Inspiring Others

Back in March of 2010, both the Bay Area Ironteams were having their training weekend down on the Wildflower course.  At that time, I had only been dating Nick for a few months and he asked if I would come volunteer.  It was very early in the morning.  I was cold, my feet were painfully numb because I forgot socks, and I was tired.  I stood on the shore and watched 50 people plunge into Lake San Antonio.  And, then I saw Jeff.  He removed his leg and literally crawled on his hands and knees across the dock, to get in the water.  And I started crying.  Crying because I was so inspired by what he was doing.  And crying because my numb feet were nothing to complain about.  After the day was over, he introduced himself to me and thanked me for volunteering.  I was too shy (yes, can you believe it?) to tell him how much he inspired me that day. 

Fast forward a year later, after my journey had begun and I was waiting at a left turn to start up Mt Eden when Ironteam flames passed by. It was Jeff training for IMC.  

And, a few weeks ago, we followed Jeff online as he went to Kona.  He crossed the finish line 25 minutes after midnight when most of the spectators had returned to their hotels.  But the president of Gu  was still there.  And, he wrote this wonderful article about Jeff's finish.
http://roctane.com/konas-final-star-jeff-schmidt/

A few months before Arizona, I was riding with Ron, the South Bay coach, and told him about my connection that happened at Wildflower Training weekend the year prior and what an inspiration Jeff was to me.  He told me Jeff would really appreciate hearing that story.  Unfortunately, I haven't crossed paths with Jeff since.  But next time I do, I will tell him. In the meantime, this entry is just another reminder about all the people out there that inspire us and don't even know it.  The ripple effect is amazingly powerful.

Adventures in HK

Before the honeymoon could begin, we made a three day pit stop in Hong Kong as Nick's dad was hosting a reception for us there.  Unfortunately, I forgot my journal.  And as a scrapbooker, I very much like to journal my travels so that way when I do actually get around to putting that scrapbook together (3 years later), I will know what to write on the pages about where I am and what I'm doing.

Anyway, I can't believe it's been so long since I've flown internationally.  Technically, we went to to the Bahamas two years ago, but does that really count?  It's my first trip to HK and I was very excited to finally be in a new international location after two years.  Especially a place that is as big as HK.

The plane ride sucked.  We both had middle seats and we were not together.  We weren't allowed to pick seats until 24 hours before the flight.  And, well, when you host a wedding 36 hours before a flight, you're a little too preoccupied to be thinking about checking in for flights at the 24 hour mark.  Nick tried very hard to get us seats together.  He pleaded to the agents at the counter, the flight attendants, and even the people all around us.  But nobody would budge for the newlyweds.  After all who wants to give up their seat for a middle in coach?

But we landed safely in Hong Kong at 6am.  His dad picked us up and took us to a local diner in Happy Valley.  I tried various things, but my favorite was the French toast concoction with peanut butter in the middle and condensed milk on top.  Technically, it is a snack and not a breakfast food, but it was delicious.

We took naps, showered, went to lunch, and then went to the tailor.  I'd say this was the first time his dad and I had something very much in common -- let's dress Nick!  I thought about getting some items for myself, and maybe I will regret it later, but I have not needed to wear a suit in 7 years.  Nor do I anticipate needing to wear one in the near future.  So I did not get any custom shirts or suits for myself.  After the tailor, we headed to Causeway Bay.  Hansen reminded us of the incredible pork jerky there.  I don't know how describe how a piece of jerky can be so delicious, but it is.

Then we met up with my college friend, Clifford.  We walked around Times Square and the World Trade Center (both malls).

Next we headed to Harbour City (to another mall).  Hong Kong is really just one gigantic shopping mall.  This is not an exaggeration.  We wanted a new camera and I forgot my sunglasses so I needed a pair of those.  After shopping, we walked to a Japanese restaurant for dinner.  This was real sushi.  Not rolls.  Not nigiri.  Not Americanized concoctions with mayonnaise and sauces.  I was a pretty good sport, but I refused to eat the crab and the shrimp head.  Afterward, Nick's friend, Teddy, took us to Ladies Market for more shopping!

The next morning, Nick's aunties surprised us and arrived in HK.  I gave a piece of the jerky to Auntie Irene and she took one bite and said, "Oh, this shit is good."  Yes, the jerky is THAT good!  And, we can't bring it home because it's meat so the only way YOU can ever try how good it is is to visit Hong Kong (Or Singapore because that's where the company is from).

