Buffalo Springs 70.3

[update: July 13, 2006]

Leading up to this race I heard many stories, some not the most pleasant and causing some anxiety- raging temperatures and hard climbs on both the bike and run. It turns out sometimes expecting the worst can make what you imagined as horrible seem “easy”. Notice the quotations around easy :) Paul so graciously offered to come out and watch, to help me with things and to drive my Guru the 7 hour trek from Austin so I could fly. What a relief it was flying without having to lug around my bike box!!

Everything went smoothly up until the start of the race. Paul and I drove the course the day before to get a good sense of the climbs- fortunately I was expecting much worse. Baja has made everything since then seem like a breeze! The pre-race meeting was humorous- Mike Greer the race director made sure we were well aware of all hazardous objects to look out for on the bike course, many I had never even heard of! He had a list- bullweazels? cockleburs, tarantulas, snakes, cattle, horses, spider like tractors, prairie dogs, some sort of gigantic horse fly….we were in for a great Texas hill biking country adventure!!

Race morning as we drove up to the race site, across the dark prairies we spotted huge bolts of lightning. With every streak the dark sky would light up with purple way out in the distance.There had been storms forecasted and I began preparing myself for a possibly wet and wild bike ride. I said to Paul “Maybe it’s just heat lightening”. This is idea was soon to be thrown out the window, as we parked the truck and made our way to the transition- it was actually chilly! I had on full sweats and I was still shivering a little…Not quite the 100 plus temps I had heard stories about for months! Upon arrival into the transition area, the supposed “heat lightning” patches were making their way towards us. The wind picked up and started billowing…I had to re-rack by bike and hang it by the brakes for fear of it flying out of transition! The wind gusts were so powerful the sponsor signs were being lifted off the transition area fencing!. I kept telling myself to remain calm, that everyone would be in the same boat and that it could pass over…..and eventually it did.

A calm suddenly returned 20 minutes before our 6:30am start, the lake looked flat and still as it did the day before. Tiny waves lapped onto the shore. I breathed a sigh of relief, bid my farewells to Paul and made my way to the swim start. I don’t want to make any excuses but going into this race I was a little nervous of my condition., Having just raced Eagleman two weeks pervious, I had been feeling very tired and not quite at full recovery. I was expecting to feel a little sluggish at first. Again better to expect the worst and be pleasantly surprised but this feeling happened to be dead on accurate! I got off to a decent start but once I got to the real deal swimming part my body just wasn’t going. I began to heat up inside my wetsuit- I had visions of my back being lit on fire and of stopping to strip off my wetsuit, leaving it to float around in the lake. I noticed Natascha was swimming next to me and I knew this was not the best sign, I was hoping come out of the water in front of her and now I was more concerned with staying on her feet! I started to feel more and more like a slug baking inside a blanket. I tried imagining that I was swimming in freezing water, that I was cold. This helped a little, I realize that anxiety will only heat you up even more! I was so happy to reach the shore and to take off my wetsuit-ahhh it felt great.

Onto the bike and again I was fighting myself to snap out of slug phase. There would be times when I felt like I was flying and very strong, other times the opposite. All in all I had a great time out on the bike course. It was a beautiful course, the climbs were my favorite part! and there were sections that wound and rambled and were very roller coaster like. My only disappointment was that I never had the opportunity to encounter a bullweazel! I was in third position coming off the bike, Natascha and Andrea were having great rides and I knew I was going to run hard to catch either one of them. I had a whole plan to beat the heat, Paul and I had trekked to the Lubbock Wal Mart the night previous (quite the experience!) and purchased a cooler and zip-locks. Paul made up some little bags up for me so that I could stash them in various places to keep me cool on the run. Although the temps had risen into the 80s or so at this point, Io felt so lucky not to be battling 100-plus temps.

The first few miles of the run I was feeling strong, I passed Andrea and was now in second, not really aware of how far ahead Natascha was or how far anyone else was behind. I passed Paul at around mile 4 and he told me Natacha looked tired. My first thought was “well so am I!” but instead I decided to try and catch her….that plan did not come through very well. I did manage to hold off Heather Fuhr who was looking strong at the turn around point. I was absolutely amazed by the encouragement I received on the way back home. As there were many Austinites racing out there, I saw so many familiar faces and they almost all managed to cheer despite the fact that they were tuckered! They really all helped me home, the last few miles were around a flat lake and I was so looking forward to the finish line at this point! It finally arrived in second place and Paul gave me a big hug, my dad was there and looking proud, and announcer Jerry was on the mike saying some really nice things. Meanwhile the med tent was looking like the cool place to be so I grabbed a seat and let the lovely volunteers take care of me. I will definitely be back next year, still in search of the great Bullweazel….

