Ford Half Ironman

[update: March 21, 2006]

I am back in Austin after racing in Saturday’s Ford Ironman 70.3 aka Ralph’s. I placed second to Michelie Jones with Erica Csomor placing third. The weekend was a good one in general, it was great fun getting back out and racing again after a long winter and to don my new Tri Dubai Team uniform for the first time was really exciting.

Ominous weather reports were flying around Friday before the race….all I could think about was the way I was shivering last year, how everyone was saying it was a fluke of a day, but here we were right back with the exact same weather! I vowed to be better prepared this time and I put shoe covers over my bike shoes and arm warmers under my new Blue Seventy Helix wetsuit. The first few minutes wading into the water was like stepping into a bucket of ice! Treading in that water was brutal, I was very happy once the cannon went off. I have had long time anxiety about open water swimming….I am so used to getting brutally passes by what seems like packs of people often times in the first 300 meters! However my pool swimming has been feeling strong lately, particularly over the last month, so I tried to use a positive approach this weekend. I felt extremely strong swimming and enjoyed it immensely! I kept expecting the throngs to go by but they never did! What a great feeling to come out of the water on the feet of Michelie, it was the best open water swim I have had. Usually I am praying for the end of the swim thinking "Get me out of this stuff and onto my bike where I belong". This weekend was the first time I actually enjoyed being in the water and was sad when the swim came to an end. My new wetsuit felt amazing and fast but I must have buckled it up too tight….I am walking around with what looks like the remains of a rope strangle!

Out of the water the numbness in my feet and hands set in…..such numb hands in fact that I realized I had not buckled my Rudy Project aero helmet properly. Whoopsie, a quick dismount to fix it and biking again I was off. Michelie was riding strong up ahead of me, I told myself that no matter what, I would keep her in my sites and key off of her. This plan seemed to work pretty well until my legs started to numb up. The bike was feeling so hard I began wondering if my brakes were rubbing on my Zipp disc! I became so paranoid that at mile 20 or so I got off to make sure. Blast, no relief there. My brakes were right where they were supposed to be…..The bike continued to feel hard and I started counting pedal strokes, taking 10 hard at a time, trying to focus on something else other than the pain in my legs. Meanwhile Michelie’s pink uniform was losing its brightness and she was sneaking farther and farther up the road. My Austinite friend "Marky V" came by me just before the steepest hill out there and we both were struggling up the vertical punisher. Ouchers! He had a much better up and over method than I did and pretty soon he too was gone into the distance…..alone for the last 20 miles or so I tried really hard to stay mentally focused and began looking forward to that run. I started getting really hungry out there and started thinking about what I was going to eat once I ws finished!

I enjoy the run portion of a triathlon the most in that you actually have contact with people. I was looking forward to the crowds, Carri and our friend Chop were both out there, as well as my Dad, Tony, and Normann. It is also nice to see all the pro men, to see how their race is unfolding, and to see the various age groupers I have gotten to know over the years.

Back into transition Tony Deboom was right there by my shoes, bright red Asics Racers Carri said looked just like "Dorothy’s ruby slippers" and I asked him "How far is she?". "Three minutes" was the response…seemed like a lot but I was determined to catch her and hoped that my run would feel a tad bit easier than that brutal bike. It did….just not fast enough to catch the lady in pink. Normann was out at the turn around 3 mile point and I was still feeling pretty strong. I asked him "How far?" "Two minutes, and you look better!" was his response. Oh wow! I had made up a minute in three miles? I was wondering a little bit who was trying to be nice to me :) regardless, I tried hard to catch her. She seemingly had put on the turbo because I could no longer see her up the road…..still I buried my head and tried to keep a positive frame of mind. I thought about Natascha Badmann and how she is always smiling away out there. I tried to smile too but I think it came out more like a grimace…...

The volunteers and people on the course was amazing. It was so adorable hearing the kiddie volunteers get excited if you grabbed water from them. I grabbed water from one early on in the race and he yelled "YES!!’. It made me laugh. There was one party animal playing the Rocky theme song, he was yelling like crazy, I think I saw a large beer in his hand. I tried to take in drinks and calories, so much cold out on the bike has left me in a deficit. I was hungry! My dad was also out there and recruited about 20 people to yell my name at one point, that also made me smile a bit. With three miles to go I could see that unless Michelie was forced to some tragic meltdown I was not going to catch her. On a good note I could also see that unless I was forced to a tragic meltdown Erica was not going to catch ME. With second place in the bag I could relax a little bit, and enjoy the last three miles as much as possible.The sun was out in full force now….strange to be pouring water over my head to cool off after beginning the day with thermal tights on! Normann came up on me with his bike and I was very glad to see him, he has such a great happy energy about him. I was also very glad for my 2nd female bike lead, he was gently asking the age groupers on their first lap to move to the side as I passed. They all did so with huge grace. Thank you to any of you reading this!! I was grateful!!

