Triathlon At Pacific Grove - 9/13/08

I wasn't sure I was going to be able to write this race report. I have no words for much of what this race meant and continues to mean to me. But there are parts that I want to put out there - to share and to record in case I forget. In the interest of the quick read, here are the numbers for my first olympic distance triathlon:

Swim - 39:28
T-1 - 6:45
Bike - 1:44:52 (14.22 mph)
T-2 - 4:57
Run - 1:17:00
Total Time - 3:53:04

PRE RACE THINGS:

Putting our bikes back together in the hotel parking lot. That worked out okay.

Well, except for the part where my new best friend Hector of Winning Wheels checked Vivian over and said there were a few teensy things that needed to be fixed. Or replaced. Or recalibrated. Or put back in true. Dammit. (Thank you, thank you, thank you Hector for squeezing us in and making sure we had safe rides! Don't know what we would have done without you.)

The three of us (Lizichka, me, and Donna) at the pre-race meeting. Asking questions - even after attending the training clinic and reading everything on the website and in the registration packets. Can you say nervous neophyte racers?


One of the questions we asked was, "We have to swim to the SECOND line of buoys?! Are you sure?" Holy cow that looks a lot further out than we expected.


One of the things we were told was, "Don't worry. Most of those rocks will be covered by the tide at race time." Oh goodie. You know, I hadn't really thought about the rocks until the guy went on and on about it. I'd thought about the kelp and the otters and how far away the freaking buoys were and about sharks and the distinct possibility of getting stuck in my wetsuit, but not so much the chance of clanging into a rock.

THE SWIM: (1.5 K - 39:28)

Lizichka and I waving to John right before our swim start. Donna and the RBR girls are already in the water. Our wave was 15 minutes after theirs. A few quick things about the race start: I was not as "nervous" as I thought I'd be. There is usually a certain amount of dread involved in the feeling of "nervous" for me. That Saturday morning - after a year of training and half a lifetime of healing - I stood on that beach excited - not dreading anything. I had no idea how the day would go but it didn't really matter at that point. It was going to go - one way or another and I was ready to see how it would be. As we stood waiting for our turn, a woman Lizichka had been warming up with plucked a clinging kelp frond from Lizichka's shoulder. Then she waved it around and touched it to L's forehead as a blessing. The kelp benediction. It was such a small, silly moment, but it stands out to me as one I definitely want to remember. I love being in the midst of women and their energy.

Did I mention that we had to do two big triangular laps around those buoys? Or that in between the two laps we had to get out of the water and run around a big rock? The swim was harder for me than I expected. I hadn't warmed up enough for my body to acclimate to the cold water. I didn't feel cold but I had a very hard time breathing. My chest wouldn't expand and I couldn't get enough air. Finally, I scrapped all attempts at bi-lateral breathing (which was making me queasy in spite of the dramamine I'd taken) and settled into a good zone. I kept thinking, "This is happening. I'm here. I'm in the water. THIS water - the water that saved me. And I'm strong. This is happening!" It was cool. Until the very end of the first lap when a boat went by and the wake rolled in against the lower key tidal surge. Up, down, sideways, backward, up, down. Suddenly I was terribly, horribly nauseated. I hauled myself out of the water and around the rock, wondering if there was any way I could feel this bad and still swim another loop. When that picture was snapped I was thinking, "Oh God if I puke here everyone will run through it and hate me. You have to get around the rock, get around the rock, get around the rock and out of the way before you can hurl !!" I forced myself back in the water. While I wasn't "fine", I was much better and had a strong second lap. (I never did puke. Yay!)

T-1: (6:45)
I'm sure that's slow but I'm fine with it. I did it safely and there was a lot to navigate. I had to run up the beach and then some stairs and a ramp and down to the end row and then figure out how to get my wetsuit the rest of the way off and the warmish bike clothes on and then back out across the timing mat.

