Rain and Shine

[update: February 13, 2006]

My trip to Portland was spectacular! My host Joe and his wife, Stacey were just the coolest people and they made me feel incredibly comfortable the entire weekend. The days were crazy packed with activity…...and it was over before I could believe it. I got in very late Saturday night so after chatting with Joe and Stacey for a bit, I put my weary body into a posh king size bed and was out, cold. The next day began with a quick trip to the store so i could get some of my “weird” staple foods….mainly rice bread and grapefruit. Stacey was so sweet and had stocked up the entire fridge fit for an army troupe! A few of the guys from the tri club came over and we all headed out to earn our Super Bowl Sunday treats :) I had a chance to check out the beauteous Portland countryside. The climate is a complete paradox to what we have hear in Austin…..wet, cold and wet! with moss on the trees and full streams flowing everywhere. The northwest has also been experiencing huge amounts of rain so we were very lucky to have a partially sunny day. They were saying I brought in the sun from Texas, meanwhile I was still searching for it! Our ride traversed through vast green farmland, out to a hilly region around Hagg Lake where there were some very nice climbs. I let it loose on the hills and wow it felt good. The feeling of climbing on my bike is so thrilling to me. I love the adrenaline rush I get from it….after the climb I stopped on the side of the road for a pit stop. I was amazed to put my foot into a piece of earth, of which I expected to find solid….unbeknownst to me the soil was anything but that and I sank way way down. It made for quite the interesting pit stop! Jon had the idea of visiting one of the reputed vineyards, the WILLAKENZIE ESTATE. We had to climb an enourmously steep hill to get up to the tasting room and it was absolutely worth the trip. A lovely wine steward poured several wines for us to try….being quite cold I welcomed the momentary warmth the wine brought to my chest. Jon generously he ordered three bottles of my favorite cab which should be arriving today!! What a nice surprise! Back on the road Joe and I were biting our tounges hard to keep in the profanities we wanted to scream. We were so freezing cold after the stop. Brrrrrr….Portland folks are tough, it is one thing to be cold but cold and wet! Now that is an entirely different deal. I would have to gain 10 lbs of fat to be able to handle that weather….and this was a warm day! it took us a while to get back home and no one seemed to have enough food in them. We all took turns fantasizing about the food we were going to eat..funny how strong those urges can become on long rides. The ride in the end was 5.5 hours…including one flooded road we had to detour away from. Back at Joe’s we had a short gorgefest and rest….then had a wonderful evening with friends and members of the tri club as Stacey hosted a Superbowl party at their home. Everyone was so friendly and genuine…..nothing like a bunch of real folk. The plan for the next day was going to be busy so I hit the hay around 11pm, beat to shreds! Joe and I had a long run planned for Monday morning and after hearing so much about the renowned running trails of Portland, I couldn’t wait to get out there and test them out. We went out to the Leaf Erikson Trail, a windy, hilly fireroad through some of the loftiest moss covered trees I have ever seen. Their curly moss -covered draping branches reminded me of a spooky forest out of the Princess Bride. My legs felt very stiff from all the hours of riding two days previous. It also took me a while to get used to the mud jumping, and rocky, slick surface. However halfway through the run I started to feel really strong and picked it up to a fast clip. The trees were so cathartic and I was lost in the soft din of the forest, enjoying every moment of the rhythm in my movements. Back into the car, I was looking forward to a hot shower and a short rest before a swim and then the talk with the Portland Tri Club that evening. After a swim and lounge in the hot tub, Joe and I headed out to his coaching session as he is a new coach for the Leukemia Team in Training. He introduced me to the new runners and we cheered them on through their circuit workout. Again, I was so impressed the way they were all out there in the cold, dark and wet weather! smiling and looking cheerful as ever. As the workout wound down and I headed inside to prepare for my talk. Ryan from Blue Seventy wetsuits arrived with Juli from Nuun and we were able to give out one free wetsuit and many Nuun samples and water bottles. I recieved my new wetsuit , the Blue Seventy Helix from Ryan and it is awesome! with beautiful blue stripes on the front. I can’t wait to race in it at Ralph’s…..Recover-Ease had also sent in tons of samples and the members were all excited to leave with this high caliber loot. Thanks Recover Ease! The talk went very well, there were times when i felt like I was stumbling over my words a bit but in general the time went by all too fast and there were so many well crafted questions to answer. I really enjoy talking to groups, especially when they are so eager and appreciative. There is so much to learn about and to know in this sport, it makes me feel really good to spread any knowledge that I can. The evening concluded with one of the most amazing sushi meals I have exprienced to date….at a posh little place in dowtown Portland called Masu. Now this place is a real gem. Their yellowfin tuna sashimi melted right in my mouth! Unbelievable. Thank you Joe and Stacey for your warmth and amazing hospitalty…....thank you Jon and Don for taking me out riding and for the awesome viticulture surprise…....and thank you Lyndsay for those kick booty Stars CDs, I have not stopped playing them since I returned home! Portland rules…...!