Not a bad day’s work, there are some good signs for my upcoming Ironman Arizona. I am hoping to have a more "on" day as the lady in pink will also be there in full force I am sure of it! Well done to Michelie, you are an amazing competitor.

Thank you to all for the support I had out there on race day. To all the people who cheered and competed themselves. To my amazing new team Tri Dubai, your support is like a big warm hug; to Asics for providing me with "Ruby Slippers" and anything I else I need at the drop of a hat; to Guru bicycles for my machine the Crono, that moves me along even when my legs won’t! to Recover Ease for getting me through my tough training regimen; to Blue Seventy for the best wetsuit I have ever put on- the Helix! I love it! ;to Nuun, for making all my water taste yummy and for keeping me properly hydrated; to Badger Ford for giving me an adorable blue hot rod to zip around town in!; to Zipp Wheels for my super stealthy wheelset; to Run Together/ Tri Together, for providing me with inspiration! ; to my friends at Jack and Adams, for providing me with the best bike service ever and for giving me a safe haven to take my bike to; to Gilbert for providing me with the best run workouts on the planet and inspiration daily through his presence alone; to Karen at "Go with the Flow" for providing me with wonderful care and taking me to that happy place; to Lucy and Carl at Massage Therapy for keeping my muscles feeling like butta; to AJ at Advanced Rehab, Cassidy with Massage Ball, and of course, Pieter (Stroopenwafles!) at Concentra for keeping me fit and healthy…..to Carri, Paul, Cindy, Ashton, Christy, David, Mom, Dad, Robby, Flynn, and all of my other wonderful caring friends and people in my life. I am so blessed.

On to to rest up for Ironman Arizona!

Thanks for reading,
Desiree

Time for Ralph's

[update: March 16, 2006]

Taper. During the days of high volume training I often long for the day when this word can release me from the stress of day to day toil. However I find that the week of taper before a race can be a lot more difficult mentally than any other time. I am so used to going hard without holding back that once I begin to rest many questions arise….am I doing too much? too little? am I turning into a blown up slug? Often times the days before a race I can feel completely sloth-like and awful. That day was today….I was out on a fartlek run and the whole time I kept thinking about the bug the slug, how it inspired words such as "sluggish" and "slugbug" I am confident this feeling will pass, I came home from my run and stared at my training log, to assure myself that my body was undeserving of the harsh criticism my mind was giving it! I was assured by the many hours I have put in up until this time….my body is just trying to heal itself right now. I had acupuncture today…my friend Karen is an amazing therapist, she sends me to my "happy place" with a needle in the middle of the forehead. During our sessions we have some cathartic talks….life, love and the pursuit of happiness being the main topics. Something about having all those needles stuck in those crucial places, draws deep thought.

I have been reading quite a bit this week, I finished Nick Hornby’s "How to be Good", a fast read that puts a humorous twist on the trials of married life.This is one of Paul’s books who is on vacation this week….in Hawaii at that! Luckie duckie. My friend Cindy lent me a hilarious read and true account by Maria Dahvana Headley, " The Year of Yes" in which a single New Yorker makes a pact with herself to say yes to every guy who asks her out…despite characteristics that would have previously repulsed her. So clever!

Tomorrow I will be making my trip to Oceanside, I can’t wait. My new Tri Dubai uniforms arrived earlier this week and they are looking so sharp. I am very proud to be wearing such a uniform and hope my performances this year can uphold the reputation that precedes it. Similar to last year the forecast is calling for rain and cold temperatures out at the race site. Last year I had on way too little clothing and was shivering dramatically the entire bike, praying for the uphills to get warm! I will make sure to be much better prepared this year with arm warmers and shoe covers. I prefer racing in tougher conditions but it is never pleasant to wake up to a cold rain on race day!