THE BIKE: (40K - 1:44:52)

That's RBR's run buddy in the pink right in front of me in the picture. You'd think I'd have been grateful to get on my bike but you'd be wrong. Biking is my limiter. It's mechanical and technical - two things I struggle with. Overall though - the bike was strong. It was a looped course so we got to go by our cheering section many times. We also got to wave at each other a bunch. It was fun to get to cheer and encourage each other when we were all at different paces. I'm not fast but I was steady in spite of a few challenges. I had to dodge a pigeon who was squatting in the center lane on the turn around by the announcer. The damfool thing CHARGED me as I wheeled around the curve. Stupid bird. The spectators got a kick out of it.

Then I hadn't secured my race number to my bike properly and I kept slicing my leg on the edge of it. Papercuts - who knew you had to worry about that on the bike? I tried to hold my leg at an angle but then it rubbed on the edge of my bento box. Clearly I needed to make some seat adjustments or something but I didn't want to stop and fiddle with all that. I did ask one of the officials if I could rip off my number but they said that would disqualify me. Stupid number. I got into the tough chica zone I suppose because I finally stopped worrying about the blood streaming down my leg and concentrated on pedaling evenly.

T-2: (4:57)
I felt like I was moving quickly in transition but even without a wetsuit I guess it just takes me a while. One negative: I discovered that someone had taken my Accel-Gel out of my shoe. Isn't that crazy?! What kind of triathlete steals another's nutrition?! (I needed that one dammit! It's the one with protein in it that I save for the second half of my run!) Oh well. Move on! Keep smiling! Keep thanking the volunteers! Keep enjoying the spectators like this one:

THE RUN: (10K - 1:17:00)

Yay! I finished! I walked some but I still beat my goal by seven minutes! I met a guy out on the course who was running with his brother, his stem cell donor. They ran it together to celebrate having a second chance at life. It was pretty motivating.


Here we are with our finisher's medals! (Lizichka, me, RBR, Donna, and RBR's LA Run Buddy)

AFTERS PARTY:

Here are a few pictures from Bullwhacker's down on Cannery Row - where we went for supper and to celebrate the day. I couldn't believe it was still there. (Twenty years ago we used to drink quite a few too many mudslides there and then try to navigate walking back up to the Presidio.) A special thanks to our beloved Sherpa John who was part paparrazi, part cheerleader, part pack mule, and all sunburned and worn out by the end of the day!

This triathlon represents tremendous growth and healing and change for me. I faced old trauma and celebrated my ability to create a new life for myself. I gained confidence by working for a specific goal over a long time and achieving it. I made fantastic, new friends in the process and renewed the friendships that got me through hell the first time I was out there.

AND I managed to write a race report about two months to the day after the fact! I have to say that I'm finally ready to let this sucker go:

A PG Quickie!

We finished!! I'll do a real race report soon (next month? :D) For now, not only did I PR (first race, don't you know) but I beat my goal time of four hours with an official finish time of 3:53:04. I kicked kelp!! (Donna and Lizichka both beat my time - so really, we all kicked kelp!) Thanks for the wishes friends! (Oh - the pic is of Lizichka, me, RBR, Donna, and RBR girl LA Run Buddy.)

Late Start

My wave doesn't start until 9:15. NINE FIFTEEN!! I have been awake for waaaaaay too long to have to wait until 9:15. RBR and Donna go at 9. But us old ladies go last. On the plus side, the extra two hours between the first wave and mine means a tiny bit more warmth. Yay, I think. Thanks for all the good wishes. Our numbers: Lizichka is 1062, Donna is 990, I am 1040. (Like the tax form? Let's hope it's the EZ version!)

Nerves And Noshing In San Jose

Ok - my countdown widget says 1 day and 16 hours. I'm beginning NOT to like that widget. It's been thus far motivational to see it there, but now it's just freaking me out.

The trip thus far -
The bad news: the Navy reunion is pretty much of a bust. For a while we had a big group coming out and then they started dropping like flies. Everyone except Lizichka has flaked, had family/job issues, been deployed to Japan, or shredded their knees. (Send some good mojo to my pal Jenn of the torn ligaments because her mishap has not only knocked her out of coming to Monterey for the reunion but also out of the 3-day Breast Cancer walk that was so important to her!) We'll miss the chance to see everyone else, but Donna and Lizichka and I are going to enjoy the heck out of our race.