3m

[update: February 07, 2006]

I am sitting on a United flight traveling to Portland, OR for the first time. I am scheduled to speak to the Portland tri club on Monday evening. I am looking forward to visiting this city, excited to exchange my imaginary visions of thick evergreen forests and wood chip running trails for tangible ones. It will be a short trip, as it is already Saturday night and I am to return to Austin Tuesday morning. Tomorrow I will be venturing out into the hilly terrain on the bike with my host Joe and some of the other tri club members. After the ride we will be celebrating Super Bowl Sunday with a party at Joe’s house. I am not exactly a huge pro football enthusiast, although I do enjoy the internal patriotism that goes along with college football, first hand experience coming from my 4.5 years of witnessing the die hard fans at Bama. Any excuse for a social gathering is a good one….so I do look forward to Superbowl Sunday each year. I read the other day that it is the second most gluttonous day of the year , next to Thanksgiving, there will be a ridiculous amount of tortilla chips poundage consumed tomorrow. Mmmmm…. My legs are feeling the cramp of this airplane as I am writing this, there was six hours of incredible riding in the hill country of Austin finished only a few hours before the frantic rush towards traveling began. I am always thankful the Austin airport has a 30 minute bag check rule unlike so many others…...strong abs come from running with bike boxes :) Last weekend we had the 3M half marathon in Austin last weekend. I was thrilled to run a 1:15:12 and come in 8th place against some fast elite runners. Evidently I wasn’t the only one thrilled with my time….the times were actually so fast that the true distance of the course became a juicy runner/tri forum topic. Hence, the race director went back to remeasure and to the satisfaction of all the naysayers, the course was .1 miles too short. Wow. The hub bub was worth those 30 or 40 seconds let me tell you! Good thing they got that all cleared up though…..I will take my downhill 15:12 plus 40 secs and still be darn happy. The race was a blast and it was so fun to see all the Gazelles trouncing their previous PRs and finishing with smiling faces. I cannot say how much I am enjoying the Austin running community, many thanks to Gilbert and his Gazelles, you guys make this part of my job feel like a paid vacation! I have updated my tri tips section, please write in with more questions and I will post them up on my site! Thanks and happy training. Six more weeks until Ralph’s…........!

Getting Ready

[update: January 23, 2006]

A lot has happened since my last update…....

First there was the big trip home to Maryland for Christmas. I was fortunate to spend quality time with my parents, two brothers and friends who are still living up there. I also traveled downtown to DC by metro several days I was home to work in my agent Carri’s office…..giving her partners a workout out on their lunchtime hour was the best part. We did a strenuous 50 minute lunchtime circuit gut wrencher, you wouldn’t believe the complaints and grumbles the next day! It was raining and cold on Christmas day in MD but I had a lovely long run (a Christmas day tradition!) on my favorite home trails of the C and O canal. It is always so nice to go home and revisit the old training paths, especially when it is raining and everyone else clears out, I feel very close to the nature down there during those times. Friends and family came over for a festal Christmas dinner. We had ham, Ma Ficker’s pie and the ever reliable “interesting” gift exchange…my parents are infamous for bizarre gift purchases, despite my many pleas and urges for “gift cards only!”. I won’t make fun of them too much but I have two words: Puppy Calendar (sorry Dad! it was very cute). My mom and I did take a trip to Ikea to make some purchases there for my place and to buy the delicious lingonberry jam and Swedish muesli. Yum! The last day home my Dad gave us all tickets to see James Brown, still going strong with his hair looking very sharp, despite his older status, it was a fa bulous show and I had the pleasure of watching my dad dancing as well as my brother with his beautiful girlfriend…..awwww. It was very nice to be home as the time with my family and friends up there is so limited living so far away. Back in Austin for New Years and the real training had to begin. Friends David and Scott came in for the big weekend, I got to show off the town to them and we had a small but gregarious “party” group on New Year’s eve, ending after midnight in Don’s Depot, a famous old railcar they have turned into a bar. Older couples were really gettin’ down in there and Paul tried to drag me out to dance the two step. That lasted for about 2 minutes, for the only place I was stepping was directly on his feet! Not really my style, this two stepping thing…..but fun nonetheless. The last three weeks have really been hard in training but so much fun as we have been blessed with incredible warm sunny days and no rain, much to the avail of the Fire Department. I finally smartened up and had some testing before Christmas done on my stomach that was plaguing me all last year. I have been put on medication that seems to have quelled the issue, thank you Dr. Ellis!! and I have been able to get in some great running miles with Paul and Gilbert’s Gazelles. The majority of the group is gearing up for the Freescale marathon, Paul is looking to run under 2:35, go Paul! and Gilbert 2:20 wow! so our long runs have been exhilarating. It amazes me how many people in this town totally dig the running. Saturday mornings at 6am it seems everyone is already out of bed and running. How cool is that?!! I ran the Run Tex 20 miler on Jan 20th and with a very strong headwind on part of the course ran a 2:08 and change- I was pleased. No tummy troubles- horay! The winds have been incredibly fierce on some days, making the riding difficult, but I like it like that, at least looking back I like it like that. Last weekend my friend Dan and I rode 5 hours through open farm fields into wind that seemed to blow our scalps off, we finished the ride with bright red faces and the feeling like the wind was still going. Makes you tough! Back into my hard training routine, I am resting a lot and currently reading “The Kite Runner”, which I highly recommend if you want to become obsessed with a book, if that works with your schedule. Next up will be the Counte Of Monte Christo: L1 Compact. Carri and I have also been working on some new sponsorships, soon to be announced- very exciting! Looking forward to the season and upcoming races, I am off to the track for one of my favorite and arduous track sessions, 20×400’s…... Safe and happy training, thanks for reading, Desirée