Mud, Sweat and Cupcakes: Gear West Duathlon Race Report

Well the muddiest gear west duathlon i have ever done has come and gone. I have only done this race twice, and the 1st year it was COLD and last year it was HOT. But it was dry. When we had ongoing monsoon rains for 3 days prior to sunday's race i knew it was going to be an "interesting" race. This is a primarily "off road" duathlon ( runs) that is 5k 30k ( or maybe its 28k, not sure its about 17 miles) and then a 4k. The 1st run has 1k on the roads then you turn into the fields and the marsh area and its all grass and wetlands. This year it WAS VERY WETlands!

It wouldnt be a taper week and a rest day saturday without some Julia drama. I woke up and had the worst upper calf pain. It was like someone had kicked me in the medial gastroc behind my knee. I was super freaked out and not sure what to think. I did my spin ( inside, it was pouring rain) and it felt tight. But running was fine. I wore compression socks and ran on the TM ( did i say it was pouring?) and i knew that if i had torn or hurt something on my rest day, you know, working my normal job, which requires heavy standing around and rigourous teaching of senior balance classes and attending meetings ( do you sense my sarcasm?) well i know rest days can be evil. I chalked it up to?? I dont know. Later i did remember i walked into the bike rack behind my car, but i didnt remember that till after the race. So anyways I was totally a mess saturday. Again thinking i bruised easily from nothing.

So Anyways onto the race. I swore i wouldnt be one of those "people" who wore compression socks, espc white ones:) On a muddy day, but sorry for that comment bc I wasnt taking any chances. It wasnt that hot out so it was fine. And no, they are still really dirty:)

We started in the elite competive wave and there were a few women that took it out SO FAST I was like "Whoa, who is the track star?" I held my own knowing that my heavy breathing was likely annoying the person who i was behind, but i kept at it. This year they shortened the course a tad bc part of the trail was under water, so instead of climbing the giant hill and heading into T1 you had to do a lap around the gravel track. IT was fine on lap 1 and for some reason i didnt think much about the fact that this could become a track race with a 400 ++ sprint to the finish.

I came into T1 right behind Diane who is in this picture with me. I race with Diane alot and i know how fit she is early in the season. She went ot Bous with me last fall so we were at it again! She got out just ahead of me but i was hot on her tail!

Special thanks goes to Hannah who was my fashion consultant prior to the race, when i sent here a pic of my kiwami openback with a VERY stylish and awesome run swiftly SS t shirt UNDER the suit she said : I mean this in the nicest way, but that looks DORKY! Yup. I was just afraid of the cold and I mean that bc i have not ridden outside this spring in anything but knee warmers arm warmers a vest etc..its been that cold. But Sunday was HUMID! So i went for it. I was fine by the way, likely didnt need the arm warmers but as soon as the sun came out it went under so i just left em on. Not overheated at all.

Exiting T1.

photo compliments Nick Morales

The ride was great. I did my best to stay on top of things and not let her out of my sight, but i would gain on the uphills and she would pull away on the descents. The story of my life:) but it was nice to have her and Julie Hull, too, out there in my sights. Then about mile 13 she came back to me, but two other women came up on us too. We had a bike race! ( legally of course) we had to juggle a bit to keep it that way and at one point Sue ( another awesome masters athlete) sat back then surged ahead. Sarah ( another masters athlete and super biker) was right near me and as the last hill approached i gunned it and got away. Sarah later caught me into T2 but i was really happy with my legs on that ride. They were there and they did it legally.

So Diane and I hit the trails again, and i felt bad bc I was breathing SO HARD. I think it must have been annoying. The only real "blooper" to this race was that i thought they were handing out water as we left T2 but they were handing out Heed, or somehow i got that and if there is one thing I CANNOT drink its Heed. Especially that awful MELON flavor. Oh boy I had to make sure i didnt swallow that bc I had a green apple powergel already sitting in my stomach ( you can see the wrapper in my top, LOL i forgot about it till i got home!) but it ended up all over my face and suit and hands. ICK.

