Back from CDA

Wow... what a weekend! Am I ready to sign up for next year's Ironman in Lake Placid? Not quite yet.
Anyway, after visiting with Mom and being a tourist in Seattle, Alisa and I headed across the mountains to drive across Washington and into Coeur d'Alene. What a beautiful drive! We got acquainted with CDA, saw some of the Team Z peeps, and went to our volunteer meeting. She and I were slated to work bike transition. Saturday evening ran late with the pre-race dinner, followed by Team Z support planning, and finishing off with chalking the bike course. (And chalking the course proved to be wasted effort, as it was all smeared by the time they actually raced the course, but our good intentions were there.)
Race day started early naturally, and we were all suprised with just how light it was by 4:30. A concern was the water. The water had been choppy and on race day it had up to 4' waves. They even offered a duathlon option to racers, basically cutting out the swim leg (no run in lieu of swim). It looked like 200 or 300 people opted to do skip the swim, but I'm not sure how that affected their results.
Anyway, working bike transition was a lot of fun. The transition area was too tight to deliver bikes to races, but we were able to direct people around and see all of our Team Z racers come into transition and cheer them on. One cool thing, is we checked all the bike tires while the racers were swimming in the water for flats. We found a total of about 6 flat tires. Alisa found one where the tire itself was partly off the rim, getting caught in the brake. We brought the problem bikes to the mechanic, who fixed them, and we returned the bikes. The racers never knew they had a problem with the bike. It was like we were mysterious in the night.
After everyone was on the bike, Alisa and I grabbed a bite to eat at the Team Z tent and then headed out for a long run. I cut my run a little short though, maybe 8 miles (plan was to run 10), as my knees are beginning to act up again. UG!!! Note to self- give knees some TLC!
The team tent was in a fabulous location, where the racers biked past us 4 times and ran past us 3 times. Very spectator friendly.
Members from our team finished one by one, starting with 59-yr-old stud, Chris Wren. As time wore on, the sun set, and the course got lonely. The AngelZ were out still racing. I walked out onto the run course to seek out Helen as Siri gave me word that she was throwing up and her spirits were flat. I found Helen, who had improved, and walked with her and Linda for a while to try and give them a boost. I knew they'd wind up finishing close to midnight.
As midnight approched, I headed toward the finish line to wait. It began to lightly rain and get cold and windy. I cried when I saw Helen and Linda finish together.
Absolutely inspiring.
The funniest story from the weekend was from Michael Warwick. I don't know him well, and I believe this weekend was the first time I've chatted with him. He's pretty cool. Anyway, at about mile 80 of the bike loop (out of 112), he experienced a major problem with his bike. I forgot what it was, but nevertheless, it was a race ending problem. Anyway, he hung out on the side of the road, waiting for the rescue wagon to come get him. A local guy out there cheering noticed Michael's picture of his daughter on his bike and they began to chat. The guy mentioned he had this old bike around the house and Michael would be welcome to use it. He accepted the offer. Out comes this dusty old lime green bike. It had one water bottle cage and needed air in the tires. They did some quick repairs to the bike and Michael was on his way. He actually finished the entire race. Anyway, he was on a mission yesterday to try and retrieve his bike from the mystery local guy. I hope he was successful.
And so yesterday, Alisa and I headed back to the west side of Washington. We nearly ran out of gas though. We stopped for lunch in Ellensburg, on the east side of the Cascades. I noted we were at 1/4 tank and made a mental note to fill up after lunch. That slipped my mind as we left Ellensburg. Going into the Cascades is quite remote. After all, the interstate runs through the Wenachee and Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forests. Not exactly towns along the way. We make it through Snoqualmie Pass and I finally look at the gas gauge and see it's BELOW E, with the warning light brightly shining. Oh no. I had no idea how long it was on. Luckily, though, we were through the pass and were decending. Alisa was half asleep and seemed unworried, as she said she'd just get out her sleeping bag and sleep on the side of the road. As for me, we were in the middle of NOWHERE... in the mountains.... with little cell phone service! Ok, so I wondered how long we could decend. I saw a sign for the next town, 12 miles away. There's no way we'd make it. I mean, we were BELOW E. And then a miracle occurred... a gas station! We actually made it to fill up! We were saved! So, second note to self... check gas gage twice before driving through the mountains!
Fun weekend. Back to reality though. Time to hit the bike.

