Trip-Tips

I am receiving so many great questions! Thank you. I have recently improved my site so that I can more quickly post answers here so please keep sending them via email.

Timberman!

[update: September 01, 2007]

I have to say Timberman was one of the best race weekends I’ve ever had, however if you had asked me on Thursday night before the race arriving in the pitch dark and driving rain I would not have been so sure. Waking up Friday morning had a brand new feeling. I was really looking forward to seeing my parents and to enjoying the atmosphere that Timberman is famous for. It went above and beyond all my expectations. Friday night the “Night of Champions” dinner took place and Kate Major, Karen Smyers, Michael Lovato, Simon Lessing, Spencer Smith and myself all got up and said a little something in the midst of a pasta feast. Rick and Dicky Hoyt were present as well and we all talked about how much we were looking forward to the homemade ice cream after the race :) My mom and dad had arrived and it was great to spend time with them. To make the weekend even more exciting, my good friend Adam was DJ for the race so I got to hear his awesome bellowing the entire weekend. I will never understand how so much charisma can come from one person…incredible. The kids race on Saturday was awesome to watch as 210 kids came across the finish, often duking their hearts out all the way to the line. The future of this sport is huge.

Race morning began with a horrible sore throat. Yuck this was not how I wanted to start race day but hoped that once I got going it would pass. I put on layers of sweats as temperatures were supposed to be in the 40s…brr! Once out and down to the beautiful clear Lake Winnipesaukee the day began to warm up and we all got into the water for a shallow lake start. Rick and Dick received huge cheers as they also got into the water with their raft. I felt calm and relaxed as they called our wave down to the line. The gun went off and everyone seemed to be swimming so fast! I tried my hardest to dig deep and hang on to the pink goggles of Kate Major but she just took off. The long miles I had been putting in on the bike and run for Kona had turned my legs into two huge dumbbells I was trying to drag through the water behind me. Negative thoughts came screeching into my brain and when the time came I was so happy to be out of that water! My dad yelled that I was in 6th place and I arrived to the racks, it didn’t seem as if there were any other bikes there (surely there were more than six other women there!). I hopped on to my bike and pedaled away, hoping the heavy leg feeling would subside. We traversed through a few tree hooded windy roads and at one point I thought about throwing in the towel. My legs hurt!! I drank some Accelerade and kept pushing on, after about 20 minutes the feeling in my legs began to subside…I was feeling good again (thank you thank you) and could start picking up some women. I passed Dede and Karen and a few others until up ahead I could see two distant white water bottles and the small red/black uniform of Kate. We passed by my mom at the turn around for the halfway point and she yelled loud and waved her little cowbell. She gave me a boost of energy. The rest of the way home I decided to keep Kate in my sights and we arrived into t2 together neck and neck. I got a thrill of goosebumps as Adam yelled our names in his dramatic fashion and we made it out onto the run course side by side, in first and second place.

In these moments you can only hope for two things 1. The feeling in your legs will miraculously change, 2. that the person you are running with will slow down!

Thank goodness the number one on my list came true because for in the first two miles kate was running strong! There was complete silence over on her side and on mine a horrible gasping sound…my breathing. I decided to drop back and run behind her as I could not stand the witnessing of this cacophony. Mile three came upon us and we entered a section labeled “Bourbon Street”, with volunteers blaring music, throwing confetti and streamers all around. Still running within seconds of each other we ran by a very old man who I heard say “beautiful”. We continued on and gradually I started to feel very good. There were a few rollers on the out and back, out and back course and I decided to pick it up on the downhill section heading back into transition towards the halfway point. I hooked onto a very tall guy who was running strong and could hear the sound of Kate’s “wicka-wicka” uniform right behind. At some point the “wicka-wicka” sound began to fade and I arrived into transition to hear Adam’s voice again. He screamed that Kate was 100m behind so I though I better pick it up some more, still following the giraffe-like man in front of me….Age groupers were running the opposite direction and everyone was yelling encouragement. I could see Simon chasing down Bjorn and Michael was looking fresh and strong not too far behind. I continued to pick up the pace and before long I was back at Bourbon street I could hear my mom and dad yelling at some point and as many racers I passed yelled encouragement, it was as if they were pushing me forward with their hands. The power in my legs was really starting to come on now and I was enjoying every minute of this run. Amazing how the feelings can turn around on you all in one day…I began to imagine crossing the line in first and all the good things that come after you can finally stop. One last uphill to get through and I knew as long as my legs didn’t buckle I would be fine. I passed a woman and her two children and they screamed their heads off. Into the finish chute I could enjoy the moment and began slapping some hands that were extended beyond the awning. I crossed the line and was very happy, my mom was there calling for me and she started crying. She always was a big crier :) It was a very good moment.