One more important thing I forgot to mention that happened out on the run- at mile four I asked for coke while passing through an aid station. The volunteers didn’t have it poured yet so I passes through and turned to start the first big climb on the run. To my relief and disbelief a woman volunteer traversed the grass uphill with the poured coke in her hand and stood on the hill with it so I could grab it. Amazing. There were several other moments like that during the race, all brought on my the wonderful volunteers- you would think they were being paid a million dollars to do such a great job out there. You guys rock!

Thank you to Mike and Marti for putting on such a fun and immaculately run race, to Paul for being the best and most patient “domestique” ever! to my sponsors and Tri Dubai team for believing in me, and to all of those who cheered for me on a day when I may have only been able to muster an unintelligible sound effect back. I feel so fortunate.

Eagleman 70.3 and CapTex Tri Report

[update: June 21, 2006]

The last month has been so busy with racing and traveling I have decided to live out of my Asics duffel bag in my own house! Returning home from Baja it seemed like moments before I was out in Austin Town Lake racing in the Capital of Texas Tri. This is a race I look forward to all year…one of the few times I get to race side by side with fellow Austinites and training partners. People line the streets and despite the usual high humidity and temps they go nuts cheering out there. This year was no exception, and I enjoyed every minute (well almost every one until I started to burn up) of the swim in Town Lake…some people may gasp but the water is actually seems clean? and refreshing! four loop 40k bike course, and two loop 10k run. By the time the run rolled around the weather had heated up, thank goodness for the Rocket Science Sports girls water station with their high boots and water guns! and the loud cheering from the crowds…the support was so wonderful I almost forgot to notice the 90 degree temps and the fact that my legs were still a little achy from all those hills in Baja. Other highlights : Gilbert yelling "drop the bomb!!!" at the top of lungs in T2, Barry Lee on the mike at the bike turn around, rolling out of my own bed and driving 10 minutes to the start and getting prime time parking thanks to Jack and Adams!, seeing all of Austin’s friendly tri peeps and friends tearing it up under the hot sun. I won the race but was passed by Dan Carrol at mile 3 on the run, I tried hard but was unable unable to "chic" him :) We had a bike wash outside of Jack and Adams bike shop with all proceeds benefiting Move Through Cancer organization- a running group specifically for folks recovering or surviving cancer. We raised $1200 from one day of bike washing! Yaaa!

After several days of rest and a few short hard workouts it was time to travel to my old hometown of Washington DC for Eagleman 70.3 on June 11th. The Asics bag was luckily already halfway packed up, I bid Pandora farewell and caught my Southwest flight into Baltimore. I arrived later than expected and my loving Ma picked me up from the airport despite her early morning work hour the next day. Eagleman is always something to I anticipate, not only is it a beautiful course but my entire family and dear old friends can all be out there on race day. This year friends David and Scotty picked me up from my house in Potomac and carted me off to Cambridge. We had a busy pre- race day and all the while the wind was HOWLING. It looked like we were in for some hills on the pancake flat course after all….

Race morning started well…we arrived at the race site and sure enough, the wind was still on a vicious tear. Despite that it was in fact June, I stood shivering as I loaded up the Guru despite my heavy fleeceTri Dubai jacket! Start time rolled around and everything seemed to be calming down slightly but I knew it was going to take some "grin and bear it" strength to get through the day. My longtime girlfriend and new momma Christy was out there racing with me and we both stood in the water shivering and waiting for the gun to go off. We were off to a fast start and I was feeling good….out to the turn point on the swim, around the boat and smak! the waves began to punish me. The entire way back in was so rough! The buoys seemed to take longer and longer approaching, luckily I was feeling strong but the water was taking me back to the wave pool at Wet n Wild. My thoughts also went to the 60plussers out there struggling in that water….brutal. Several jelly fish wrapped themselves around my wrists and fingers, I felt one brush my nose. Trying to remain positive and calm but there was a strong voice inside me yelling "Get me out of here!!". Luckily I had my Blue Seventy Helix on fitting like a glove and keeping me buoyant. Pretty soon I could see the exit and was I oh so glad to get hit land.