One week to the Ironman in Coeur d'Alene

Ah, it's one week to the Ironman in Coeur d'Alene. I'm not racing it, but I'll be on the sidelines cheering my heart out. I'm so proud of the 30 people from Team Z who are participating, and especially excited for those I've become very close to.

This picture is from this week's happy hour. I mostly posted it for my buddy McKinney from New Orleans. He was grumbling at me that I've become some far-too-serious triathlete, and that I never drink beer anymore. That couldn't be further from the truth! (Shame on me!) Anyway, so from left is Helen, Alisa, Trusty Mark (who's very camera shy but seems to be happy here), EB, Joanna, and me... with beer in hand.

My boo-boos from my mountain bike crash are healing, but mentally, I'm still off. I hit the mountain bike singletrack this morning and my radar is off. Hmmm... better get on track soon!

I leave for the Pacific NW on Wednesday, out to spend a couple days with Mom in Bellingham, then hit Seattle, and then road trip to Coeur d'Alene with Alisa to watch the race. On the way back, we're hitting Eastern WA wine country. Yippie! I'm very excited for the trip!

Getting to reacquaint myself with the mountain bike

Ahhh... the mountain bike. It's been a while since I've been on it, last October in fact when I did an adventure race with Tes. I figured it was about time that I get on the darn thing, since I'm doing an off-road triathlon in a month.

Now, mountain biking is truly my first love. I used to actually HATE my road bike. I had one, but only went on it when mountain bike conditions didn't prevail. When I started biking in Louisiana, road biking was monotonous and just plain work. Sure, I did my first century (100-mile bike ride) while I was still living there, only to prove something to myself, and swore up and down I'd never do it again. (I guess I ate my words a few years later.)

Anyway, back to this evening. My ride was first postponed due to severe thunderstorms. After the storm passed, I headed home and decided to do an urban assault (ride around down vs the trails due to lack of light and possibly wrecking the trail due to the rain and potential ruts). I should have known that karma wouldn't play in my favor. Prior to the ride, I had a flat front tire. I began to change it, but as I inflated it, I discovered a pinch flat and immediately wound up blowing the tube with explosive force. BOOM! (I think I woke the neighborhood.) Ok, that was my only spare. But, I was determined. I found that my original tube wasn't damaged, just flat and was still usable. So, I rechanged the tire back with my original tube. Then I inflated my rear tire only to discover that my valve was broken. I quickly placed on the valve cap, figuring it would hold air long enough for me to get in a ride this evening.

Not five minutes into my ride, when I decided, now or never, time to jump the curb. Needless to say, I misjudged the timing on my bunny hop and BOOM! This time it was my body hitting the pavement. #!$^^&#$. Injuries are minor... just scrapes to the knee and elbow, but they sting like heck. Check me out post ride. (Socrates, my cat, wanted to get in the picture too.)

So, what's with me and flats these days? My new road bike, Zorra the Explorer, has had 5 flats on her rear in the last month! I think I've finally resolved the problem, but if I get another flat, she's going into Conte's bike shop for a little check-up.

Anyway, so back to mountain bike crashes. I've never crashed on my road bike (knock on wood), but I've had a couple of horrific mountain bike crashes! As a bonus (and amusement), I thought I'd include a picture after my worst crash. In June 2002, David (boyfriend at the time) and I went for a mountain biking/camping weekend in Desoto State Forest in Southern Mississippi. I was a new mountain biker at the time and shortly after the start of our ride on day 2, I got a little brave and tried to go over an obstacle. I wound up flying over my handlebars and landing square on my face. I chipped 4 teeth and had a swollen nose. (We thought it was broken, since it was off-center, but it was just really swollen.) My mom asked me to take a picture of myself so she could see how awful I looked! So, now I'm sharing it with y'all.

