productivity, fun, friends, (wine) and relaxation. 

Pool Time

My 11:30am meeting got canceled this morning so I thought it was perfect since there is an 11:30am spin class at the gym and I haven't been to one in a couple of months.  But, then I noticed my teammate, Jasmine, who will be crossing the IM Canada finish line in two weeks (woo hoo), posted a Youtube video of last year's IMC swim start (I am somewhere in that crowd on the beach).  This video literally put a pit in my stomach.  

I can honestly say it is the first time that I actually got nervous.  Why?  I just swam 2.4 miles less than two weeks ago.  I know I can do it.  But, I also know that it wasn't easy.  And, that I have neglected my swim workouts because a) I'm not motivated like I am with the bike and run workouts; and b) it's not convenient finding a pool on the road that has lap swimming in the hours that I can go.  Let's face it.  Swimming is just not convenient at all - the cold, the wet, the changing, the showering, the chlorine, the locker rooms, the getting dressed while still wet, the hanging of stuff to dry, etc.  All the disciplines have their own variation of that, but swimming is twice as much effort.

OK, I digress.  So after literally feeling sick to my stomach from watching this, I decided it might be a good idea go to the pool instead!  And, I reflected that I have not been to the pool once this summer.  How can that be, you ask?  You're training for an effin Ironman, you exclaim.  Yeah, yeah I know.  It's not like I haven't been swimming.  It's that I haven't been going to the pool and have been opting for open water instead.  Missing pool workouts means I'm missing out on techniques and drills and cardiovascular building.  Open water has given me the confidence that I can swim without stopping, practice with sighting, dealing with waves, salt water, choppy water, seasickness, etc., and has provided lots of experience learning where I get the wetsuit hickeys and where I just get rubbed raw (all very good things to know and learn from come race  day).

Anyway, I'm swimming and my stroke feels like crap.  Slowly as the workout progressed, I noticed that I began to swim smoother, my catch up was better, my stroke got longer, etc.  Although I might as well have been in the open water because I managed to get motion sickness from all the fasties in the lane next to me making so many waves with their dolphin kicks.  But the reality of how much time I have been away from the pool kicked in when I had to remind myself I couldn't just pee whenever I felt like it (as one of the coaches at Vineman said, "There are two kinds of people.  Those that pee in their wetsuit and those that lie about it and say they don't pee in their wetsuit").

Bottom line:  I will be forcing myself to actual pool workouts at least twice a week for the next three months no matter how inconvenient it is.  Because now that I've made it public, I have to own up to it.  

Excuses Excuses

I haven't really gotten back into the swing of things yet.  Obviously, last week was an extremely light recovery week.  This past weekend I was in Tahoe for a family reunion.  I managed to get a stand up paddle boarding session in one day (Chris Lieto's core and cross-training workout of choice) and an hour run another day (I thought I was going to die within the first 10 minutes from the altitude).  I fully intended on swimming in the lake, but instead ended up enjoying the view of the lake. 


So last week was recovery, the weekend was a vacation, and I'm working in LA this week.  In addition, I've got a cough I can't shake and is keeping me up at night (medicine is not helping).  Nick asked if I had whooping cough.  And my mother randomly asked if I have a collapsed lung (because it is a very strange cough).  Obviously, it is neither of those as I am fully functioning, but just extremely annoyed by it.  


And, to pile on even more excuses, I'm a book junkie.  And, this training business is really cramping my reading style.  The weekend getaway got me on a new book and I can't put it down (Yes, Natalie, it is Jodi Picoult).  These past few days, I have found myself fully intending on going to bed so I can get up early to workout (as I have learned the hard way that evening workouts just do not work when I am onsite with this particular client), and I end up reading until the wee hours of the morning (along with my dreadful coughing).  I can't believe I'm admitting to myself that I am missing workouts because of five fictitious characters!


So those are my excuses this week.  I'm not beating myself up like I usually do.  Now that I've switched to a new training calendar focused for Arizona, it's technically a recovery week so I'm not missing much anyway.  I did finally manage to get a massage tonight (long overdue since Vineman).  It was torture.  When it was over, I discovered my mascara ran all over, if that is any indication of how it went.  She claims I am ready for child birth now.


With that being said, I am going to put myself to bed, deny myself reading privileges, get some rest, and sleep guilt-free, knowing that things will be back to normal in about two more days and training will resume.    

"You Are Amazing"

It's been just over a week now since Vineman.  By Tuesday I was back to normal.  I was pretty happy at how quickly my muscles recovered.  I did very little training this past week.  Our coach recommended some 30 minutes walks, 30 minute spins, etc. to help with our recovery.  What a great feeling to think I didn't workout that day and then remember that I actually had!