His dad took all of us to breakfast where I tried thousand year old egg congee.  The egg is really quite disgusting looking.  But I didn't look at it.  I just buried it in the congee.  All I can say is that it tastes like a very old egg.  It's really only about 3 weeks old and was preserved in some way that turns it dark brown.

Later we met Jeremy, one of his groomsmen, who took us to dim sum.  Jeremy's words were something like, "I can't attest for the quality and it's probably pretty ghetto, but the place has lots of history."  Yes, I say that summed it up right.  We had to find our own table (communal tables), wash our own dishes in hot water, and hunt down our own food.  

It was also a BYON (Bring your own napkin) restaurant, but we didn't know that.  The food wasn't that great, but in the end, I actually enjoyed the experience.  It was straight out of the 50s or 60s and I could easily picture what it was like back in those days as it was pretty much the same as what we were doing right then.

From there we walked through the wet market and I got to see all sorts of animal parts hanging around.

After walking around Central for awhile, we took the ferry to Kowloon and walked along the Avenue of Stars.  The highlight was meeting Teddy, his brother, and sister-in-law at the Peninsula Hotel for High Tea.  Teddy said that everything changes in Hong Kong, except the Peninsula.  High Tea was SOOO yummy.  The scones were out of this world.  The Peninsula is also known for its chocolates, which were amazing.  I ordered an "iced chocolate" whatever that was.  It wasn't a milk shake and wasn't quite chocolate milk.  But it was delicious.

Next we met Nick's family for dinner and then we headed to the Peak.  I assumed the Peak was this rural place where you get a view of the city.  But I woke up and we're at another shopping mall.  Really?  "The Peak" is also a shopping mall?  And Nick says again, "Everything is a shopping mall here."

The next day we just wanted to rest and get ready for the reception.  Our reception was held on the 49th floor of the American Club.  The view was fantastic.  

It was my first exposure to the Asian way of weddings.  You meet lots of "aunties" and "uncles" and take pictures with everyone.  You shake a lot of hands.  A toast is made and then it's over.  The guest shows up to be seen.  It's not like American weddings where you have to shut the party down, kick everyone out, and then resume partying at the after party.

The next morning we left on an early flight to Bangkok.  We arrived at the airport and realized our flight was  an hour later than we expected so we had some extra time to kill.  I received a text from my mom saying she was in the HK airport.  My parents were traveling to Thailand to attend the Thai reception, but I thought they were traveling the following day.  So we found my parents in the terminal and they were on the flight we thought we were on!  However, we had similar layovers in BKK so we met them again on the other side and then they headed to Koh Samui and we head to Phuket.  

I loved Hong Kong.  And, I look forward to exploring it more next time we go back for more than just three days!

We Do!

About 9 days ago, Nick and I both said, "I do!"  It was a whirlwind leading up to the wedding and for the week after, but we are now on a remote island in Thailand and have time to breathe.  I know people will give me crap for updating a blog while on my honeymoon. But we get back this weekend and I have to be in Minneapolis on Monday, then a wedding next weekend, back to Minneapolis, then an offsite in Palm Springs for work, then another wedding, then back to Minneapolis for two weeks, then Ironman Arizona (to cheer, of course) and by then Turkey Day will have arrived.  So yes, excuse me for updating my blog while on my honeymoon.  My lovely husband is sitting right next to me as I do this (how great that sounds...).

The wedding was amazing.  Everyone said it would go by fast, which it did.  But I'd like to say I was pretty calm and collected for all of Saturday.  Thursday and Friday were a little stressful.  But wedding day was nearly perfect.  And, the parts that weren't perfect, others didn't notice anyway.  The imperfections were related to the staff, which I can't do anything about (other than we didn't give them their tips). 

On Thursday, we hosted a BBQ for all our friends and family that arrived early.  I also had some wonderful friends come in and help do lots of last minute preparations.  Friday was Nick's birthday.  Sadly, he did not want a groom's cake.  But I just couldn't help myself.  So I used his birthday as an excuse to get him what could easily be considered a groom's cake and had it delivered by some friends to the restaurant earlier that day.  There's a whole backstory behind this cake that I won't get into (missing ice packs, 90 degree weather, stuck in a trunk, etc.).  Therefore, getting this cake from the baker in San Jose to the rehearsal dinner restaurant in Dublin without Nick finding out AND without it melting was by far the most stressful part of the entire weekend.  And, yet it had nothing to do with the wedding.  Go figure.  Thankfully, it did not melt and it turned out awesome.