The good news: met a great guy on the plane trip out (if you're reading, hi Andy!) We were partners in low blood sugar together. The first leg of our trip was 4 hours - 10:30 a.m. to 2:30p.m. I knew that Southwest didn't serve "meals" but I hadn't quite factored that into my morning plans. Most of my morning brain power had been taken up with the logistics of making sure the kids were all arranged for, trying to get both bike cases safely on the plane, obsessively going over my packing list wondering if I'd left something vital (like running kicks), etc. I'm lucky I remembered to have a protein smoothie for breakfast or I'd have been in a world of hurt. On that four hour flight, we didn't even get peanuts! We were offered our choice between 100 calorie packs of wheat thins or oreo crisps. Not enough! We were "through" passengers on the flight but got permission to jump off the plane in Denver and high tail it to the airport bakery/sandwich shop. Overpriced, stale sandwiches would have been FINE with me at that point. I was literally shaking. Instead I paid $8 for a generous roast beef/havarti sandwich on lovely sourdough bread with a giant, fresh, heavenly snickerdoodle cookie thrown in. Somebody in the universe loves me!!

More good news: the weather here has been gorgeous; I've had a great time hanging out with my college buddy Ray and his family; and I had a terrific (if short) run last night - just under 2 miles total but I did a third of a mile sprint (for me) at an 8:30 pace. Legs are the exact right amount of sore this morning and stretching feels wonderful. I'm off to try to find some sushi* and then to meet Donna and John who are flying in today. (Trying not to think about them flying on Sept 11th. Instead, am sending birthday greetings to Southbay Girl and belated happy returns of the day to Erin Leigh!)

*Final bit: what is up with my craving sushi? I've never been a big sushi fan. I mean, it's always been ok if that's what everyone else was up for but it's never been anywhere near the top of my list. Until about 10 days ago. When I suddenly started craving it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Every day. Sushi and green tea. That is ALL I've wanted to eat. (The sole exception being in the Denver airport when sushi craving or no, what I wanted to eat was anything I could get a hold of. My paperback book was seriously starting to tempt me.) Ray and I went out for breakfast to a place called Hobee's and I could not make myself eat anything there. (NOTHING against the place! It was all good, healthy California food with turkey bacon or tofu options with the avocado omelettes etc. I just couldn't make myself order any of it. Not even the hash browns!) Forgiving me for food contrariness of diva proportions, Ray suggested we skip out on the pancakes and go find sushi. (Easier said than done at 10:30 a.m. but oh, so so so appreciated! He's a fantastic and incredibly understanding pal.) We managed to wait for a sushi place to open for lunch. It was a lacquered, relatively upscale restaurant. Dimly lit and darkly furnished but clean for all that. Inexplicably there was a big screen TV playing (wait for it).... Finding Nemo. That weirdness aside, I nom, nom, nommed my way through a California roll nicely and brought home a crunchy shrimp (ebi) roll for later noshing. You would THINK that that would be enough sushi for a while, but then you would not be acquainted with my metabolism. So, I'm off (on my own this time as Ray has class and his wife, work) to find sushi within walking distance. There are worse things to crave, right?

I'm Leaving, On A Jet Plane

(And I'll be back on Monday for those of you still singing in your heads about not knowing when I'll be back again.) Throwing the last things in my carry on (electronics + the required two dozen plugs and chargers) and I am out of here like a herd of turtles. I think I should have some internet access so I can post further freak outs. I'll be in San Jose until I meet John and Donna on Thursday night and we all head down (up? over? I forget which way) to Pacific Grove. Our race is Saturday morning. Eeeek.
PS - Do you realize how much room a wet suit takes up in a suitcase?!!