Onto the bike and a feeling of complacency hit me, everything seemed to be either hurting or blowing around. The wind was so strong and I felt tired from the swim. My face was stinging, I kept checking my nose to see if there was a jellyfish stashed up there! The bike continued on like this, I was battling with my own head the entire way. Several times I would yell at myself "Move your booty FICKER!" To no avail, I was having a bad day on the bike. Finally I arrived into T2 and I could see my family and friends yelling , they all looked worried that I was so far back. I was angry and determined to bury that horrible bike ride. Putting on my new Asics Ohanas (best racing flats ever!!) I felt a huge rush of frustrated excitement. I knew I needed to haul butt and get out of my current sixth place position, I could not hold anything back.Taking it one step at a time, one landmark at a time, I gradually moved up. I was careful to take in enough calories and fluid as the sun was out now and I could feel the heat beating down. Natascha went by at the turn around and yelled encouragement, she had a huge lead, I could see Leanda coming back and she looked tired, Katja was within reach. Feeling strong the last miles I caught Katja and was gaining on Leanda…..running out of room in the end I would have to settle for third place.

Things I learned on this day:
1. Rough water is rough for everyone- keep your head down in the waves and do not get discouraged
2. A bad leg in one discipline does not necessarily dictate a bad race…patiently wait for the next one to come and turn your day around.
3. Jelly fish stings aren’t really all that bad :)
4. Coke on the run rocks!!
5. Negative energy can be fueled to your advantage, you can convince your mind to change complacency into butt kicking anger….

Thank you for reading, thank you to my sponsors family and friends…..see you in Buffalo Springs 70.3!!

Ironman Baja

[update: June 03, 2006]

Baja 70.3 turned out to be a total blast after a somewhat squirrelly beginning…...flying into San Diego on Southwest Airlines (my fav airline! :)) the Thursday before the race, I decided to hitch a ride with the race management down into Mexico instead of renting my own car. Longtime racing buddies Michael and Amanda Lovato arrived later that afternoon so I had an enjoyable time people watching and even making a few new friends with other airport dwellers waiting on arrivies…..Michael and Amanda arrived, we all loaded up the van and barreled off into traffic with our driver Pablo leading the way. There was an unusually long backup leading up to the border and I could tell my the looks of Pablo’s furrowed brow in the rear view that this was not something he was used to seeing. Pretty soon the traffic was at a complete standstill, drivers were getting out of their cars and were conversating on the road. The scene was turning into a San Diego to Mexico bloc party! After a while there was one lane to the far left moving at a decent pace so we naively hopped into the lane. Michael jokingly remarked "watch this be the u-turn lane back into the US. Ha!". Much to our disbelief, this turn out to be true! Once we made it to the border, we were immediately redirected by several extremely grouchy and authoritative border patrol officers, suddenly we were heading at 70 mph back to sunny San Diego! Evidently there had been a shooting on the border that had closed it down and kept it that way until 10 pm that night. Next plan of action was to find a place to stay so we could get a good night’s rest and retry our entry the next day. Luckily the ever-so generous Roch Frey and Heather Fuhr opened up their doors and bedrooms! to all of us, including Pablo. We all had a healthy dinner and a good nights rest. The next day we got in a run with Heather then headed to La Jolla pool for a short and refreshing swim workout. Our next challenge was going to be fitting two more passengers and two more bikes into our already crowded van! Somehow we fit everything in with Mirinda and Paul as new additions to our crew. Mirinda and I had to slide out the van windows Daisy Duke style whenever we had to stop. Yee haa!

Once we arrived in Mexico everything began to run smoothly. I was having a great time trying to use my rusty Spanish to navigate around town. I was having a great time hanging with Michael and Amanda and had neighbors Bryan Rhodes and Torrenzo Bozzone to keep things amusing. My hotel was EL Casa Del Sol (house of the sun) and was the cutest little wood cabin of a hotel room I have ever stayed in. I recommend this place for any Ensenada visitor. My body and legs were really coming around and I was starting to get fired up for the race course…my dad arrived and we took the Lovatos out on the race course. Can you say CLIMBING?? Holy man, there were huge ravines and we were all getting really nervous as you could see cars that had bit the dust going over the sides (no guardrails by the way!) and were lodged waaay down below in the ravine. An occasional cross here and there was a curt reminder of how careful we would need to be on those climbs and descents. At one point my dad started to get anxious driving and refused to look over the edge anymore. We were going to be in for some fun on race day….I was nervous but excited, hills are my strength and I was up for the challenge…now if I could only keep myself from bowling over a cliff!