Of course, bicycles were an underlying theme to the wedding.  Our Save the Dates were a balloon with a vintage bicycle.  

Our invitations and RSVPs had bicycles.  Many of our guests "creative" replies included cute notes or pictures or poems about swimming, biking, or running.  

Our table numbers were various bike routes we had ridden.  

I searched for a cake topper that wasn't something I'd never use again (such as a cake topper).  Someone at the bicycle company where I am consulting suggested an ornament.  Genius!  It took a while to find one that wasn't chintzy, but I finally did and it's something we can keep and actually use every Christmas now.

Our guestbook also had a bicycle on it. I couldn't find a design that wasn't a tandem bike, but it's still cute anyway.

 

The only thing we didn't have was an actual bicycle.  I figured there was no way I was going to get on one in my dress, so why bother. :)

I was a little surprised at how many people asked us why we used bicycles as a theme.  Well....we like riding bikes.  And we like wine.  So we had a bicycle themed wedding at a winery.  Seems to make perfect sense to us.

The Kitchen Sink

For three years now, I have been wanting to try SF Creamery's Kitchen Sink.  It's a triathlete's nightmare -- eight scoops of DAIRY deliciousness covered in whipped cream!  One thing I learned in all this training business over the past few years is how my body reacts to food.  While I am not ready to admit that I am lactose intolerant, I am definitely borderline.  After months of various trials of omitting dairy or gluten or soy, I found the culprit was soy (and feel 10 times better now that I gave up edamame and tofu and soy milk).  And dairy was a close second.  

Because it was my birthday and we weren't traveling, I asked Nick to organize a Kitchen Sink for me!  Before heading to the ice cream parlor, we met some friends for dinner at Pyramid.  It is the first time I have ever been surprised with a birthday candle floating in a beer!

The Kitchen Sink is a food competition -- 8 scoops of ice cream, 8 toppings, 3 bananas, and lots of whipped cream -- to be eaten in 30 minutes or less -- by one person.  It was featured on Man vs Food.  The fastest time is 8 minutes.  I'm not sure how this is even possible.  Sedonia was all ready to put together a cheering squad and race plan for me.  However, as much as I thoroughly enjoy ice cream, I'm not willing to put my body through that turmoil.  So with the help of 5 other friends (3-4 which are lactose intolerant) we enjoyed the Kitchen Sink.

We got a big fat DNF.  But we had fun trying!

No More Training

The Olympics are over, the bachelorette party was awesome, and I don't have to travel back to Minneapolis for three weeks!  

On Saturday, I took my first bike ride in over 32 months without a pending race on the calendar.  It meant riding for no reason.  It meant riding because I wanted to ride and not because I needed to ride or should ride.  And, despite only being an 18 mile ride, it wasn't easy as my body just hadn't done it in awhile.  I'm not going to say it was hard.  But it was a swift kick in the butt.  I had been on the trainer, but hadn't ridden outside since Vineman.  

And...I joined a gym!

I have been without a gym membership for awhile.  I kept my gym membership when I lived in Mountain View because it was so cheap.  But in reality, the outdoors had been my gym for the past two years.  When I moved, I canceled my membership.  And, since I don't have any races on the calendar, it was time to finally join a gym again.  It means I am now "working out" or "exercising" and I'm no longer "training."  As a sidenote, I always thought it was funny when my mom would leave me a voicemail on a Saturday morning and say, "Hello.  Where are you?  You must be exercising or something."  Yes, Mom.  I guess I was just exercising on that 78 mile bike ride.  

Anyway, I find it ironic that the first thing I did as soon as I joined was take a spin class.  But, you know, sometimes you just have to start somewhere and that just felt like the right segue for me.  It's not that the gym is scary.  But it's change. And, it will take awhile to get back into that gym groove.  

Awhile back we took engagement photos...something I did not want to do.  I thought the whole concept of engagement photos was silly and just another one of those wedding industry "must haves" that someone made up randomly one day as a way to make people spend more money.  However, our photography package included the photos.  She said that it was just as much for her as it was for us.  When couples don't take photos, they find the wedding pictures more awkward as the couple is not as comfortable with the photographer or the camera.  I cannot believe I actually took engagement photos wearing lycra and spandex.  But I did.  We actually had a lot of really cute bike ones, even a few of us riding, but these are the two we liked best.  