Mainly, the past week was somewhat reflective.  I relived a lot of last weekend each time a coworker, friend, or family member asked about how Vineman went.  Facebook produced a lot of "You are amazing" commentary.  I know that those exact words, "You are amazing" have come out of my mouth a multitude of times when I'm talking to other people.  And, when I say it to someone, I truly mean it.  However, when someone says it to me, I can't help but think, "Nah, it's no big deal."  If I could take a step back, I might think it's a big deal.  But, right now I'm seeing trees and not the forest.


My behavior is reminding me of conversation with Nicole when we discussed how the mind holds us back from so much and then once we do it, we really do not think anything of it.  At dinner tonight, a coworker commented, "That's an impressive way to spend your day."  Ummm....I guess so?  I don't know.  Those are my days these days.  I spend almost every Saturday and Sunday preparing for a workout, driving to a workout, doing the workout, and then recovering from the workout.  It may sound impressive to someone else (or absurd or certifiably insane), but at the moment, it's just my sense of normalcy.

Vineman Race Report

*My detailed race report for anyone bored enough at work to read it*

As I already blogged, Vineman Aquabike is complete.  Last year, I remember somewhat balking when I found out there was an Aquabike event.  I probably said something like, "No running.  What a cop out.  If I'm going to do this thing, then I'm doing the real thing."  Oh how I would like to take those words back now.  Oh how very naive I was.  Completing Aquabike is no picnic, that's for sure.  

On Friday, we headed up north.  Lots of traffic on the way up so didn't get there when I wanted and missed the swim workout.  I ended up being an hour late to the Inspiration Luncheon and walked in while Laura, one of our honorees, was telling us she would be sitting 3/4s of way up Chalk Hill, ringing her cowbell, because that is where we would need her.  I realized I forgot some nutrition and had to make a quick run to the bike store.  From there I headed to the expo, went to the athlete meeting, picked up the registration packet, did a short mechanical ride to make sure the bike was ready, and enjoyed some Thai food before winding down for the evening.

Rise and shine at 4am and at Johnson's Beach by 5:45am.  Racked my bike, stood in a long bathroom line, and then set up my area.  I decided to screw vanity and wear the Ironteam tri-top.  I don't mind my own tri-tops, but all the girls complain about the rather small Ironteam top.  It's tight.  And, it rides up.  I already knew  I was going to change to bike shorts so I didn't want to change my top, too.  Speaking of vanity, it pains me to post these pictures!

My swim wave starts at 6:51 am.  It's a narrow river and the waves are 3 minutes a part.  There is no place to warm up.  I'm a little concerned about that.  Off we go.  

My fellow Aquabiker ladies Kristie, Aki, Jen, Emily, and Susie

Heading into the water

I think the first .6 miles of that swim was the longest 25 minutes of my life.  I was pushed down several times.  And because the male elites started 21 minutes before us, they were literally PLOWING through us toward the end of our first turn.  The second straight was a little easier, but I definitely swam off course a few places.  The water was super shallow in some spots and people were walking as fast as I was swimming.  I thought about standing up to walk.  But there will be no walking in Arizona.  So I kept swimming.  I could hear all the energy from the spectators as I passed the finish where the elites and speedy swimmers were running out of the water.  The 3rd straight was lonely.  I couldn't find any feet to draft behind. By this time, I am swimming past multiple colored caps (the natural fall out of the slower swimmers in the earlier waves).  The 3rd straight actually took me longer than the first.  It didn't feel longer.  But my watch told me so.  And, on the 4th straight I am finally picking it up.  It is really choppy now because Barb's Race just began.  So now there are 443 more people making waves next to me.  I get to a point where I no longer need to sight and I am booking it home.  And then I hit heads with someone.  Head on.  A group of girls were swimming on the wrong side of buoy against traffic.  I yell at them.  I probably only lost seconds there, but I felt like I lost minutes.  

Very happy to be out of the water.  

I get my wetsuit stripped, run to my bike, grab my shorts and run to the changing tent.  I should have grabbed all my things to bring to the changing tent.  That was dumb of me.  Once  in the changing tent, I am trying to put my shorts on, but the ground is full of dirt and mud, which is now on my feet, which is now getting on the chamois of my bike shorts.  Hell no!  My crotch is going to be sitting in that for 8 hours.  I don't need dirt where it doesn't belong.  Once that is all settled, I run back to the bike.  I'm trying to get some food in me as it has now been 4 hours since breakfast and I just swam 2.4 miles. I take a 3 bites of a sandwich (made with love by Sedonia) and eat half a banana.  

I forgot my food back home so Sedonia made me a sandwich
that morning and brought it to me before the  race started.

I'm trying to wash my feet of all the mud and get socks on without getting those dirty and get my shoes on.  Nick is yelling to me, "Sit down!"  But I'm stubborn and I don't.  I should listen to him from now on.  My AZ goal is be out of T1 in 7 minutes.  My Vineman goal was 10 minutes.  I took 16 minutes.  Yes, that's right. 16 minutes!  I think I broke a record.  Fortunately, IMAZ transition is set up more efficiently with your things in the change tent and the change tent on the way to bike.  And, none of this back and forth stuff I did.    

