March Madness - Half-Iron

Fundraising Update: I have now raised $2610 to help fight cancer! If you haven't had a chance to donate, please visit my fundraising page and help me reach my goal of $8000. Thank you to everyone who is participating in my March Madness Bracket Pool. Your participation has brought me $1000 closer to my goal!

I apologize to everyone for not updating my blog. I'll be sure to update it on a weekly if not daily basis in the future. A lot has happened in the last month - most notably - 2 new firsts!

• My longest ride - 100 km - March 14th, 2010 - This ride was AMAZING! We started out of San Rafael on a beautiful Sunday morning. The 62 miles included some tough hills and amazing scenery. I was lucky enough to have the company of Margaret, Kristie, and Melissa for most of the ride. I do have to say that the conversation is never dull during our long workouts. I did buy some bike shorts the day before instead of wearing my tri shorts, which made the ride much more enjoyable. I also still need to get a new cassette for my bike to make climbing hills a little easier. It's a little frustrating to get beat up the hills. The ride too a little less than 4 hours. We had some wonderful SAG stops along the way with wonderful snacks and water to refuel. We really couldn't do all of this without the support of our friends and family. While it was my longest ride and I was happy to be finished, I really did have a great time and enjoyed my surroundings with beautiful scenery and wonderful teammates.

• WILDFLOWER HALF-IRON - March 20th, 2010 - 2nd toughest half-iron in the USA - my first half-iron and longest triathlon to date. This was such an awesome weekend. We drove down to the Wildflower course on Friday morning. Coach Dave, Coach Doug, Arlene, Maria and I shared the RV for the weekend and experienced some extra entertainment when the RV blew a tire around Morgan Hill, CA. It was probably a result of Coach Dave driving 85 mph in an RV, but he lucked out with the tire company saying it was caused by "over-inflated tires." Doug was probably the most to thank for getting me through the weekend with his one-man comedy act and impeccable impressions of about 8 different cultures and accents. I was rolling all the way down to the campsite. With only a few minor hick-ups, we were up and ready bright and early Saturday morning to start our half-iron day.

• Swim - 1.2 miles - I was actually a little happy to get into the water. Having not gotten much sleep the night before due to Dave's snoring and being extremely cold, I was a little worried about how much energy I would have during the day. On top of that, the bike ride down to the lake was really windy and cold, and my feet because so cold and numb that I couldn't walk normal while trying to set up my transition area. Luckily, the water wasn't quite as cold as one of our previous swims at Lake Del Valle. The swim went alright although it probably could have been better. I had a small panic attack at the beginning but was fine once I got going. I had to stop on the way back since I started coughing. Overall though, it went by a lot quicker than I had imagined, especially considering that I hadn't been swimming.
  

• Bike - 56 miles with hills - I tried to change quickly into bike shorts. Changing at transition is tricky and involves the use of a skirt and some careful maneuvering. I was pretty proud of myself for getting through the experience without mooning anyone. I set out on the bike, and of course the route began with going uphill from the lake. I had a couple of issues on the bike. My chain came off the ring towards the beginning of the course. Luckily, I wasn't going uphill. I also stopped at a couple of the sag stops to stretch and refuel. My IT band was getting a little too tight during the first 20 miles. Besides that, I really enjoyed the ride. I struggled up the infamous Nasty Grade with Tony keeping me company, but I was happy to find that it wasn't as nasty as everyone made it sound. It was really just a long steady incline with a steeper grade toward the summit. After enjoying the view, the ride down from Nasty was pretty amazing - I was a little scared for my life but enjoyed going 45+ mph downhill. The end of the bike course was where I was a little shaken up. I barely avoided a near head-on collision going back down to transition since I didn't brake soon enough on the downhill and couldn't keep my bike on the right side of the road. I was lucky that the car reacted in time for me to get around them without eating the concrete or their car! Lesson learned. I will be more cautious on downhill turns from now on.

• Run - 13.1 miles with HILLS - I'm convinced that the run is what makes the course so tough. Just to add insult to injury, the first 4 miles of the run just goes up...and up...and up. I was thankful to have Phil running next to me. We probably could have pushed ourselves and run more, but we implemented the walk/run technique. While we're being scientific, our method included walking up hills and when we felt like it with some running in between. We finished in about 2:40ish. I wish I could say I enjoyed the view at the top, but I was too busy thinking about how brutal the run course was to even notice. Thanks Phil for the company. I owe you for helping me through the run with my sanity!

• Celebration - I finished the half-iron in about 8 hours and 12 min - a time that's about an hour and a half slower than my goal. However, I finished, and the beer at the end never tasted so good! After wading back in the lake for an "ice bath" and taking a shower, we started the party. I had a great time drinking and hanging out with such wonderful people. It was great to see everyone let loose and have a great time outside of training!
  

THANKS IRONTEAM FOR A GREAT WILDFLOWER WEEKEND!