Olympic Swims

I was hoping the Olympics would inspire me to feel like swimming again, but nope.  Not yet.  I am avoiding Facebook to prevent spoilers.  I am quite glued to the TV and staying up late every night to watch.  Swimming and gymnastics are my two favorites and they are almost over.  Although, I am grateful to the invention of the DVR and how efficient my Olympic watching has become!  

This post is really about something that happened three years ago -- after Phelps broke records in Beijing and his pot smoking scandal debuted.  Santa Clara Swim Club, the club that taught me to swim, has been hosting the Santa Clara International for the past 45 years!  It is a great swimming facility for little ol' Santa Clara.  As a sidenote, Sedonia swam here, too, but we didn't know each other during those swim days since she's such a spring chicken.  

Anyway, my friend, Dennis, volunteers at the event and scored two coach's passes to be on the pool deck.  Nick and I were not dating yet, but he was the obvious choice to invite (probably my only friend that even cared about swimming at the time).  

Since I have swimming on the brain, I figured I would head to the "archives" and pull out some pics from this hometown event.  

Nick showing off his pass

Stephanie Rice

Kirsty Coventry in the Longhorns cap

Getting ready to warm up....that's his body guard in the black shirt not really paying attention to him

Phelps in the warmup pool

Walking out for the 100M free (there is no zoom on this folks!)

My highlight -- Ryan Lochte and Brent Hayden

Notice how much buffer he is these days compared to 3 years ago.  If you saw any of the interviews, he said he was so disappointed after Beijing that he changed his workout and began focusing on strength training (and it shows).

Thank goodness he grew out of this silly mustache phase

Summer Sanders interviewing Phelps (he got silver).  When is Summer going to replace Andrea?  I'm tired of her dumb questions.

Phelps and Hayden on the podium

9.5 Hours Later - Vineman 70.3 Race Report

As I rounded into the finish chute yesterday, I saw Sedonia jumping up and down with cartoon hands yelling, "You're smiling!!!"  I yelled to anyone who could hear, "because I'm so happy this is finally over!"  After it was all said and done she said, "Just think how much easier your life is going to be now."  Exactly!!!  I am so excited to have this behind me so I can focus on an even bigger event at the end of a September and a super fast implementation for the bicycle company at the beginning of November without feeling guilty about training.  Plus, as I mentioned in my last entry, I am excited to just "exercise" again and not "train" for several months.

Yesterday turned out ok.  Of course it was not what I intended when I registered last fall, still high on IM training, but at this point, it doesn't matter.  I am just so happy I finished (made possible by such an early swim wave).  My swim was awful.  While the Vineman swim is probably the easiest swim out there of all the races (because it is in waves and so shallow), I got stuck in the upstream current despite my best intentions to stay to the right.  I was too stubborn to turn right and get out of it.  I just kept thinking I was going to naturally get out of it.  "Oh a little bit more and it is the turnaround."  Except that it wasn't the turnaround.  It was the next buoy and then the next one and the next.  As a sidenote, aren't the orange buoys supposed to mean left turn???   The highlight of the swim was getting tapped on my shoulder and seeing Nick in the water (was in the wave 8 minutes behind me).  The lowlight of the day was that I was drafting off of a backstroker!  She literally backstroked the entire first half.  I walked at the turnaround because it was so shallow and was disappointed to see 28 minutes on my watch.  

All the people standing up and walking at the turnaround!

I swam directly with the current on the way back and made up some time as I got out at 51 minutes.  I was looking for 48 minutes.  Three minutes is nothing in the scope of a long day, and I should have reminded myself that.  But, it was a damper for the next hour.

I was going for a T1 PR and it did not happen.  There was mud everywhere!!!  The princess in me couldn't take it. I was slightly paralyzed by it.  I had to unravel my sliver of a towel so I could sit down on it and wipe my feet off so I could put blister shield on (for the run since T2 was 17 miles away).  And then my towel became community property as all the other girls around me asked if they could wipe their feet on it!  I was glad I packed 2 separate plastic bags to put my dry clothes in and the muddy stuff in and then threw the wetsuit in that bag and ran it over to the guys transporting the swim bags to the high school.  I ran toward the exit and saw Sedonia who said, "How was it?"  And I laughed, "Definitely not a PR."  I think my IMAZ T1 was faster and I actually changed my shorts then!  The guy next to her said, "at least you're smiling."  Yes.  Because that's all you can do, right?

I headed up the hill and saw Jen who said, "I'll take a picture for your blog!"  Thanks JJ!!!

