Trip-Tips

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Vineman 70.3

[update: August 03, 2006]

This weekend at Vineman there were moments of highs and lows. Unfortunately most of the highs invovled everything outside of my race performance!

There were plenty of things to be cheery about. First of all Dave Latourette and Russ Pugh put on an incredible race. Everything from the fun and informative “meet the pros” night on Friday through to the awards ceremony on Sunday afternoon was well done- like a perfectly wrapped present with fun prize inside. My best buddy David and I had the pleasure of staying with the most generous and helpful homestay- Jeff Mitchell. He was outstanding- the night before the race he spent an hour detailing my dirty Guru making it sparkle like it was ready for a Mr. Clean commercial. He even awakened with me for my 4:15am (ouch) departure even though his start was 1.5 hours later than mine. Not to mention the luscious Thai dinner he cooked us our last night in town after working all day after his race. His two miniature greyhounds Levi and Lola, provided us entertainment all weekend long. Thank you Jeff!

Back to the race- Worried thoughts started to creep in little bit on Friday. Usually I feel pepped up and ready to go by this day. David and I woke up and headed out to the swim start, we had a lovely run through a forest of Redwoods- one being 1300 years old, just up the road from the start and then went down to the race river to swim. We had planned to ride part of the course but all I could think about was taking a nap (insert worry right here) so we drove it instead. Wow! This was going to be a fuunn day on the bike (notice worry got a little less here). The sweeping vineyards lining the entire bike route provided a multitude of terrain- sharp curves and gentle ones, winding climbs and straight desents, roads through hooded thickets and open fields. It was breathtaking.

Saturday began and my dad arrived wearing matching tye dye shirt and matching tye dye fuzzy dud shorts (check www.fuzzyduds.com), they could probably use some business, that way maybe I won’t be the only being embarassed by her dad :) It is pretty amazing how supportive he is, coming to all my races, but tye dye??

David and I rode backwards on the bike course and did a short run, getting stuck in a construction zone and fence hopping- never a dull moment for the traveling circus! My legs were feeling much better but I was already looking forward to crossing the finish line (bad sign #2).

We all went out to an early dinner at an Italian place that served gluten free pasta- ya! David and I had been there on Thursday night and it was lick your plate good. David remarked to the waitress that he was glad to see they had “glutten” free pasta. The waitress was having trouble saying “gluten” after that and we were all cracking up when I ordered the “glutten pasta” on Saturday. We ate early, around 4:30pm, and headed back to Jeff’s to get our bikes ready to go….excuse me, for Jeff to get my bike ready to go!

Race morning began in the dark and I had a good warmup up a dark windy road towards the Redwood forest we had gone running in a few days previous. Before long it was time to gather at the bouys for the 6:25am start. I was shivering and couldn’t wait to get going, the air temps were in the 50’s and quite different for the heat we’ve had in Texas all summer! The gun went off and I had three prominent sensations throughout the swim. 1) my legs were being pulled down towards the bottom of the river 2) I was barely moving forward and 3) elation upon seeing huge strings of colorful balloons marking the turn around buoy. Sorry to be so negative but I was not feeling good at all-yuk.

Exiting the water I really expected it to be my worst swim all year- I think it may have been close but I was very happy to see Kate and Wendy in the transition area. Maybe they were having bad swim days also or maybe my swim felt much worse than it was, regardless, I knew I had better get moving and onto the bike.

The first 15 miles went allright, except for the fact that I was feeling the chill of the No Cal marine layer….brrr momma…The miles went by and I wasn’t feeling snappy, jazzy, floaty, any of the adjectives you would use to describe a fast day. My legs felt heavy and I was having a hard time staying focused as there was no one around me. The vineyards were gorgeous all around but they provided little solace as they just weren’t willing to bike for me! I was trying all kinds of crazy techniques to get myself to get going, some involved words I cannot repeat here. Kate passed me somewhere around mile 30 and I was really glad to see her. I thought if I can just keep her in my sites I will come off the bike ok. This plan worked perfectly for about 5 miles until it became more than apparent that our energy meters were traveling in opposite drections. Ug! I started feeling really negative again and all kinds of horrible thoughts were flooding my mind-I just couldn’t believe how slowly I was moving- darn it. I took in more nutrition and kept thinking just get to the run, get to the run. I find it is moments like these to be the hardest part of what I do. There is a little devil that comes out with his stop sign and holds it in front of me. In the other hand he has all the other things I would rather have at the time- a lounge chair, a bowl of ice cream, in this case a grassy vineyard lawn.

Refusing to give into the nasty urge to quit I made it up to the last climb, at the top I spotted Mike and Tony from Tri Dubai. I was still disparaging but I was VERY glad to see them. They shouted words of encouragement and it was right then and there that I decided to suck it up and take one for the team. They had traveled all the way there, they believed in me and I was going to finish this sorry sally of a day no matter how sally-like I was.

Heading into the tranisition I saw Kate heading onto the run out well in front of me and she looked great. Becky was so far ahead she was nowhere to be seen, and she was on her 5th race in four weeks- awesome. I knew I was in fourth/fifth in tranistion with Linda Gallo who seemed to be in pain. Later I was to find out she had done the entire bike before getting 19 stitches in her foot- talk about tough. I was hoping to make a fresh new start on the run, as I slid on my running shoes my optimism returned somewhat….for the first half I was running very strong. I enjoyed seeing the men coming back on their way in – Tri Dubai was 1-2-4….awesome…..Michael Lovato who somehow always manages to be fully verbal shouted some words about catching everyone on the second half. Wouldn’t that be nice! I tried as hard as I could at that point, I really did. Somewhere in all that trying I was passed by a flying Natasha. I managed to pass Kelly Couch, who was also very encouraging- how cool is that?! In the last few miles I saw David , who was having a great day and went crazy yelling. I was actually really enjoying running despite the mediocre effort. I was enjoying it so much in fact that I crossed the line and didn’t stop running- I ran directly into the port o potty…...!