Have Bike (Packed!), Will Travel

I feel RIDICULOUSLY accomplished to have partially disassembled my bike and packed her into a traveling case! We went from this:


To this:

With only a leetle help from our friends and a couple of weblinks. The hardest part was the first step. After much cursing and swearing and waving about of the pedal wrench, I sweet talked John into using his manly brute force to bully my pedals off. (We removed Donna's without a hitch so we knew we were doing it right, but mine were STUCK.) This site was VERY helpful - especially the advice to shift gears so that the chain was covering the largest ring. That little bit of wisdom kept me from gouging myself on the chain ring. Twice. Kevin sent this video link which would have helped a lot if I had seen it in time. (Thanks Kev!) Of course Donna was done with her bike in like 30 minutes, while I took almost two hours. She is much more willing to jump in and do. I have to waffle, re-check the instructions, stare at all the oily thingies, and THEN accomplish the step. (Lather, rinse, repeat.)

I am a tiny bit concerned about the re-assembly. Sure, sure, sure - all I have to do is follow the same directions in reverse. Do you want to know how not great I am at doing that with driving directions?! I think RBR said it well when she said, "I honestly do not think I would be willing to ride anything I had any part in assembling." That is how I have always felt about myself. Six weeks ago I would have more than happily forked over the $$ to have someone else (preferably someone who knew about bikes) do all this mechanical breaking apart/putting back together stuff. Now? I am embracing my 2008 Motto "Behold, I am doing a new thing." I am stronger (and hopefully more mechanically ept) than before. (Besides I have no more $$. My attorney has it all!)

If, on Saturday, you see a headline on the internet about some freaky race accident where not the rider, but the BIKE collapsed - you'll know who to blame and where to send flowers. (I like lilies, by the way.)

My Version Of The Way Back Machine

I realized that I've not ever gone back and given the full story of the triathlon training clinic. Since it was the reason we drove across country in the first place, it's a pretty big thing to leave out. (The half marathon, the national parks, the monuments, and the fabulous bloggy peep meet ups all fell into place as we began planning but the reason for the trip was the clinic.) So. Dialing back almost three weeks - here is what it looked like as we drove into Pacific Grove, California on Saturday, August 2nd:
Yes. Summer mornings in the Monterey area haven't changed much in the twenty plus years since I was stationed there. Our instructions were to meet at Lover's Point - at the corner of Ocean View and 17th. How hard could that be? Welllll - it was slightly more challenging than expected. We got there a bit early and saw several clumps of athletic folks meeting up. But most of them either hopped on bikes and sped away before we got up the courage to approach or they started strapping on scuba gear. Hmmmm. We finally spotted a couple of exceedingly fit people talking to a couple of somewhat less fit people who had plastic PowerBar schwag bags in their hands. Score! We'd found our clinic. (Digression and plug by a totally impressed newbie: Both the training clinic and our race (the Triathlon at Pacific Grove) are run by Tri-California Events - the same people who also run Wildflower and Escape From Alcatraz. They are exceedingly well organized and friendly. You would not believe how much safer and more excited I feel about the race having experienced their level of service and communication at the clinic.)

Tri-California Events runs several of these training clinics to help people prepare for the particular challenges of their specific events. Our clinic was the perfect blend of general beginner triathlon information and specific guidance and practice on how to swim through the kelp forest of Monterey Bay. We totally lucked out in that usually these clinics sell out and have about two dozen people in them. Ours only had eight. I think the next day's group was twice as large but for us it was almost like a personal coaching session as there were three coaches. And again, we had the perfect mix. All three coaches had different styles, experiences, and takes on triathlon. That is Reid Swanson in the picture. He was the main organizer, head speaker, facilitator coach. His wife Eileen Swanson was our second coach. (Thanks Stef for the link to her blog!) Eileen is a professional triathlete and coach. She and Reid are both blindingly beautiful and intimidatingly fit. But nice and funny! And they brought their puppy, Belle, who was darling. Our third coach was Les Waddel. Les is ridiculously cool. He was every bit as fit as Eileen and Reid but he's very old school. (In fact he cracked the group up twice talking about speedos - but one of the times he was using the word "speedo" to mean speedometer on the bike. That cleared up some of the confusion his earlier image had created but it made everyone laugh again anyway.) Les has been doing triathlon for as long as triathlon's been around. The man knows about every aspect of the sport. He's owned a running store and designed wetsuits; he leads open water swims; he has a daughter (Alexis) who is a pro now; I think he may be a doctor or chiro or something; and he's very down to earth. He has a great perspective on the sport and had some funny insights to share. As I said, we had a great mix of coaches that fit perfectly with our group. We had two guys and one girl who were quite speedy but pretty new to triathlon and the rest of us were back of the packers (although two of the gals had done quite a few races.)