The night before the race Bryan R. decided to provide us with a little pre-race "entertainment" and had purchased some firecrackers to set off before you we went to bed. I learned the difference between "fireworks" and "firecrackers" that night….the latter being the one we did NOT seem to have in our possession. Torrenzo was in charge of holding this mild little number while Bryan lit the wick and I watched. Halfway through the launch Torrenzo seemed to get a little freaked by the power of the cracker and let go. What ensued was the the loudest BOOM! I have ever heard outside of Black Hawk Down. I ran for cover and every door at the peaceful "Casa Del Sol" opened simultaneously while smoke and fireWORK shrouds ridded the air. Once the smoke cleared we could see the remains of a chair cushion now looking more like grated cheese and Torrenzo guiltily holding the cracker launch rod while Rhodsey cackled hysterically in the background. Luckily we were let off the hook with several "muy lo siento"s and $20 to replace the chair…..nothing like a little prerace explosion to get everyone fired up!

Race morning arrived without any glitches and soon enough I was down in the water ready for the 7 am start. At 7:30am we were still all standing out there, hey but it’s Mexico and I am all down with being late- at 7:45am Greg Welch announced the start and we took off into the chilly bay. My plan was to go out hard and gain a good position, I am much more fearless in the all women starts, which we had, and was really happy to see that I was well up in the lead pack. We headed out into the actual ocean and the water became much more choppy, siting more difficult but I held my form and stayed strong. I could see that Wendy Ingram was directly in front of me, which I thought was a good sign as she would be a stealthy navigator and swift swimmer. There were a few rough patches when I seemed to swallow way more sea water than one would say was healthy, but in general I was very happy with my swim and more importantly with the way I felt. I exited the water behind Wendy with Mirinda Carefrae on my feet. Seeing her results in St. Croix I knew I was going to have to book it on the bike or she would catch me on the run!

Onto the bike and I was having a total blast. I was moving up quite quickly and feeling strong and powerful. Once the climbs began I tried to focus on my form and on climbing efficiently. I moved into first place for the women and enjoyed the presence of the lead female motorcycle. The bike was course was incredibly scenic and beautiful. Yellow daisies lined sections of the course and once the first set of climbs ended it leveled out to a high plains section that resembled a different planet. Amazing what changes in altitude do to the topography. The halfway point was marked by the steepest and most treacherous descent conversely with the hardest and most grueling climb back out. I enjoyed seeing the men on the way down and my other female competitors on the way up but was a little concerned by the looming presence of Mirinda- she was only 1:30 back. I tried to work it on the way back and enjoyed seeing all the age groupers and hearing their cheers. Anyone attacking that bike course deserves huge props!

Into transition and out on the run the huge shouts from the crowd could not overcome the pain on my legs. I could feel it would take me a while to transition into my running form after such a difficult bike ride portion. I tried to hold off Mirinda but she came by me so fast I had absolutely no response! After a few miles I started to feel a lot better. The sun came out and I buried me head down, determined to fight all the way in to the finish….you never know what could be happening up ahead. Many of the guys, other pro women and age groupers were extremely encouraging. There shouts and yells that kept me going the whole time and the massive swell of noise both times into transition on the two loop run course gave me goose bumps and brought tears to my eyes. In my suffering I could see it on the faces of the others out there with me and I could see the spectators relating to the suffering, inspiring them and making them proud. It is these things that I love most about the sport of triathlon- we are all in the suffering together, young, old, pro or amateur. We are all suffering and we are lucky enough to have people cheering us on who can appreciate it- how cool is that??!!

In the end I was unable to catch Mirinda but was happy with my second place finish and the effort I gave to achieve it. Once I across the finish line I was awarded the most soothing massage I can remember and was even able to give my sketchy Spanish a whirl over the mic to the crowd. My words probably translated something like " I would like to thank all of you grandmas and grandmas very much for having me in Ensenada" but I think they all got the point and seemed to like it :)

Next up is the Cap Tex Tri In Austin, my favorite hometown race! and then Eagleman 70.3 where Mirinda and I, joined by Natascha B. will go at it once again.

Muchas Gracias Ensenda! Ciao!