Monday, May 26, 2008

Strawberries

While out riding this weekend in Sonoma County, we stumbled upon a local farmer selling fresh strawberries. They looked fabulous, so after our ride we bought a flat.

This weekend was full of strawberries.

We started with plain strawberries. Then we made strawberry pancakes. Pancakes were followed by strawberry ice cream. We concluded with chocolate covered strawberries. YUMMY.

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Shake It

I used to laugh daily when I would spot the crazy runner cruising down Elk Grove Boulevard on my way home from work.

This guy was fast, fit and appeared to be a little off kilter. He would run down the side of the road dancing and singing the entire way. He would have his arms in the air and would spin about -- he would literally dance as he ran down the street. Every day I thought to myself -- what a crazy man!

I hadn't thought of this man for four years, until this weekend, when I found myself running and dancing across the Bay Bridge to a ridiculous song. I decided while running/dancing across the Bridge that my Ironman Coeur D'Alene theme song has to be "Shake It" by Metro Station. It's such a pop song, but it makes me want to run, fast.

The last week of training has been insane. It was our last real big push before Ironman. Last week consisted of work and training. That was pretty much it.

We had really long runs -- we ran home from work last Thursday -- Mill Valley to the City. We had really long swims. We had really long bike rides. I still can't believe it's almost time to start tapering! Four weeks from today I will be in Coeur D'Alene, competing in my first Ironman. Where on earth does the time go?

A HUGE congratulations to my friends Rangsiwan and Elisa who raced Ironman Brazil this weekend. I found Elisa's post-race text message incredibly funny. The same woman who declared as she crossed the finish line at Vineman last year that she didn't ever need to do an Ironman not only excelled at her first IM, but said it was "SO FUN." Love it. Congrats.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

I Care Classic Century and Bay to Breakers

This weekend's training included a century ride on Saturday and Bay to Breakers plus some on Sunday.

Paul, Dian, Chris and I met up in Morgan Hill early Saturday morning for the I Care Classic Century ride. Dian recommended it last week, and as I am tiring of the local routes, a century I had never done before sounded lovely.

The ride had a peak elevation of 1,219 feet starting from an elevation of 360 feet. Total climbing elevation was 5,152 feet.

It was a beautiful ride.

The ride began in Morgan Hill, and sent us east via Madrone Parkway and then Cochrane Road. At the base of the hills the route turned south via Hill Road. The route jogged to Foothill Road and then to New Avenue reaching the first rest stop at about 11.5 mile, which we all bypassed.

It was fun to catch up with Paul and Dian, as with all this training, some of our socializing has fallen away. (I look forward to getting that back!) Continuing south, we headed into the foothills at Roop Road. The climb on Roop was the most difficult of the day, but coming down the backside was stunning, fast and fun. We then headed south to Hollister.

We met a very nice woman named Karen while riding to Hollister who is a 10-year veteran of triathlon who had all sorts of helpful pointers and tips about racing our first Ironman. We ended up having lunch with her following the ride and discovered that she is doing two Ironman events this year -- Lake Placid and Arizona. I will keep my eye out for her at future events, as we seem to do a lot of the same events.

I had a blow-out in Hollister when I rode over something that took a huge chunk out of my back tire. I learned all about the "boot" as a very nice gentlemen from the Kain Tri Club shared one with me that allowed me to finish the ride.

From Hollister we headed back via the west foothills, and by now it had gotten quite hot and windy. The route continued up Day Road and north on Uvas Road, where they were setting up for the Uvas Triathlon, to Oak Glen Road before exiting the foothills at Bailey Avenue. At about mile 85, Chris and I started to fade, due to the heat. We rallied after some particularly fabulous potato chips and made our way south on Santa Teresa Blvd. and back to the start.

It was 97 degrees in Morgan Hill when we finished the ride. Hot and dehydrated, we opted for a bit for food and drink before heading home. Thank goodness for the Ben and Jerry's ice cream they were passing out to those on the way out!

Oh my... I saw a lot of naked men today. Apparently men in San Francisco like to run naked. I was also pelted with flying tortillas.

I had only participated in Bay to Breakers once before, FIFTEEN YEARS AGO, with my uncle and one of his best friends.

Chris and I had a 2 hour run today, but wanted to participate in Bay to Breakers, so we decided to run to the race to add on some miles.

I set out about 7:15 from my house and ran to the start. It was fun to run from the back and try to make your way through the maze of people, as I was able to see a lot of the floats and costumes. However, my joy didn't last long as I grew frustrated with the masses and my inability to run as fast as I wanted to. It wasn't until about mile 4 that the crowds thinned out and I found myself with people who were running a speed similar to mine.

Many had made very creative floats, and the crowd favorite seemed to be one that featured scantily clad exotic dancers. My favorite costume was the "school of fish swimming upstream."

Overall, it was a good run and a good day. I was pleased that I wasn't overly sore from my ride the day before.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

100 Mile Send Off to Brazil

I have two friends racing in this year's Ironman Brazil -- Elisa and Rangsiwan, I wish them both a WONDERFUL event and will be rooting for them all day!

In honor of Rangsiwan's departure for Brazil, Jessica put together a century ride on the Peninsula to celebrate the start of Rangsiwan's 'taper' this past weekend.

Now, I thought Jessica had billed this ride as a flat one, but I may have imagined this. Jessica incorporated a SEVEN MILE hill climb into the ride. SEVEN MILES. I don't think I had ever done a SEVEN MILE hill climb before.

As I was mid-'hill,' I thought to myself, "this isn't a hill, it's a mountain!"