The first 10 miles of the bike were rough road and really rough thoughts.  The little gremlins were there.  I kept asking myself, "Why are you doing this?"  I thought about quitting.  Several times.  And then I thought about how it was the first time I ever thought about quitting.  I was uncomfortably full of snot from a sinus infection that started last weekend.  

But the sun came out right about when I hit Dry Creek Road and everything just turned beautiful.  I rode past all the wineries we visited on last year's Victory Lap and thought of the awesome weekend with my friends.  And, from there on out, I was just going for a bike ride.  

I stopped at the aid station at Mile 18 to use the potty, blow my congested head, apply chafing cream (I don't normally ride this far in tri-shorts), and get more water.  The lowlight on the bike was accidentally eating an Aleve.  I threw 3 Aleve into my bento in case I needed it.  Not knowing there was an Aleve stuck to the Chomp, I bit through the pill.  Pieces of it were stuck in my teeth.  It burned my tongue.  It was just pure chemicals in my mouth.  And nothing would take that taste away.  The poor kid at the aid station saw my face, "are you ok?"  But I didn't have the energy to explain my idiocy to him.  I think it took 5 or 6 miles before the taste finally disappeared.  

The rest of the ride was great.  I had to stop again at Mile 38 to use the potty and deal with a slight bloody nose.  I think both Sedonia and Elise must have passed me while I was at the aid station.  From there I was on the home stretch and enjoyed the rest of the way to Chalk Hill.  Alicia rode by on the way to the climb.  A girl on the hill had a sign that said, "Smile, it hurts less."  And she was right.  The hill was over in no time and the last 12 miles flew by.  I did consciously dial back on my speed.  If I mashed too hard, I knew the run would be even worse.  I saw my Iron teammates as I came into town and saw Alicia again as she was starting her run.  I finished the bike in 4:21.  I expected 4:30 so I was happy with that. 

To even the field, those in the early waves had the furthest to run in T2.  I took my shoes off and ran all though T2, racked my bike, changed shoes, put on my hat and ran all the way out.  It was the first time I ever RAN in transition and it still took me 7 minutes.  Grr... 

I passed Phil, Jasmine, Jim, and Tyler on the run.  I teared up a little when I saw them as I didn't know they were coming up for the day (except for Phil who was our sherpa) and was so happy they were out there supporting us.   

My goal for the day was to race with integrity.  By the time I got to the run, I was in a lot of pain.  When I chose to walk at Lavaman, I made a conscious decision not to try.  Yesterday, I tried.  I kept myself honest. I ran up all of those hills 20 steps run/20 steps walk or sometimes 40 steps run/20 steps walk.  My run was very weak.  It had no bounce in it.  No spring.  I almost tripped multiple times because it was such a shuffle. The pain in my knees and IT band was the bad kind of pain.  Sister Madonna passed me around Mile 4 and I saw her again at Mile 8, which was awesome.  I saw Sedonia when she was around Mile 10 and a few minutes later Elise ran by.  By the time I got to La Crema, I knew I had plenty of time to make the cut off.  I made friends.  Someone needed my Bodyglide.  Someone else needed my salt pills.  Someone else asked for sunscreen.  All goodies I had in my pockets.  I carried everything with me knowing I was going to be out there for 9+ hours (yet I am still extremely sunburned today).  Coach Dave found me when I had half a mile left and ran with me for a few minutes and then ran ahead to let the others know I was coming in.  And, it must have been the same announcer as Tri for Fun because he said, "And now there's one less hill on the course, here comes Jennifer Hill!"  Oh goodness.  I yelled, "It's Jessica" and he said it again, correctly.  But I got a lot of "Congrats, Jennifer" from my silly friends.  

I am definitely not done with Vineman.  I can't commit to signing up again for next year yet, but Vineman 70.3 and/or Barb's Race is in my future at some point. Unlike training for Arizona where I put my time in the pain cave every week, I was not ready for this event.  My priorities changed and I was lucky I still had some base level of fitness from last year with some maintenance of this year.  I thought about how my longest workout in the past few months was 4 hours and yet I spent 9.5 hours out there yesterday and somehow managed to be happy for the least 8 hours of it.  I'd say that deserves its own medal!

Taking Endurance to a Whole New Level

Today, I need to introduce the five people that read this blog to Chris.  He's a fellow AKPsi'er, and has been hiking the Appalachian Trail for the past 4 months.  I was reading his latest post and these girl scouts told him he was amazing.  A lot of people think doing an Ironman is a great accomplishment.  I won't deny that.  But what about hiking 2184 miles from Georgia to Maine?  Now THAT is effing amazing! 