Happy riding!

Just who are those AngelZ?

Ahhh... the AngelZ.... (we have the "Z" at the end to tribute to Team Z).... This picture is of most of us as we prep our Ironman AngelZ for their 120 mile bike ride and modeling off our jerseys!

The AngelZ started last year in preps for Ironman USA. Siri, Helen, Jessica, and Alex all routinely rode the long rides together and dubbed themselves Charlie's Angels, with Alex, the token male, being Charlie. From time to time, other riders would join the Angels on their missions. EB became an official Angel herself. Finally, after a long and tiring season in preps for the Ironman, I finally rode with Charlie's Angels on my 120 mile ride. Our ride started out on Skyline Drive (see Sky-Mass post from last season) and I heard them singing as we climbed the road to Dickey's Ridge. I spent the remainder of the long ride with them and wondered why I hadn't ridden with them earlier! They sing and dance (yes, it is possible to dance on a bike). After spending countless hours on a bicycle, riding with the AngelZ makes it so much more fun! Besides, when else is a good time to catch up with the girls on all the gossip around town? We surely don't have the time and energy to stay up into the wee hours chatting on the phone! So, we multitask as we ride our bikes.

We all stop and wait for another during those necessary potty breaks (and have had some serious bonding doing so), talk of roadkill, muse on upcoming weddings (both Helen and Jess are getting married), and offer each other advise.

And of course there's initiation! I'll leave out the gruesome details.

Lastly, we are always the LAST ones to finish off a ride. (Ok, there have been rare occasions where someone else has had a bad day and we weren't quite last, but as a rule of thumb, we're last.) Maybe we're just more disciplined in riding in our target heart rate zone than everyone else?

Let's get re-geared up!

Ah,

So, nearly a year has passed since I successfully completed my first Ironman triathlon. And now what? Soon after the race, I participated in a couple of short distance triathlons, just for fun. What was more crazy was doing my 10th marathon in the fall. You'll have to understand my reasoning, however. It was the Seattle Marathon. It's held over Thanksgiving weekend. I was heading that way anyway to visit my mom for the holiday (and my birthday!). Secondly, it was the one and only marathon where I had DNF (did not finish) after my name. I felt like I had unfinished business there and this was an opportunity to fix that.

I struggled quite a bit during the Seattle Marathon, as I found myself rather lazy post-Ironman. It was also difficult as work had temporarily relocated me to work in New Orleans. The first part of the race was fun and leisurely, but the notorious Seattle rain tore up my spirits the second half. My mom even bailed out on cheering me on. (Her reasons were highly understandable as it was beginning to snow. I-5 from Seattle to her home in Bellingham- 85 miles north- isn't well-equiped for snow. She wasn't quite keen on getting stranded.) Anyway, during the race, freezing rain and snow fell. Erg. But I was FINISHING! I can be so stubborn. I was very thankful for the hotel hottub and sauna after the race.

Now I find myself truly getting back into shape. I have done two triathlons thus far this season. (I'll post the race reports shortly.) And I have several more races on my schedule.

Will I do another Ironman? Hmmm.... After last year's race, I swore up and down that I had nothing to prove to myself, that I wanted to engage in other things, etc. etc. I went to watch Ironman Florida in November. A couple of Team Z triathletes were doing it, and since I was in New Orleans (a 5 hour drive away) I decided to go and support. Being there, the Ironman bug was slightly woken up inside of me. And now I see my fellow Team Z members getting ready for Ironman Couer d'Alene. I've done the bike rides and runs with my fellow Angels (I can explain the Angels in another post), granted at much shorter distances, but even as they went longer, I'd be with them in spirit or in a car to support. I am heading out to cheer them on later this month at the race. Then next month, I'm returning to Lake Placid to cheer and volunteer at the Ironman there. Several members of Team Z will sign up for next year's Ironman at Lake Placid. I fear that I may get caught up in all the excitement and sign up too.