The structure of the clinic was that we had a general briefing and then the coaches took us on the course. Bike first and then run; a lunch break with some good nutritional info and general Q&A time; then the swim in the afternoon. Knowing how crazy it's going to sound, I'm going to say it anyway: we paid for the full clinic and drove all the way out there, but I only did the swim portion. Donna did both the bike and the swim but skipped the run. Not only did we have the half marathon the next day that we wanted fresh legs for, but I used to run all over that area and felt pretty comfortable about being able to train myself for the course. (Granted it's been decades, but the land hasn't changed much.) The swim - that's a whole other thing. I did learn to scuba in those kelp forests but it's an entirely different matter to have to swim through the leafy tops quickly instead of winding slowly around the majestic bases 60 feet down. There was also an emotional reset I need to make in that water before race day. My goal is to be back there, where I was once a broken person, stronger and happier now than ever before. The Pacific - that cold, dark, punishing water - was my safest haven back then. I could throw myself in and scream and thrash and wear myself out deep underwater where no one could find out how bad off I was. Driving around the outskirts of the base, seeing landmarks and gaps where there used to be landmarks - all of that triggered my brain, my mental processes for sorting out the past. But it was wondering what visceral memories might get triggered by being submerged in that icy water for the first time since I left my broken self behind - that had me shaking with nervousness all morning. I definitely needed a reset.

I listened to everything and asked a lot of question. (I'm sure it will surprise you not to learn that I asked an obnoxious number of questions. Had there been more people or had any piece of it been running over schedule, I promise I would have shut up - but there was time and there were coaches who had answers. And there were fellow new-ish triathletes with stories I wanted to hear. How could I not ask questions of everybody? You learn such interesting stuff when you ask!)

One of the most important things I picked up on from having three coaches answer the same question is that the answer was almost always along the lines of "it depends". There are very few answers or solutions or tips that apply across the board. It can be overwhelming when you're brand new to keep hearing that you have to experiment, that it's trial and error for every single, solitary aspect of triathlon. It feels like there's so safe or solid place to even start. But what I took away from this clinic was that there are so many ways to do it right. There is a way to make it work for everybody. For every "how do I ..." question that was asked there were (at least) three different answers. It was great to hear what worked and what didn't work and why from each of them. In a discussion about transitions and how to lay out your stuff, Les was saying that he has his helmet and glasses right up on his aerobars so he doesn't even have to bend down to his towel to get them. Eileen said she can't do that because of how her aerobars are shaped. Reid then pointed out that Les is a very fast swimmer - almost always one of the first out of the water so he never has to worry about someone jostling his bike and knocking his stuff over before he gets there. Having that many answers together helped me think more clearly about my own framework. It helped to hear about struggles that the coaches had faced. It was wonderful to hear a pro like Eileen talk about how she only recently started opening her eyes underwater when she swims through the kelp. She used to only open them when she looked up to sight. (I thought, "Well I can't run any six minute miles, but I can open my eyes. That's something.")

Here we are getting ready for our second open water swim in our new wetsuits. Putting on a wetsuit in public is an exercise in humiliation. For a few moments it distracted us from worry about the upcoming swim. That water is cold and filled with ropy kelp monsters, barky seals, and curious otters.