It was a wonderful ride -- I had the opportunity to spend the day with four amazing women that I had spent little time with prior to our ride, so I enjoyed very much getting to know them as we rode along. They are all inspiring, talented, strong and beautiful (and quite funny!).

While the day was long, it flew by. The scenery was beautiful and the weather near perfect for a long ride.

I also discovered that turkey jerky is the perfect treat at the end of a long ride -- as are fruit loops!

The best part -- the gentleman cyclist in the final few miles of our 96-miler who could not handle being passed by a bunch of girls. Ha!

Friday, May 9, 2008

Wildflower Weekend Escapades

Wildflower is famous for the experience - a tough course and camping among thousands of athletes and supporters.

While I enjoy camping, camping before a race isn't my preference. Therefore, for the past four years, I have stayed at a wonderful bed and breakfast in Paso Robles while in the area for Wildflower. (I will be back again next year -- just made my reservations!)

This year Chris and the Quinn's joined in the fun. Additionally, Jake stayed locally, so we had our own little private party in Paso Robles.

The bed and breakfast where we stayed is so peaceful -- it looks like an Italian villa perched on top of a hillside. It is serene and beautiful.

The Innkeepers are the kindest people. Not only did they take group photos of us before we departed, they also provided us with breakfast race morning at the way too early hour of 5 am.

I look forward to next year's visit already.

I learned this week that Chris and I were not the only ones who enjoyed a nice drive up the coast on the way home -- congratulations Rangsiwan!

Funny story about our Hearst Castle visit -- our tour guide DRILLED into our heads the name of the architect who had worked with Hearst in designing his San Simeon home -- Julia Morgan.

I made a note to remember Ms. Morgan's name, as surely it would be a Jeopardy question some day. Low and behold it was -- two days after our return from the trip! I found this so funny that I had to send our tour guide a note!

While my race wasn't the greatest, I had a very fun weekend. Thank you to everyone for their kind comments and support.

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Tag - I'm It!

Rick tagged me to play "six work memoir" on his blog last week.

As he explained in his post, the rules are:

1. Write your own six word memoir
2. Post it on your blog
3. Link to the person who tagged you in your post
4. Tag other folks with links
5. Leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play.

My memoir -

Living, loving, to find joy, everyday

I don't want to pressure others to follow suit, but if you are inclined to do so, please do!

Monday, May 5, 2008

Wildflower Aquabike

"I'm inspired by failure. The process of defeat - picking yourself up again is the hardest thing in the word." - Lolo Jones

Dian found this quote in an advertisement in Runner's World. She shared it with me and I found it highly appropriate in relation to my weekend.

The weekend was such a disaster on so many fronts and yet still fun, as I always seem to somehow have fun even in not-so-fun moments.

First, we were super late setting out. Then we encountered mechanical problems in our caravan down to Paso Robles. The combined late departure and mechanical issues cause a rush to Lake San Antonio to register, which then resulted in shoveling dinner into our mouths and the ingestion of food I might not have otherwise eaten. The ticket a half-mile from the bed and breakfast hours after we were due to arrive in Paso Robles didn't help much either as I then spent half the night fretting about the fact that one of my party had to now deal with a ticket.

I got about an hour of sleep Friday night.

I was very happy race morning to discover that even on one hour of sleep I felt pretty good and was excited to race.

I had a great swim. For the first time ever I stayed in a pack for the swim and knew I was swimming faster than usual. (Three minutes faster for a 1.2 mile swim!)

I also had a great bike ride. I felt powerful and strong, yet I kept my power efficient. The entire time I was riding I kept in mind an analogy my coach had shared with me about "my matchbox." I had to keep my power in my zone, because each time I went over I was using a match from my limited supply in my matchbox that would effect my run.

The run, ah, the run. A completely different story. At about a half mile into my half marathon I did not feel well. Not well indeed. I felt like I had ingested a lot of air and it was just causing all sorts of a ruckus in my stomach and throat. I couldn't breath and I couldn't intake any water or food. That led to dry heaving. At mile 7 I made one of the toughest decisions I have ever made -- I decided to end my race early.

I had spent 7 miles contemplating how detrimental it would be to my training for the foreseeable future if I gave myself heatstroke, since I couldn't intake any water and was clearly dehydrated.

When I made my decision, I tore off my race number in frustration and put it in my back pocket. It was a humbling, frustrating moment. It was awful to spot Jake and Chris waiting for me at the finish line and to tell them I had not finished. So awful that I burst into tears.

I am mad and frustrated and disappointed, but am hopeful this will be yet again another learning experience that will benefit me in my Ironman race.

The rest of the weekend was a blast. We had a lovely post-race dinner at McPhee's in Templeton and another great stay at my favorite bed and breakfast in Paso Robles.

Sunday was wonderful as well, as we decided to tour Hearst Castle on our way back. I had never seen Hearst Castle and was blown away by the mansion and grounds. Additionally, we had a very entertaining tour guide.

All and all, while disappointed with my performance personally, it was a fun weekend. Congratulations to Jake, Chris, Dian and Paul and to all my GGTC teammates on a great event!

Friday, May 2, 2008

On our way...

Just heading out to travel south to Paso Robles and Lake San Antonio for Wildflower.

I am excited and apprehensive, all at once.

While this will be my 4th year at Wildflower, I have never participated in the long course event. The long course race is held on Saturday, instead of Sunday, so it hasn't yet sunk in that I have a race tomorrow.

I know it will be fun, as my triathlon club has over 140 athletes registered to race! Last year we won the overall club competition. I am hopeful we will do so again this year.

I, however, will be racing in my Blazeman jersey. I still have $1,570 to raise to meet my fundraising goal for Ironman Coeur D'Alene. I must spread the word, as I do not want to let the Blais family and the Blazeman Foundation down!