He's been on the trail for over 4 months, his new nickname is Tarzan, and he has less than 300 miles to go.  Imagine hiking almost a marathon every single day!  And having to bring 6000 calories and your shelter with you on your back.  No volunteers to hand you water bottles.  Although, through his posts I've learned about "trail magic" where locals or day-hikers leave food, beer, and soda for the thru-hikers.  He doesn't have Special Needs, but he does have designated places where he replenishes supplies with the help of his family and friends.  The DNF rate is 75%.  Only 1 in 4 will finish.

If you aren't familiar with the route, here's his introductory entry about the Trail.

http://hike2012.blogspot.com/2012/02/welcome-to-my-appalachian-trail-blog-i.html

Pretty darn amazing, huh?

To Vineman or Not to Vineman

It's a question I've been asking myself for at least 3 months.  Do I want to do it?  As I have said to a couple of people, there is a difference between being committed and being interested.  I was "committed" to IMAZ.  I  am "interested" in Vineman.  


One of the challenges of the Ironman sanctioned races is they sell out quickly.  You sign up 9-12 months in advance.  A lot can change in that time.  I signed up for Vineman not knowing I was going to get engaged or be planning a wedding.  That I was going to move.  And, that I was going to start traveling outside of California.  The way I look at it, every time I travel to Dallas or Minneapolis, it's anywhere between 16-20 hours of door to door travel each week.  Plus, I still have to put my 40 hours of work in on top of that 20 hours of travel. The 2 hour time change doesn't help.  


I'm not trying to make excuses.  But I have had to ask myself why it was so much harder this time.  And, the travel schedule and life changes are definitely part of the reason.  In addition, I never recovered from Ironman burn-out.  I know a lot of people just like to jump right into training for the next race.  But I want to go to Zumba and hip hop and yoga and join a gym again.  I'm tired of things like "2' @ Z3 and 30" @ Z4, RI 3'.  Repeat 5X).  To be fair, I really do enjoy my proscribed workouts.  I just am tired of the structure.


Realizing I'm burned out from the "structure" and not committed as I should be to training for this event, then what am I doing?  I'm being stubborn.  I'm caught up in having too much pride to not do something that I set out to do.  Nick keeps saying, "Vineman is always going to be there.  It will be there next year and the year after."  Coach Dave says the same thing.  But, I truly sat on the fence.  A straight 50/50 for so long.  Finally, Sedonia asked, "If you go there and just cheer us on, how will you feel?"  My answer was "disappointed."  Which pretty much told me I'll be putting on that wetsuit on Sunday morning.  


Vineman is in 6 days.  I can swim 1.2 miles.  I rode the course last month and the 56 mile bike was fine, although noticeably slower since I have lost strength/power.  But the run will be a challenge.  The whole day will be a challenge, no doubt, but the run will be part of the day where I ask myself why I bit off more than I could chew.  My friend Robin says, "The Half IM needs to be respected."  Yep!  And, I did not respect it.  At least I can admit it.


Yesterday, I took some time to write my race plan and my pre-race report.  I met with Coach Dave this afternoon and I have 2 goals -- a PR for T1 and T2!  I laughed out loud.  I guess since this is my first 70.3 it will technically be a PR in all 3 disciplines.  But in comparison to how much training I put in last year, it will not be my best day.  The other piece of advice he gave me was to think of this event as 10 hours.  Most people, including myself, have a time goal in mind for every race.  Personally, when I don't meet those goals, a little goblin takes over in my head spitting out negative thoughts.  Even for little Tri For Fun, I have a time I'm shooting for and at the point where I realize I'm not going to meet my goal, the little goblin starts to visit.  I didn't have the goblin so much at Ironman because all I cared about was midnight.  When Dave told me to just start knocking minutes off 10 hours, instead of shooting for 8 or 8.5 hours (and getting upset if I don't make those times) I thought he was a genius. 


"The die is cast"


"The pearl is in the river"


"What's done is done"


"Here goes nothing"


I am quite curious as to how the day is going to turn out.  The only way to find out is to do it.  

Couer d'Alene Video

Every Ironman has a story.  And every participant out there has a story.  Here is the official video from IMCDA highlighting just a few of those stories.  It's just under 30 minutes with the first 8 minutes focused mostly on the pros.  Then it gets into the age groupers.  Nick made the video around 13:50.  


The last five minutes is my favorite...