It is amazing how much the coaching helped. All three coaches said they had to fight off nerves as they got in the water - that it was a matter of training yourself to get past the initial panic. Eileen explained the best way to get through the kelp was to be as horizontal as possible, skimming across the tops of the fronds. She told us to stretch out our stroke and to keep our pull pretty shallow so as not to get tangled. If we did get tangled or panic, we were to stop and relax to let the kelp slide off. Every single word of that advice helped! They mentioned a couple of tips I never would have thought of - like if you got sunscreen or bodyglide (or anything slick) on your hands, to make sure that you wiped it off before the swim because you want that resistance on the surface of your palm (and forearm) to help you grab and pull through the water. Makes complete sense, but I wouldn't have thought of it! I wish I could share everything they said and showed us. I won't even try (given how long this post already is!) I will say that we practiced all aspects of the swim - the group start, swimming one full loop of the course, actually trying to get tangled in the kelp to prove that we could let it drop off, getting out of the water and running around the rock to race back in, and finally the swim exit to bike transition. I gained so much confidence by following the coaches' instructions and working through every obstacle (mental, emotional, and physical) one at a time.
I got exactly what I needed out of the training clinic. It was worth every penny, every minute and every mile it took to get out there. The only regret I have? That I forgot to put on sunscreen as the fog burned off. Doh!

As a wrap up - best luck of luck to any and all racers out there this weekend but especially to DC Rainmaker who's rocking IMCanada!

To The Badlands And Beyond!

We did (eventually) make it home, but first:

We drove through the Badlands. I'd heard of the Badlands but didn't really know what they were. I'm soooo glad we didn't miss this. You drive through national grasslands (who knew we had national grasslands?) which are green and lovely (if slightly boring) and then BOOM! Crazy canyons, wrinkled desert, mineral colored mounds - wildness completely spread out before you. We LOVED it. We could have spent days there. (It won't ever replace the beach for me, but Erin Leigh was right - there is a strange, expansive magic to the place that invokes the majesty of the ocean.)

We did not see rattlesnakes (thank heaven!) but we did see prairie dogs. I heart prairie dogs! When they bark their whole bodies jump. We they scamper from one hole in the ground to another, they hump along like fat, uncoordinated snakes. And when they turn, they swivel their top halves around with their paws crooked out in front like they're trying out for the Thriller video. We probably spent an hour laughing at the prairie dogs. (But they are fast little suckers and hard to get close pictures of.)

We understood the impulse to take photos as we drove, but dude, you're on a motorcycle! Pull over!

We were amazed by the vividness of the layered colors. The air was so clear, the withered grass so dull, and the rock strata so bright and distinct. A-mazing.

We finally, finally, finally got all the way to Nashville where we had a party (natch!) with our extended families. My sister (Tidget) and my nephew (Thrasher) who were in from Vermont, both of our moms and Donna's siblings and nieces all gathered at Harmony Landing (which is a retreat center owned by D's family). We baked cookies with the cookie cutters we'd collected on our trip. There were cookie bison and cacti, sunflowers and lizards, horses and kokopellis. (I wish I'd taken a picture of the pink frosted bison cookie with the purple sugar glittering on top, but I was too slow. I'd no more than reached for my camera when a three year old niece squealed in delight and reached for the "Princess Buffalo.") Here are the unfinished versions:


We made ("authentic Sioux") fry bread in bite size pieces so everyone could get a taste. That's sage blossom honey from Arizona in the bowl in the center for dipping. (But shhhhhh! Don't tell John that we opened his present and shared a little of it before we gave it to him.)


We served (to those old enough) Moose Drool, Anchor Steam, Sierra Nevada, and a selection of Grand Teton beers:

Here are some of the girls - nieces (=Cutie Pie #1 and Cutie Pie #2!) with their new "ponies in a purse" that we bought somewhere on Route 66:


Here are some of the boys - Sheumais, Iain, Angus, and Thrasher:

We went boating the next day. It was a perfect day for being at the lake. The air was warm (but not hot), the water was cool (but not cold), the sun was bright and a nice breeze blew. That, my friends, is as close to heaven as you can get in Nashville in August! Sheumais and Tidget at Center Hill Lake:

We went tubing. Have you ever been tubing?! Have you ever been "team tubing" with crazy, monkey boys who think that tubing is a competitive sport in which the goal is to attack, pounce on, and/or overturn the tube with the mama on it? My "teammate" Angus had all sorts of tips for me. In spite of his sage advice (which was usually some variation on either "watch out" or "hang on!") we went flying tail over teakettle several times. (And my arms the next day? S-O-R-E!! Every single arm muscle I've ever even thought of having hurt. I could NOT lift my arms above shoulder level. Not to save my life, much less to brush my teeth. Aren't you glad you weren't in the car with me THAT day?) Here is Iain claiming victory (but you'll notice it's his teammate, cousin Will, in the water while Angus and I are still on our tube.)

Angus and his shiner. He did not get it from tubing. He got it from wrestling. "I'm ok Mom. I promise. It didn't even hurt." Boys!

The final milestone of the trip? Donna's fabulous Jetta wagon clicked over that 100,000 mile mark! (Please ignore the irony of the engine light being on. And can anyone explain why the "trip-o-meter" reset itself every 2,000 miles?! Our road trip mileage at that exact moment was 6,618.8 but we still had just under 500 miles to get back to Chapel Hill.)

Home again, home again. Whew.
I'd show you pictures of the groceries we bought yesterday to stock up for when all the kids get back (four hours of shopping and $500 later) but they don't all fit in one frame. I'd show you my dining room table which normally seats eight and which is now covered with myriad documents for the upcoming legal crapola (Aug 28th!), but it's too depressing and overwhelming. So... I'll finally get around to mentioning TRAINING!

Willie and RBR were right - that first run after the half marathon sucked. But the one after that wasn't so bad. We had a monster 2500m swim yesterday which felt good to arms that have finally recovered from tubing boy style. (And digressing only slightly... did you see Michael Phelps win his 8th? Or Dara Torres win silver? The water cube venue is amazing and I have been absolutely grooving on the underwater cameras! Man, I love the Olympics.) Back to gritty reality: Vivian is glaring at me because she is still bug encrusted from riding on the top of the car for 7,100 miles and because I'm trying to ignore the 2.5-3 hour ride on today's training schedule. Who came up with that?! (Oh, right. Gale Bernhardt - a professional coach who knows what it takes to prepare for an oly tri. Dang!) The race is now less than a month away, less than four weeks away even! I suppose I should put away my laptop, go into my kitchen and eat (while avoiding looking at the nauseating legal detritus on the table) and hie me hither out the door and onto my training plan. Peace peeps! Hope all enjoy their training and racing!

At Least The Cop Had A Cute Butt

Today has been an even longer day than planned. Turns out that driving 450 miles through the mountains is a lot more work than driving 450 miles through the desert. Especially when you have to drive the speed limit because you don't want to get two tickets in one day. (Note: Just because the motorcycle in front of you is going 75 doesn't mean that's the speed limit.)

Speaking of motorcycles in front of us - and behind us - and every damn place we looked... Turns out there's a hugemongous bike rally in Sturgis, SD this week. Which explains why hotel rooms at the Rapid City Comfort Inn were $259 on a Wednesday night!!! Which also explains why we're staying in Wall, SD instead.

We did enjoy Mt. Rushmore. A lot. I wish we'd known earlier there was also a sculpture of Crazy Horse out here too. Tomorrow we drive through the Badlands and then it's interstate all the boring way back to Nashvegas as fast as the speed limit will allow!

I can't believe this trip is almost over. I'm so grateful to have the chance to explore the country this way! I can't believe we don't have the kids with us - but now that I know what they've been missing, I'll find a way to get them out here. On the training front - we did hike 250 stairs and walk the "presidential trail" which was marked as "strenuous". I'm not sure how to make it fit in the training log where "Swim Workout #3 + 30 min run" was listed. :-S Next week. I'm just not going to sweat it until next week! Peace out, sportsfans.