Heading out of the longest T1 in history

The bike began well.  Barb's Race is a women's half distance event going on at the same time.  I leapfrogged  with a pack of Barb's race girls the whole first loop.  It was nice to chat with people.  

Mile 1 of 112

I did stop at the Aid stations.  I heard all these horror stories about people not peeing for 8 hours and I didn't want to be one of them.  Peeing on myself on the bike is just not worth it to me.  I'm not winning, so why would I ever do that?  Plus, it ruins your components.  So I forced myself to stop and go as much as possible.  Another lesson learned and something I won't be doing in Arizona.  I think 2-3 times is probably sufficient and not 6.  TMI?  There's more to come.

I make it up Chalk Hill and tear up when I see Laura 3/4s of the way up.  She is living with an incurable cancer and there she is waiting for us with her cowbell exactly where she said she would be.  

Marina putting up Laura's honoree sign on the run course

A group of people (I think the Los Angeles Ironteam supporters) are near the top of the hill with a sign that says, "Insert Name Here" and they yell, "What's your name?"  "Wooooooo, Jessica!"  They gave me so much energy.  It was awesome.  I make it to the top and I see our bike coach, Lorraine.  I tell her she is going to make me cry tears of happiness.  Around Mile 48, my bag of food flies out of my bento box.  I can't stop to pick it up.  I have more food at Special Needs in 10 miles, but not the same kind.  I am kicking myself for another lesson learned.  I finish the first loop under 4 hours.  My goal was 4:15 so I'm really happy.  

I stop at Special Needs and get more nutrition, reapply sunscreen, refill my bottles, eat some food, take Aleve (my knees and my sit bones hurt).  Surprisingly my crotch is doing well.  Yes, I am going there.  Tony recommended that I "marinate" my bike shorts the night before.  Tyler was watching me apply it all and advised I needed to frost it like a cake.  So I did.  And, it worked.  I get myself together for what will now be a lonely ride because all the Barb's Race girls are done.  I'm ready to be done with the hills on the second loop.  It's a lot of rollers and I'm tired of changing gears every 30 seconds.  I can't really eat when I'm going uphill and I can't when I'm going downhill, and I just want a break.  By now my pedals are bothering me.  The ones I use (Speedplays) provide the most float so my knees don't hurt so much.  However, I had been warned by others that Speedplays hurt and burn your feet during long rides.  Yeah, they weren't joking.  The pain was awful.  I am thankful for one legged drills during Spin class because I had to keep clipping out with one foot to shake it and relieve the pressure while still continuing to move forward.  By the end of the ride, I am emphatic that I will be purchasing different pedals this week.  There is no way I could tolerate this again.   

I run in to Steve at mile 84 and ride with him for a little bit.  He says he is pooped from this second loop.  I agree.  The headwinds have picked up and I'm going 13mph where I was going 18mph only 4 hours earlier.  At this point, I am just reminding myself that it is beautiful here, telling myself to look around  and enjoy the vineyards and old barns and to check out all the wineries that I will come visit one day.  My stomach starts to bother me and I'm getting stitches.  I stop at the last aid station before Chalk Hill to shake my feet out and try to get my stomach settled.  After a few minutes, I feel much better.  Steve and Jen catch up to me there and we talk about how we have 1:10 to make it 17 miles.  We will be cutting it close because we still have Chalk Hill again.  Chalk Hill, the second time around, is at Mile 100.  Yeah, that sucks. Lorraine drove up next to me in her car and reminded me I only had one mile left of that road. My team put signs halfway up the hill.  The honey badger sign kept me going. Laura was still there waiting.  I think I cried tears of happiness again.  From there I have 12 miles to book it home.  

About 7 miles out, I see some volunteers are gone.  The cones are still up thankfully.  Then I get to a left turn and the volunteer tells me I need to obey the traffic light.  Are you kidding me?  This course doesn't close until 5:30pm.  I know I'm cutting it close, but I am doing the math.  I can still make it.  But, instead I have to wait in the left turn lane.  I have to stop at stop signs.  I have to ride up the 101 overpass and deal with onramp traffic merging into the road.  I am incredulous.  I arrive at an intersection where there is no cones.  There is no chalk.  There is a volunteer there chatting away on her Blackberry.  She is flippantly swaying her big pointer foam hand to the right.  I turn right.  I ride a few minutes and I see the 101 overpass again.  No effin way.  I know I don't go over this twice.  I turn around and ride on the wrong side of the road.  I scream at the girl (mind you I thanked every single volunteer and police officer on the course that day so now I feel awful for yelling at her).  I can see one of the drivers is very confused by my yelling at a random woman on the road and he lets me go through the light even though it is his green.  I find two other girls that are lost and riding backwards like I was.  They don't know where to turn.  I remember a road called Skylane and we find it.  I hauled ass back to town, but I missed the cutoff by 5 minutes.  As I said in my post yesterday, I was devastated.