The best part of the race was yet to come- and that was heading out to look for David and to watch the other racers coming in and going out on their run. I saw many friends, Austinites and other racers- some were smiling, some were suffering but all were so admirable in their efforts. Congrats to all of you!

I am onto a much needed rest week before I start my buildup for Hawaii. Meanwhile I will be eating plenty of glutten free cookies :)

Pretty in Pink

[update: July 26, 2006]

This weekend I had a the opportunity to compete in the Irongirl Triathlon in Irving, Texas. I had been looking forward to the event as it was to be an all women’s sprint, low pressure and fun! Michellie Jones was lined up to be there but in the end she was sick so it would be me and 600 other irongirls….many competing in their very first tri ever.

After tracking Landis’s win in the Tour on Saturday….wow! I drove the three hour drive from Dallas to Austin…the first thing that caught my eye as I drove into the race site were the pink sparkly ribbons lining the swim exit. I gave a little talk that afternoon at the expo, the women were extremely receptive and asked intelligent and astute questions. That evening I met up with Brian Hasenbauer’s group of 18 or so women who would be racing and we all had a delicious Italian dinner.

Race morning began with Marti Greer starting everyone off on the microphone, we walked down past the pink ribbons and towards the lake. My “wave” wich was more like a splash because there were only two of us! took off and I set out on the 500m swim. The race went by quickly, Mario was with me for a while on a Harley taking pictures and after the turnaround I could yell for the women coming back at me the other way, the run was very much the same and what seemed like no time I was crossing the finish line.

The best part of the day was going back onto the run course and watching and cheering the other women on….one women, who’s calf read a spritely 67! jumped up in the air and clicked her heels after I yelled for her. How cool is that? There was also an adorable 11 year old out there duking it out in the heat. They were all so appreciative of the cheers, many thanking me along the way. Judy Molnar was at the finish and she is just so full of life. I proudy wore my pink Irongirl medal the rest of the day! Congrats to all those who made it through their first triathlon, they only get easier from here. I hope to see you all next year…...Girl Power rules yeah! xoDesiree

Speedy in the Big Apple

[update: July 19, 2006]

I have one word to describe the NYC Triathlon- FAST!! It has been a while since I have gone head to head with the big guns of the Olympic scene and wow, it was a bit of a shocker. The days leading up to the race were action packed. Arriving Thursday afternoon I headed out to Central Park for a quick run and then it was off to SBR with Carri and Val for a book signing. The store is like a hip discotec with bikes everywhere! Very cool. After SBR we whisked into a cab to the radio studio for 101.9 FM. The host Mark Farrel was cracking me up the whole time during the interview. Afterwards he joined us for what we thought was sushi but turned out to be Korean food….and it was delicious.

The following day we went to swim at Asphalt Green, they literally do have a green grass asphalt field and had a great swim in their outdoor pool. Later that night my friend Christy arrived with her baby and husband and we all had a fun and entertaining Italian style dinner. Never a shortage of delicious food in NYC. Saturday flew by with some “fakey” street purse bargaining and purchasing and a walk to…..of course…..Whole Foods- the most crowded grocery store I’ve ever seen!

I woke up to race at 3am and headed down to the street 24 hour coffee shop, someone in there invited me to join him at the club down the street…..uhhh. Race morning started off at 5:53am…..after a quick walk down the stretch of the 1 mile swim from the transition area to the swim start. Looking out onto the Hudson I could see the current resembling a downhill slip and slide. This was going to be fun!

I slinked into my Helix wetsuit and was all ready to go, the announcer began calling our names one by by and we were to jog a plank down to the pontoon. I was to be racing a strong contingent of women including Emma Snowsill, Sam McGlone, Laura Bennett and Becky Lavelle all fresh?? off of Lifetime Fitness the day before! They fired us off to start, we all dove into the rushing water and before I could count past 13 minutes we were out and running into T1. I was a bit behind the lead pack as I hopped onto my Guru and made my way into the Bronx. I had a strong ride but could see that I was not making up any time on the lead group of girls…..with a quick transition and a slip into my Asics (ahhh) onto the run and I was off behind Laura careening into Central Park at about 5:30 pace. We were hauling! I told myself to stay on Laura’s heels and I did just that, running by Tony Deboom who was out there to support our Tri Dubai team he yelled “There are some slow movers up ahead! ”. I found this encouraging as I was still feeling good running my fast pace. With my heart pounding I accelerated up a hill and dropped Laura, I began to see Becky up ahead in the distance. My legs were really starting to burn and all I could do was grab water and hope that I could hang on for a few more miles. As I passed the four mile marker I tried to draw strength from the beautiful scenes surrounding me in the park….to no avail, I was cooked. Natacsha Filliol came by me like a rocket as did Katja Schumaker. Into the finish I was the 7th girl and was disappointed. Tony was there to greet me as were several friends and family members. All in all it was an exciting experience to race in the big city of New York but I will be happy to stretch my efforts over 4 plus hours next weekend at Vineman!

Congrats to Emma, Sam, Becky and Craig for amazing back to back races, and to Tim for gutting it out on a too-short course as well. Thank you to my team of Tri Dubai for being there even on my not-so-fast days, and to my other sponsors for providing me with the amazing equipment I get to use that make my job feel almost effortless :) See you at Vineman…......Desiree