They Were Out Of Moose Drool

Yellowstone was fascinating. The "paint pots" were incredibly interesting. I've now seen a fumarole. I learned so much. Before yesterday, I had no idea that Yellowstone was the top of an ancient volcano. I really loved the baked, twisted tree skeletons everywhere. I took like a million and twelve pictures of those - but I won't bore you with posting them. (However, someday I'll post pictures of the art quilts series I plan to make based on them.)

The obligatory photo of Old Faithful:

Remember how I said we were going to bike? Yeah. About that. It so didn't happen. I could barely breathe when we were just hiking around. And my ankles were swollen - like 9 months pregnant kind of swollen. And I look like I have leprosy from my peeling sunburn which is ok except I was not about to risk getting even a tiny bit more sun. So...we're a little off our training plan.


As we were leaving the park, a chipmunk ran across the road. It was the largest land critter we had seen (well, except for some enormous specimens of tourist). Where were all the elk and curly horned rams and such?! About the time we got whiny about having to leave Yellowstone without seeing the famous creatures, we came upon a field with a large herd of bison in it. There were babies frisking around, but close to the trees. My camera wouldn't zoom enough to get a good picture of them. There were some rolling on the ground with their bellies in the air. They were snorting. They sounded exactly like our redbone coonhound, Tallulah. This fellow practically stuck his face in the car. (It was actually kind of scary to be that close and I was relieved when he wandered back to his buddies.)
We spent the night in Cody, Wyoming which is a town that embraces it's Old West-ness with just the right amount of cheese and drama. There is a rodeo every night in the summer and a cowboy song revue and even a shoot-out with cowboys and saloon girls in front of Irma's. We had a lovely dinner (steak sandwiches and beer) with only one complaint.
They were out of Moose Drool. Donna got Old Faithful Ale instead (which turned out to be fine, even if the name wasn't as much fun). On to Mt. Rushmore! Then we're done with the sight seeing. We have to be back in Nashville by 6pm on Friday (to see the boys and to do some long training over the weekend) before finally heading all the way home to NC on Monday. Thank you for all of your fun comments and I promise to be a good blog buddy and catch up on all my return commenting soon! Hope everyone's training/lives fare well on this hump day.

Not So Mobile Blogging

We are in our 12th state of the trip so far - Utah! I have never understood the point of blogging from a cell phone until now. There is so much we're seeing that I want to share and I have time to do that while we're driving. But by the time we get to the hotel (if there's internet access)* I'm so tired I can't do more than read a post or two. Still... Driving across the country is such an amazing experience!! We're on our way to Yellowstone to bike a bit this afternoon. Peace!

*Somebody 'splain me why the cheapo hotels all offer free internet while the pricey places in Vegas or the Four Seasons in SF charge between $15 and $20 a day for it?!

Driveby Blogging

What did the fish say when it swam headfirst into a concrete wall?
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DAM!

We have to be on the road in about 10 minutes to make it from Las Vegas to San Francisco to pick up our race packets and then scoot down to Pacific Grove today but...
The Hoover Dam was A-mazing! It was a wonderful juxtaposition to see the Grand Canyon one day and the Hoover Dam the next.
And even more amazing? Blogger buddies!! Stef met us at Lake Mead and we had our first OWS. We've decided to call her coach Stef because even though we peppered her with a ridiculous number of nervous questions before, after and in the middle of the swim - she was unfailingly generous with answers, tips, and encouragement. Then we got to go to her house and meet Brinley & Gaele (her sweet puppies), Chloe, Clarence, (and I forget the other bunny's name!), and Glenn (her fantastic hubby)! After that we headed out to meet Izaac and his lovely wife Kelly (Kelley?). These folks are even funnier and more gracious in person than you already think from reading their blogs!!

I wish we could stay longer! I had the best 40th birthday EVER!! Things might be whirlwindy for the next couple of days with the clinic in Pacific Grove tomorrow and the half marathon on Sunday. I just found out that I get to meet RBR after all because our races aren't on the same day! So until my next chance to post and run - good luck to all the weekend's racers (especially RBR as she tackles her first half iron!) and happy training.