We all enjoyed the post race festivities, Simon and I gave little speeches, and that night we all enjoyed a lobster and steak dinner put on by Keith Jordan and his crew. The race was so organized and fun, I will be back next year for sure.

I am back in Boulder now training hard for Ironman Hawaii on October 13th. Some days I feel great and other days I am very tired but I know this hard training will all be over soon. I am trying to enjoy it as much as I can. There are only 6 weeks to go now. I cannot wait to be out in Kona again…!!

Cheers, Desiree

St. Croix 70.3

[update: May 23, 2007]

I just added a few pictures from this race to my gallery…..

I am behind here on my journaling…this report is long overdue! My last race was the St. Croix 70.3 triathlon in the US Virgin Islands. I have always wanted to race this one as it takes place in the beautiful USVI and is known for its challenging terrain- just the type of race course I like. Going into this race I had a few weeks of “cram” training, coming off of an unhealthy and over-obligated March, my plan was to race St. Croix off of three weeks of hard training and less than a week of active rest. This strategy could have worked very well if the course had not been so darn difficult! This is one course you just cannot fake your fitness on…I pushed as hard as I could the entire way but never really felt like a race fit girl. I placed 5th and to say I was happy with that number would be totally farfetched. However!! (now to the good part), the race weekend as a whole was one of the most enjoyable I have had- ever. My homestay family were some of the kindest, most generous people I have met. They opened up their doors (both in terms of house and car) to me and by the end of the weekend I felt like a part of the family. Ed, Linda, Beth, Ted and Will; you guys are my St. Croix family now. I will never forget your kindness and hope you don’t forget me because I promise to show up at your door again next year :)

Onto other positives…the course was grueling tough but gorgeous and I enjoyed it the entire way, exceot for that one bugger of a hill on the golf course we had to run up twice! The island itself had a natural, raw appeal and the bike course took you up and over too many hills, turns and speedbumps to count. It was a total adventure. I recommend it to anyone who is looking for a great getaway weekend and an incredible workout to accompany it.

After the race I walked back to the Buccaneer hotel with my agent Carri, who was also there racing. We had to backtrack along the run course and meanwhile could cheer on our friends and Carri’s fellow CEO challenge athletes who I had the pleasure of getting to know at the CEO challenge dinner a few days before. I went on to work an aid station complete with boom box (yes an actual boom box) blaring island tunes, spray down hose, and the happiest barefooted islander volunteers around. It was fun seeing all the folks still going strong on the course and I realized that I was quite lucky to be finishing as early as I did, as the sun was beating down strong on the athletes by this time.

As always it was good to catch up with my fellow female competitors, and to see Craig pull off a win with his smoking run. The day after the race, I went out on a boat with a fun group for some snorkeling fun courtesy of Wendy’s friend Pat. My dad, Wendy and friends Rocco and Sarah took to the clear blue sea with fins and snorkels and swam through the only underwater US national park. Here we witnessed a nurse shark, a mellow looking barracuda, schools of blue tang made of such a gorgeous blue they took my breath away, eel and various other colorful sea creatures. Wendy and I then took off for a swim where we practically ran head on into enormous brain coral. Wendy’s joke for the day -“Now that’s what you call a brain on drugs!”.

It is difficult to start the season with a sub par performance but since the race I have been more motivated to train and can look back on my weekend in St. Croix with very positive and happy thoughts. All this due to the people that surrounded me and to the race directors for putting on such an amazing event. I am already looking forward to next year and plan to be more ready to attack the beast…enter this race! You will be so glad you did.

Next up is Eagleman 70.3….this will be my 6th year racing and it is one of my all time favorites, as well as my first half ironman ever. I will be racing this one for Ma Ficker!!

Cheers, Desiree

The Thousand Dollar Port-A-Potty Stop

[update: February 24, 2007]

Arriving back into Austin on Saturday night I was grouchy! Traffic on my way home from Houston was not what I wanted it to be and the big trucks on the freeway going 80 plus miles an hour were freaking me out. I was worried the whole time about the marathon the next day. I got home and put on my running clothes right away, to get out the door for a short run, hoping to jog out the drive. I looked over at my bed and it looked soo comfy and I was exhausted. I layed down and 30 mins later my phone rang with a text message from Paul…’how was your run?’. Now I was even more grouchy! Life at that moment just seemed so hard. Waaaa!

I set out for a short run and then asked Paul to pick me up for dinner. Getting back in the car was just not an option at this point. We went to eat at the ever so accommodating Galaxy Cafe. I ordered my food but because of the marathon the next day, wanted to be extra sure there was no flour in the sauce. Hence began the often embarrassing process of the..”well I can go check with the cook”, etc etc. All the while I felt myself getting more and more grouchy.