I ran and i ran and about 1 mile in i just felt like i didnt want to settle on her pace bc I knew Sarah and Sue and Jan ( yes another masters athlete, dang!) were close behind. So i went ahead and paved the trail. But at this point it was SO BAD that there was no line at all. Every step was squishy and the grass just sunk as you ran. Here on one of the trails I got caught with a naughty comment. Sorry. I just saw it and said what it looks like i am saying "SHHH, quiet back here guys there is a race going on." hahaha. And yes I had to jump in eventually.

photo compliments Denny Johnson

There are enough out and back sections that you can see who is chasing you and in my opinion its REALLY hard to tell if they are gaining on you or not. So i just kept on pushing. This is right after climbing the big hill and "usually" you run straight on in about 150 yds to the finish. Not this year. You "got" to run a lap on the gravel track. Oh joy. I was too afraid to look so i didnt. I just ran ran ran. I kept thinking " this hurts like crazy, and it probably hurts more than the last 6 mile of an IM and its going to be over in less than 2 minutes so just GO HARDER."

I have no idea, but with my first IM coming up i had to think about it and use it to motivate me.

Finally I made the 400 and Kevin, the owner of Gear West Triathlon and Bike and my new team sponsor said " YES JULIA, you are pulling away from the women......( pause) but...Sue looks strong." That was enough to get me to kick it in like there was someone right next to me. I sorta wanted to look but at that point i was just going to RUN. and not the most photographic pic of me, but i got there in one piece.

run and T1 photos compliments Steve and Sarah Stenzel ( and baby)

One of the nicest things is meeting new people at races and i met a few new people who are also masters women. I am so impressed with the level of women racing here in the midwest. It's pretty awesome. Then I also want to give a shout out to Julie and Erik Hull. Julie was ahead of me but how in the world that girl has the lungs to shout my name more than a few times on the last run is beyond me. I read that her HR went into the 180's, i bet if she werent so nice and supportive she could run in the 160's!

I on the other hand was proud that i didnt have a tea party in transition, and that i didnt talk to everyone and try to greet them as they passed me on the bike:) Yes I know, I have good manners. That is what the after party is for I know!

Kort, Me and Karen ( yes another super masters athlete) showing off our mudlines. Kort took 4th OA and KAren placed high in our 45-49 AG.

I hung around long enough to watch the dark clouds come in, the tornadoes start to form to the north of us ( yes, really, not a good MN weather day) and earn my first paycheck for top masters! I was 6th OA behind a strong field, including Julie who was 5th. I am quite happy with the race and the fact that my leg was fine. It felt bruised but i could run on it so i know there was no muscle tear or damage.

And of course...what would a race be without a cupcake? And not just A CUPCAKE. THE BEST out there from my sister in law's bakery SWEET. If you chose post race to be on a diet that is a shame bc the banana cupcakes are literally to die for. Melt in your mouth goodness with none of that fake banana flavor, these are real bananas. Oh and no these are tennis cupcakes bc the other ones all got eaten. And Yes I do have a cupcake sponsor, which is a dangerous thing, trust me.

I would be very very remiss to not mention my hubby's FANTASTIC duathlon debut. He rocked it and had a smile on his face on the track that last lap. What a sport. He finished 4th in his AG and yes, there were more than 4 people in the AG( he wants everyone to know that!) his bike was the 2nd fastest and he managed the run like a star. So our basement looked alot like this today:

Thank you so much to Hannah, Kevin, and ALL the Gear west Staff and all the volunteers, what a great day. Oh I lied I did thank the corner marshalls bc in the rain that is a pretty awful job standing out there watching us whiz by on bikes. Thanks to Heather, my PT at New Heights who puts up with me walking into things and to my finicky glute muscles ( that have decided to report to duty again thankfully) and to my lovely hubby. Who actually thinks i am crazy but loves me even more bc of it. Wow too many people to thank, Jen ( of course!)Wade at Folske Spine and Rehab for ART and Michelle for being so fantastic....ok I will stop but i just realized how many people in my life keep me in one piece. Yes you think 40 yo is rough, wait till you hit 45:) LOL. kidding ( not really)

Up next?

How about some time on the yellow brick road with my homies Chrissie and Renee? Sounds good to me!

Weekend!!!

Well looks like I need to post again to get the missing post off of some of your blogrolls. Gotta love that. Anyways its race weekend, time to run bike run. Not much to say other than this race is tough, really tough, hilly and hilly and off road. But i love it. So much that i get all excited even thinking about the hills!

So have a fun weekend everyone, good luck to racers and spectathletes and lets hope for sun on the weekend. What a novel idea.

First TT and Spring?

So summer arrived or is it spring? Tuesday nights and some Wednesday nights are TT nights in the metro. Last year at the first TNTT ( Tuesday Night Time Trial) it was so windy i bailed. I got blown off the road and i decided that riding 15 mph to stay upright was not a good plan so i just quit. I have never done that before and so this year when it was supposed to be in the 80's and humid i thought FOR SURE it would be ideal. There is always a bit of wind on this course so you can never have an EASY day, but it all seems to work out and you get a good effort in.