His & Hers

I haven't exactly been one of those bride-to-bes counting down the days until we tie the knot.  But yesterday a friend sent an email saying, "3 mos away....are you getting excited?"  The first thought was, "Of course!"  The second thought was "oh my goodness, it's 3 months away!"  Although there is a big "to do" list of the major things that is slowly being worked, it's about time to start paying better attention to the calendar and working on the details.  


I have a couple of random "his and her" type shots taken over the past year.  In honor of getting into the double digits countdown....


Helmets -- I'm Luke Skywalker.  He's Darth Vader

Bike trainers set aside after a workout

Yoga mats

Bike shoes

Wetsuits after a swim 

We both needed new endurance suits

Hydrating.  His is the pink one.  Ok, not really.

IMCDA Spectator Report

This is my second post in the past 2 weeks of watching a race and not actually doing the race!!!  I am definitely a better cheerleader than competitor.  It's a long entry.  It was a long day!


Sunday was Ironman Couer d'Alene.  Several former teammates were competing this year and we wanted to show them all the support they gave us at Ironman Arizona.  So we headed up to Spokane and drove to Couer d'Alene, Idaho.


About 14 of us rented a pretty big house about 5 miles from the city center.  On Saturday, Nick and I met Sedonia at the lake.  Most of the athletes were doing their practice swim.  Coach Dave put a swim on the calendar for us, considering the large body of water readily available.  It was a double-cap and earplugs required kind of swim with a 56 degree water temp.  

Being dorks and taking pictures with cap and goggles!

My hands always feel the shock of the cold (more so than my face), but after about 5 minutes, I surprisingly got used to it.  After the swim we went to the Volunteer Meeting and then walked around downtown CDA for a bit.

There are 5 mooses downtown!

A friend from college lives there so he took us to a really great restaurant about 25 minutes outside of town on the water.  

Amazing views on the other side of the lake

Coolest gas station we've ever seen!

Our favorite discovery of the day was Moose Drool beer.  We coined it the Coca Cola of beers because it just had that zingy feeling to it!  

My second favorite discovery was a huckleberry lemon drop.  CDA has huckleberry everything.  And, huckleberry is DELICIOUS!!!

We were up super early on Sunday.  We all volunteered for morning shifts so we could spend the day cheerleading.  Phil had bodymarking.  Dana was sunscreen.  Nick was a bike handler.  And, I was in the Women's Change Tent.  

The Swim
Since I was a volunteer, I had access to Transition and got to see friends before they headed to the water.

Rachel, Jim, Kristy, Luis, and Sam

It was cold.  It was drizzling.  And it was windy.  For those that were in the water, they all said the first loop was ok, but the rain and wind came during the second loop, which also made the water choppy and even colder.

The Change Tent
Meredith Kessler was the first woman out of the water and into the tent.  Typically the pros do not want to be helped as they have their own system.  But every single one of them asked for help.  They were all freezing and couldn't feel their fingers and needed help buckling helmets, getting on arm warmers, etc.  I learned Meredith wears socks AND shockingly she had her shoes in her bag.  I just assumed the pros leave their shoes attached to their bike.  She was so gracious and appreciative of our help.  I mentioned that I watched her win IMC two years ago and I couldn't wait to watch her win today.  She gave a big thank you and ran out.


I was waiting patiently by the door at 7:55 because I knew Sedonia would be coming up any minute.  Like clockwork, she came rounding that corner a minute later!  She had a red mark on her left eye where she got kicked.  She went black and blurry for a little bit, but pushed through it and was the 3rd female out of the water.  I stuffed her pockets, opened her water, fed her electrolytes, and she was out of T1 in 3:22!  All, I could think about was how very cold she was going to be!


Twenty minutes later was when the mayhem began.  By this point mostly everyone was doing full changes and they were all freezing.  Many of them were shaking so badly, it looked like they were having a seizure, which made it very difficult to dress them. I literally saw blue lips...multiple times.  One girl told me she was going to be sick.  The only thing I had for her to throw up in was her T1 bag.  So I held a bag while she vomited.  The smell almost made me throw up myself.  I asked for a new bag and another volunteer told me there weren't any and I had to stick her things back in it.  ARE YOU JOKING?!  I went outside, dumped her vomit and then had to put her wetsuit and wet clothes in the vomit bag.  I refused to put her non-swim stuff in the yucky bag and hid her belongings until I could find a another bag later.  