Mile 111 of 112

Nick, my brother, and dad are there.  I am obviously in a bad mood and cussing a storm about what just happened.  I rack my bike and find my morning clothes.  I'm glad Bryce is there to hug me and my dad keeps telling me that I finished.  I keep saying I didn't.  He reminds me that I did.  I see Steve walking around and he says, "Well at least I missed it by 20 minutes.  I would feel worse if I missed it by 5."  And, I say, "I missed it by 5."  I cry again. And, I tear up every time someone sees me and wants to talk about what happened.  Finally, I wash up and change in to my run gear and decide I will do at least 6 miles (I wanted to do the first loop, but now I am defeated).  

A quick note about Vineman:  it was created to be a casual full distance event.  It's easy to register for and doesn't sell out in 2 hours like the Ironman events. And, it does not have all the pomp and circumstance and rigidity that goes along with an Ironman event, even though it's the same distance.  So while there are rules about the course, they aren't exactly enforced.  Therefore, there were all kinds of people out running the course that weren't *supposed* to be, including me.  

OK, so the first 2 miles suck (physically).  Whether I ride 25 miles, 50 miles, or 112 miles, it appears that I don't get my legs until Mile 2.  

I'm still replaying the days events and going through all the "ifs" and "should have's" in my head.  Slowly, I am beginning to realize all the things I learned.  And I start to become grateful about everything that happened.  Because if it didn't happen here, it would have happened in November.  And that wouldn't be good.  

I find Les on his loop and he tells me that Dana is back there and needs some help.  I keep going until I find her.  She's not feeling well.  I give her some friction block for her toes and she starts running again.  We make it back from her first loop.  

Running with Dana as she finishes up her first loop

I had gone just over 5 miles.  Dana knew she was not finishing before 11pm.  So she had her friend, Rowena, lined up to ride on her mountain bike with her because the course gets pitch black.  I go back out with Dana and I was going to run to about the same place where I found her on Loop 1 and turn around.  But, the sun went down.  I did not have my headlamp.  So at that point, I knew I was running the 8.7 mile loop so I could stick with her and Rowena.

It was actually a pretty amazing experience.  Because it wasn't my race anymore, I was having fun.  I sang to people.  I cheered people on.  It didn't matter if I backtracked and then caught back up to Dana because I didn't have to "keep moving forward" like everyone else was.  I was taking people's cups for them.  I was getting my groove on at water stops.  And, I got to pass almost all of my teammates coming in for their last loop.  I was trying to encourage Dana with point to point running.  "Where we running to next?"  "Ok, what's the plan now?"  "Let's get to the mailbox."  "How about to the crest of that hill?"  "Let's start after this pole."  "Let's walk with purpose!"  I also learned I get blisters on my left toes.  Nine months of training and I finally got blisters.  She still had another loop to go.  That girl showed the entire team what the word "Determination" means.

Dana's finish

I was starving.  I didn't want to see another pretzel or cookie again.  We did an In-N-Out run.  What else is open after midnight in the sleepy town of Windsor?  Nick was shocked I wanted it (see earlier post that the last thing I want after a workout is a cheeseburger).  But, this wasn't exactly a workout.  I hadn't eaten any semblance of a meal in 32 hours.  I devoured a double cheeseburger, fries, and a chocolate shake.  I was so tired.  But I went back to the hotel, took an ice bath, then a very warm shower, and very briefly stretched.  Nick says I was passed out within 30 seconds of hitting the pillow.  

I woke up early and couldn't go back to sleep since my feet were still in pain from the bike pedals.  I iced my feet and knees some more.  We went to the Team In Training Victory Breakfast.  I don't think I have ever seen so many people consume so much bacon in a single sitting before.  

Then it was dim sum time for lunch!  

Phil has taught me how to properly order har gow and gai lan

By the time we got back home from Santa Rosa and unpacked and vegged out, it was dinner time already.  And, after dinner, I finally got to see Harry Potter! 

As I said in yesterday's post, I completed 92% of 140.6 miles.  I bet those last 12 miles are the hardest of the entire day.  But, my energy was good on Saturday.  I had a bounce in my run.  I shuffled in the beginning and shuffled in the end.  I walked a lot.  But, I had more fuel in the tank.  Anyway, I'm just really grateful that I had this experience.  I'm grateful to my team for guiding me here.  I'm impressed that I raised over $6500 for LLS.  And, I'm proud of myself for doing what I did on Saturday.  

Believe it or not, it was very difficult to smile right here.