We got there after fighting traffic for WAY too long ( we live east, this is in the western metro) and in our short warmup it started to sprinkle, and lightening, and thunder in the distance.

Hmm, do are ceramic bearings more conductive than?? I just figured if i needed to pull over i would.

The details of the race arent that thrilling. Ride hard 5.5 miles, turn around at the bottom of a hill and ride back. Simple, eh? Well Its TT number 1 and my goal was to take a look into that pain locker and see how many toes and fingers i could get in there before i pulled out and wanted to sit on the sidelines and not go inside. The good thing is that once you are in there, you sorta just want to get it over with ASAP so what is the purpose of prolonging the pain, you just go harder to get it over with faster. Logical, maybe. You can see where the turn around is at the bottom of this hill, there is a flashing cop car down there:

This is the most lovely picture I have seen. Just gorgeous...
These are taken after we were done, i think.....
A few more action shots:

Pictures all courtesy of the TNTT promotors, IC3.

It was that spitting, messy rain but we never got totally nailed. About 1 mile away it was hailing and they had tornado warnings, so we were indeed lucky and blessed with a good or acceptable night. I then went to do a T run and got lost. Lovely. They moved the start so i was running around neighborhoods i had no idea where i was and ended up running twice as long as i was supposed to, and luckily, since it was 80+ i didnt care. No chill at the end of that run. My one regret was that our pool isnt open so i couldnt come home and jump in!

Rode well. I dont know the exact time, i decided it didnt matter, but i know i caught my 1 minute person and nearly caught my 30 sec person who will remain nameless since i want to have a happy marriage. Ha, ha, he is ok with it. I have faith he will return the favor next time.

I think i averaged 22.9 mph and that is great. I also got my usual lower GI spasms at the end of the effort, i dont puke, despite orders to "ride or run till you puke" but I know when i have maxed out and i did. And i actually had fun doing it. Really, i did.

Here is what else is going on:

Some of you know i have been dealing with a bit of...well..its hard to explain in laymans terms. Think Plantar Fascitiis of the deep periosteum of the femur under your hamstring behind your knee but a abit higher up ( Distal, short head of the biceps) IT gets irritated much like you would get from PF yet its so deep its hard to reach with the same modalities you would use with the Plantar Fascitiis. So the answer has been really really really being cautious with my run form ( ie i cant just hammer out a track wko without thinking about my form) and also getting some MyoFascial Release ...and most of all it means i get to go ski 3x week. Yes, Ski.

I am going to get those Butt/Glute's so strong that my hamstrings can have a little break/vacation when i run. And trust me, this machine is a killer. Its great frontal plane ( lateral motion) that we dont get running or riding or swimming. Fun fun:)

Last but not least:

I came home to this and just smiled. When i started Tri and got a mailing last year for 2009 as an Honorable Mention I had no idea they even did this. So to make AA, with all the really awesome athletes not only in my AG, its just so cool. Thanks to all my family and friends, my coach and my team sponsor, Gear West Bike and Tri, and to all the people that hold me together in one piece, Folske SPine and Rehab and New Heights PT. I need to update my sidebar to get you all linked better.

Happy Spring everyone.

Birthday Report

Well the 45th came and went. It's may now, Happy May Day!

And its cold, wet, and windy out. Yawn. Lets just say this, and be done with it. I Didnt do the ride i had hoped bc the windchill was 25 and I am sore from running a race saturday and I didnt want to get cold and wet again. What's new? Not much, i have stopped hoping that i will be warm. I guess it may happen and if it doesnt, well, it doesnt.

Rich did go out and came back looking like he had been skiing. Even with handwarmers his hands were FREEZING with the windchills. He said I sure made the right decision to stay inside on the trainer so he didnt have to hear me whine. Yes he said that :) But its true:)

Birthday Saturday was fun. I cant say I aim to run a half marathon in pouring rain at times, and gusty headwinds at times, and generally miserable conditions, but lets just say I can knock that off the bucket list:) Rich was a trooper and ran the 10k race, and waited for me to come back AS FAST AS I COULD. Then we got out of there and it downpoured again. As we were walking back to the car ( about 1mile away) my toes cramped, my Anterior Tib's cramped and i was wet and chilled.

The Get in GEAR half marathon race? Well not much to tell ya on the race report front but it went something like this.