Translation being: over tired and way too hungry girl extremely nervous about her race= HUGE GROUCH! Paul received the brunt of this in that moment because I accused him of looking embarrassed while I was ordering my food. Meanwhile he had not said a word and probably didn’t even look embarrassed. 30 minutes later the food had been eaten and I felt the monster suit fall off. Good thing for me but much better for Paul :)

Race morning arrived and I went down to the race site with a small backpack with shoes, extra sweats and uhh, that’s it!! No bike, bike pump, flip flops, bike shoes, wetsuit, goggles, body glide and on and on….marathoning is great!

The gun went off and I had decided I was going to go out at 6:15 pace, and stick with that pace throughout- landing me a nice 2:45 with some room to grow :) After a few miles at around 6:10 pace the women’s pack in front of me was just too close to let go of. The plan to watch the time went pretty much out the window. New plan: Stick with the women and run in their draft, blowing up would probably still put me under a 2:47. Running all through the streets of Austin the support was incredible! I was running with four other women, two Russians, one Ethiopian and one Kenyan. As the race went on, the first few miles were pretty flat and easy. The main set of hills came between miles 9 and 12. Some of these hurt quite bit but we had gone over them several dozen times in training the last few months so I was ready for them. I heard a few loud exclamations in Russian and I did not blame them. I would not have liked to see those hills for the very first time that day!

The crowd support continued to be incredible…the miles were ticking by and we went through the half right around 1:19:30. I was still unsure as to what would happen to my legs but at halfway I was feeling really good. I was relishing in the feeling of having “bike free” legs. While contemplating these thoughts, I noticed our pace picked up pretty significantly. The Ethiopian woman who ended up winning obviously had a plan to take off at halfway…and she did just that with a vengeance. One of the Russian women had fallen off through the hills so there were now three of us running together with one woman ahead up the road. I could also see Paul and Adam running together about a minute ahead. I took great comfort in seeing them up there.

The miles went by and there were some spots of good feelings, some spots of not so good ones. In general I was making sure to be very good about taking in my gels and fluids, the sun was out and I was finally losing the numbness I had in my fingers for the first half of the race. Cindy and other friends from Jack and Adam’s were on bikes with the lead women so I had even more reason to stay there. To lose the women meant losing my friends!

Mile 20 came along and I was feeling strong but I REALLY had to go to the port-a-potty. I knew I would be well under the trials time barring any disastrous collapse so I really wanted to stop and use the restroom. I could also see Paul and Adam getting closer and closer. We ran a little harder and I found myself running unexpectedly next to Paul. I explained my dilemma as we could see a beautiful string of bright pink port-a-potties at mile 21. His exact response was “Don’t stop. It will cost you a thousand dollars. It will pass”. Oh to let those port-a-potties go! I wanted to cry from the discomfort but I knew he was right. I kept running and sure enough the feeling passed a little. Phewww! I am so glad i did not concede to the Thousand Dollar Port-a-Potty Stop.

The course turned for a grueling gradual uphill. The pace must have really picked up because I looked back and Paul and Adam had popped off, I also noticed the Kenyan woman was behind now out of range. The Russian woman(Firaya Sultanova) and I were in a battle for second place. We passed through mile 22 shoulder to shoulder and the pace felt harder with a fierce headwind. My friend Lance Parker was on his bike and was yelling encouragement. I had flashbacks to mile 22 in the marathon in Hawaii and have to say luckily I was feeling MUCH better at this point than I was at the same point out there.

I knew I had to stay with Firaya and then try to outkick her…we went on to probably the most painful point in the race- a huge downhill at mile 24. My quads were shot and to run downhill that hard at this point- YOWEE! The last few miles, however, were so exciting! We arrived to the back of the Capitol and my girlfriend Sarah was there yelling at me to “Drop her now!!” Lance was yelling “Drop the bomb Des!!”. I decided to go for it. There was a slight uphill leading up to the Capitol and then it was all downhill to the finish from there.

Trying to sprint on dead legs always brings on hilarious visions. I was imagining I was wearing a chicken suit as I felt like my legs were buckling and flinging outwards at a rapid speed. Luckily the chicken run worked as I glanced back and could see she had receded. I went “sailing” down Congress with friends Lance and Drew on bikes yelling for me- just awesome guys! There was a looooonnnnggg tunnel of people behind a barricade on each side that we were to run through, finally reaching home sweet home of the finish line. I could see the form of Moges Zebenaye, the winner of race up ahead. She was closer than I thought! and it was encouraging to be that close to the winner. I was handed an American flag at the finish and ran backwards up the chute to see Paul come in for his finish very soon after. I ended up in 2:40:28 and was very happy and encouraged by this time. Paul was first male Austinite 2:42:50, Adam in a solid 2:45:25. Well done team!

Thank you to Gilbert Tubahoyne and Paul Pugh for getting me ready for this marathon, to John Conley for picking out an excellent, challenging course and to every single person who fueled me to the finish line last Sunday. Your support was outstanding.

I am recovering well with swimming, biking and minimal running.

xoDes