Overall, I really enjoyed the change tent.  Ideally, it would be nice if Ironman only let people that have participated in the sport volunteer for that station.  I saw several volunteers trying to put arm warmers on upside down or not understanding the products that were coming out of the bags, which just slows the athlete down.


The Bike
I found Dana after the T1 cutoff was over and she said there was a rumor that someone drowned during the swim.  Her captain then went to ask the medics and they confirmed it.  I was disturbed and I was angry (I was already annoyed with Ironman on other things going wrong that day, which I will have to write a separate post on later).  There are spotters.  There are kayaks.  There are rescue boats.  He's in wetsuit.  How can someone drown???  We went to get food in the volunteer tent and were sitting with some people on the rescue team and were fishing for information, but it was obvious they didn't know anything.  They did say they brought in about 100 people from the water.  Later the press reported a man had a heart attack and was pronounced dead at the scene.  And, then later the press recalled that statement and said he was recovering at the hospital. Thank goodness!!!  I just could not get the icky feeling out of my stomach for those first few hours and just had way too many scenarios running through my head about the entire situation.  

We watched a few pros start their 2nd loop (mind you, it's only 10am!).

And, then drove out to the bike course.  On the way, we saw Sedonia approaching Mile 50.  Unfortunately, she couldn't hear us screaming at her or the cowbell because Dana forgot to roll down the window.  And after that cowbell, we couldn't hear anything either!  ;)  We pulled over around Mile 75 and I put on my sparkle skirt, cartoon hands, and got out the signs.  

People don't want to cheer for you, if you don't smile.  But we loved all those that did.  We got to see a bunch of friends out there and we even got to see Sedonia on her way back up the hill.  This time she heard us and yelled, "You guys are crazy!"


The Run
After lunch we head back to the corner and all the super athletes are running by looking like they are on fresh legs despite having just ridden 112 miles.  I get that they are fast and in their "zone."  But if these people appreciate the support, they show no acknowledgement whatsoever.  And, I wasn't going to waste anymore energy on them.  I gave up and went for a walk.  I knew that in another hour or two, the people that actually would want the support would be ready for us.  First and second place male finished just as I was approaching Sherman Ave.  I figured Meredith Kessler would be in less than an hour so I hung around there until she came through.  

I headed back to our spot and got out the signs.  By this time in the day people smiled and laughed and gave high fives (actually high fours to me) and actually acknowledged that there were spectators on the course.  It was time to refuel with a 5pm snack and some huckleberry ice cream.  Eventually, we headed over to the grandstands to wait for Sedonia.  

We saw her three times on the run and we knew she had a tough day.  The bike course changed this year and most people commented that it was harder than expected.  They never got a break.  They'd climb and get to a flat with headwind.  And then they had to climb some more.  Sedonia came running through and we went to meet her on the other side.  She was not feeling well at all.  

Making a bed for herself on the sidewalk

I got to help TWO people vomit in a bag that day! :)  I told her how pretty her hair was after 140.6 miles.  That's what she remembers.  ha ha.  Nick convinced her to get to the med tent.


Back to the grandstands to watch Jim and George come in. We refueled again with some soup at 10pm (seriously, we have learned our lessons being out there for 18 hours in the past as spectators) and headed to toward the last aid station.  By this time of night the sun has finally gone to bed (the beauty of CDA race is the sun is up at 5am and doesn't go down until after 9pm) and the hobbling and shuffling is rampant.  

9pm and still light out!

I talked and walked with a whole lot of people.  And, saw the fireman.  I think this is his 9th Ironman.  He walks the entire marathon in his full uniform to raise money for two Firefighter related charities.  It is an extra 30lbs and the suit gets upwards of 130 degrees. 

Hanging out at the last aid station, we saw Lori, Elise, Emily, Sam, and Kristy pass through.  We then ran (yes, I ran in cartoon hands while carrying 2 signs) all the way back to the grandstands to see the finish.  

The Finish
There was a huge group running just before the end.  Mike Reilly was trying to bring them in.  He yelled when there was 30 seconds, but we knew she wasn't going to make it in time.  She ran down the finish chute with a sign that said, "Dear Asthma, I Win" and crossed at 17:00:23  He told her that she wasn't an official Ironman, but that she was in our hearts and got the entire crowd to yell to her, 'You are an Ironman!'  And, then one of the other finishers gave her his medal.  She took a victory lap up and down the grandstands with her sign.  Everywhere I looked, people were in tears.  


Here's a video of the last few minutes and what happened after midnight.