Arrive at parking spot and sit in car for about 45 minutes thinking maybe it will stop pouring. It sorta does, so we jog over to the race start and still have some time to kill, use the porta potty and then go to the start. The 10k and the half start together so its packed. I ditch my garbage bag and i wait. And it pours again. We wait another 4 minutes and finally the gun goes off and we are off. I take about a minute to get to the start ( its chip timed) and that is ok bc I really didnt warm up too well. Just decided i didnt need to worry about that in the rain, I ran around a bit but i really just kinda tried to stay loose.

Mile 1 8 min

Mile 2 7:15 min

And after that? Well i found a nice groove in the middle there. You see I wore no Garmin, no HR nothing. Just ran by feel. It's a great thing to be able to do that, partly bc it takes the stress out of being tempted to look at a pace, and it helps me run by feel and use my body and my mind as the governor, not some Garmin. I know some of you love your feedback but I got splits at 4 miles and 10 miles, and you know what? Even with the wind and rain and some random hills ( I wouldnt call them hills, more like inclines) I nailed those splits right around 7:30-7:35.

Bingo. My main goal at this half was to run strong, and to run with my form as my guide.

As I said in the "PT section" last week ( haha, Cheryl) I have had a few tweekie things and so my real goal and the hardest one was to leave my EGO At home and to run so i had no pain. I had a few "hello" moments with the lateral hamstring ( ie some pain behind my lateral knee) but i was able to run thru it, adjust my footstrike and power on. But i had a constant battle of " DO NOT CHASE THAT GIRL" going on in my head. I was running my race. ( Damn it!)

Around mile 10 there were 3 girls right near me, they looked quite young ( speaking as an elderly woman) and I just said to myself, " hmm, ok lets just keep them in sight" They were picking it up, I felt good, we had a cross tail wind, and so i just tried to stay with them, maybe 10 feet behind them. There was a guy who had tailed me the entire way down Shepard Road into the head cross wind and i felt all bad A$$ bc nobody wants to draft off me, but this guy was short so i was pretty sure i was giving him some shelter. That is fine. I was running my race, good for him. So it was drafter man and these 3 youngsters and me trying to pick it up at mile 10. Mile 11 came and went, my gels were giving me that good kick and when we hit 12 i just came up behind one of the girls and sat there. We ran across the Ford Bridge together, wind and rain whipping us and we turned down onto the final 1/4 mile and i saw the two other girls ahead of me. There is a short incline to the finish and I just put on the jets and ran right past both the girls. I dont know but I guess if i had a kick that meant i didnt leave it all on the course. But really? I was happy to not have left it all on the course, bc I didnt want to leave my distal hamstring out there too. We quickly got our stuff and headed back to the car and more downpours.

I finished with 1:39 and am super happy with that. As i said i just kept looking at my mile splits on my regular watch and was doing easy math..." mile 8 x 8 min miles = 64. Ok I am below that. that is fine. keep going." I knew when i went thru mile 10 in under 80 minutes ( get it, 8 x 10 = 80?) I was fine and i was around 1:16 so i knew i had some cushion if i neede to slow for form. I did a few times, or for wind gusts, but mostly just kept on plugging away.

As far as birthday excitement....I wanted a spontaneous day! We had a few family and friends visit in the afternoon, I took a bath bc i was so cold and no I really think ice bathes are better bc my legs hurt today, but i needed a warm up not a cool off, and we lounged around. Rich had to go to the hospital bc he is on call, but that gave me time to talk to my sisters and friends and just do nothing. I am most pleased about NOT having to pull out the "It's my birthday and I will cry if i want to" song. I had that all ready to go before the race, but i will save it for next year:)

I had quite an upset stomach most the day but finally I was able to eat sushi for dinner, and some cupcakes and some DQ ( not all at once) and tonight we have another family party where there will be more yummy eats and fun times. We also bought a juicer. I cant wait. If you have good recipes, do share. My only concern is I REALLY HAVE NO problem eating fruits and veggies so i sorta hate to juice them. But if you can convince me otherwise, I Am all ears.

I am not going to post pics of rain and misery, so just believe me. MN and the entire Midwest is not a nice place to be right now. My sister called from Houston last night to say her AC went out and she was so hot and humid. You can guess what i told her. ( In a nice way, of course)

Thanks for reading! And thanks for all the nice birthday wishes. So far 45 years young feels sorta rough! Hope it gets better!!

Still Here..

So in case a few of you have worried that I have:

1) Floated away in the Mississippi with the floods,

2) Fallen in a snow bank, ( thankfully they are gone)

3) Lost my mind, or

4) Gotten stuck in a pile of blankets in front of the TV with some ( too much) leftover Easter Candy..