The first race of the year always feels a little different than all the others. It is special in that you have built up anticipation from an entire winter without racing and pure training, lower pressure in that you are a little unsure regarding what to expect. I am anxious to get out there and fly around that beautiful course on my Guru. My dad and agent Carri will be there to cheer, and several other friends from Austin who are racing will all be out there. I am looking forward to a day at the beach on Sunday, hopefully the weather is to clear up! My friend Lynne is training to swim the English Channel so we have planned a "recovery" swim in La Jolla Cove on Sunday…...she is so tough she does not weat a wetsuit, I, on the other hand would wear two if I could!

Leakey Death Camp

[update: March 08, 2006]

The flowers are blooming here in Austin and fragrant vapors surround the Town Lake Trail. Spring has arrived already and it is my favorite time of year! Last weekend a group of 30 or so headed to the town of Leakey out in the west hills of Texas for a training/camping weekend. I had been looking forward to this weekend for a long time and it was all that I had imagined it to be. I left Friday evening with my friends Cindy and John in a car loaded up with enough food and camping gear for two weeks as opposed to three days….we met up with two others Dan and stephan and had a nice little caravan going. Our car was decorated with three fancy Guru bicycles- just gorgeous.

Halfway through the drive we stopped for dinner at a German brew pub with a tasty high carb food menu. We would all be needing it for our big day of training beginning the next morning…..after dinner we drove another hour and a half to the Lost Maples campground. I used to do quite a bit of camping, in fact when I first started the sport I rarely stayed in hotels, instead I would travel with friends, my car and sleeping bag, stake out a nice piece of ground, often in unique places! and fall fast asleep. As you can imagine this often presented precarious circumstances such as unexpected rain storms, unbecoming, grouchy dogs and mosquitoes, etc…...although I no longer sleep outside before most of my races (with the exception of Wildflower) one of my favorite feelings is falling asleep under the stars. Soon after setting up tents in case of rain we did just that! The stars were plentiful and as I was falling asleep I saw several shooting by overhead….

Early the next morning we had coffee brewed on a camping stove and I tried to get in some good calories for I was planning a 130 mile loop, full of hills and headwinds- yow! with a run afterwards. I knew I was going to have to take precautions to avoid a "bonk". My jersey was loaded up high calorie snacks, mainly Fig Newmans and plenty of Nuun Active Hydration tablets. We all gathered around in a group to take some send off pictures…..a slight drizzle began and I began wondering if this was going to be more of a mental challenge than a physical one.

The ride begins with the hardest and steepest climbs packed into the first 40 miles. Being one of the few girls on the ride it was amazing to see the testosterone show its colors on that first climb. Wow! It was as if the hormone had its own vapor in the air! Into the mist we climbed up roads carved through the limestone rock. I was having trouble staying seated and to feel the burn in my quads on that first climb was enough to make me doubt the 130 loop. Soon enough though necessary body parts began to warm up and after an hour or so I was getting comfortable and feeling good. Our first stop was at an hour and I anxiously discarded some layers. The rain had stopped and the sun was peaking through….it always amazes me how some days you can go from feeling like a total mudburner to speedracer after a good warm up.

The ride continued through lovely open roads, with rolling hills so steep both up and down you could let the momentum carry you all the way to the top of the next one. At around 40 miles we began to see signs warning of us of road construction. I was following Dan on a descent when bam! all of a sudden the asphalt changed to dirt and gravel and I feared for Dan’s uprightness. Like an agile cat he balanced and slowed down just fine while I managed to break and hit the gravel at a slower speed. The road continued on in this condition for two miles, owww, the hands hurt! stephan had to stop for a flat and at this point most of the group decided to turn around and finish their 80 miler. stephan, a guy named Rob and myself continued on for the big 130 loop.

Overall the ride was absolutely incredible albeit challenging, we road hard and I must admit there were several times towards the end when the headwind was blowing that I wanted to both cry and quit….but that feeling always passes…..we were greeted back at camp by an ovation and I was so happy to put on my Asics running shoes. After 7 plus hours in the howling wind my buddy the Guru had now become my nemesis….stephan and I set out onto a trail that required stream hopping and even a little bit of uphill bouldering. We had some nice conversation and before I knew it we were back at camp. Not a bad day’s work I must say…I will be drawing strength from this day in my upcoming races….

The next morning we all got back on our bikes and made our way to the next town 20 miles away for the moist delicious breakfast in bike shorts I have ever had. The sun showed its face on the way home and arriving back at the campsite we observed a boy trying to desperately to fly his kite over and over as the wind picked up and died, picked up and died again.

We all need something to strive for…..........