Well they are all partly true:)

I am updating my blog not bc i have anything fascinating to say other than " I am still here!"

This too shall pass, and despite wondering if i will EVER see the sun and if I will EVER ride my TT bike outside and If i will ever ride or run with out full on winter gear...I know I will. It gets old, and when i update FB with whines and negative talk on the weather EVEN I GET BORED with that. And really? I am pretty good at thinking i am funny. That is how i get thru alot of days. I entertain myself, likely at the expense of my lovely husband ( he laughs) and you guys:)

Today it's cold, and rainy, and i ran outside. This weekend, saturday i rode outside in brutal North Winds and did a T run. Full winter getup. And no I didnt enjoy the bulk of the ride partly bc some "douche" ( thanks Marit) was chasing us trying to run us off the road. I think there is alot of hate out there and yes, that is a post for another day. But we had to stop and call the police, and stopping when you are riding NO into a massive headwind at 40 deg and 15-20 mph winds does not mean you are too happy when you start up again. I am not a fan of people riding in the rain. When i just rode my bike, raced my bike, we would race in the rain but we never conciously went out to train IN THE RAIN. Triathletes are different ( stupid, sorry its my blog, but that is what i think) and they think that training in the rain makes them tougher as they may have to race in the rain. True. You may have to race in the rain. But then why be miserable and likely risking all sorts of things twice, when you could do it just once?

Bike racers " why would i ride my bike, on purpose in the rain?I just have to clean it, plus i know drivers are much less able to see me, and wet roads = MAGNET for a flat" Yup Love me some flat changing when its 40 and my hands cant move.

Triathletes " but i may have to race in the rain so i had better work harder and be miserable and be ready for this misery in the rain. i will suffer and be cold and then when i get home i will go run in that rain just to beat that misery and show who is boss."

Ok I am a Triathlete, so i am not trying to bash my own. But i just think sometimes we can be really dumb. IF you ride in the rain, be careful and know that if you choose not to ride in the rain you arent a loser and you will still have the mental fortitude to do it come race day. We are all TYPE AAAAA anyways, like you would quit a race bc of the rain? doubt it.

Super tangent there, sorry...

Anyways I am racing saturday. I still have a bit of something going on in my lateral hammy, its not at the insertion but its more distal and I am hoping to work thru it still. I have had some really great runs where it doesnt bother me at all, but lately with the cold and some increase in speed it has been bothersome. I think i can pull off a great half saturday, and i would love to celebrate my 45th ( yay new AG, but you know those women runners, they just get faster!) with a great half, but at the same time i am not going to do anything stupid. The season is upon us and i am on top of the cause of this ( I think) and so i need to just be patient.

You PT types can get this, but I am pretty sure its that my weaker R glute is just not used to the speed yet and my BF kicks on to take over when it fatugues. I have no pain running downhill or even climbing long hills but when i do speed my distal lateral hammy starts to give me some tweaks of pain. Cant reproduce the pain with any movement, and riding is obviously A-Ok.

A friend that works on me ( soft tissue work) said her boss had coined a term "HAM Splints" very similar to Shin Splints. Interesting. Not sure i see the literature on it yet but you heard it here, first:)

Happy Spring, and you folks getting nice weather, I dont hate you. I just wish i was there.

April snow brings May....???

Ok I am not going to write more than one run on sentence about our weather this past week, or the past 2 weeks or the forecast for the next 4 days, just know that if you are sitting in something that is above 50 and have a peek of sun, you have it good, enjoy it.

And not sure why blogger is doing weird spacing games below but it reads like a childrens book, sorry!

This was today's theme for the run. Pelting snow/rain/sleet in my face that i actually had my eyes

closed for a good part of it. My eyes sting not from sweat, but from the cold rain. Nice.

I cant do anything about it ( but complain) and i seriously would go to Tucson again this weekend

If it werent Easter. But it has to get better. IT HAS TO! And i know i shouldnt think i am owed

a 3 mos stretch of 80+ deg days this summer since i am sure it wont happen.

On other notes i pretty much laid out my Tri season. I snoozed too long and didnt get into a race i

planned on, but that is ok. It closed fast and i was waiting for a few reasons, mainly bc i didnt

want to lose big bucks if my body was not cooperating. We also had planned a vacay trip so i

didnt want to plan things without my so's approval and we just havent talked alot about it.

It all worked out fine since i will now be racing locally for one of my 70.3 distances. It's always

good to sleep in your own bed, and it will give me a challenge to not be social and say hi to

EVERYONE i know on the course. Focus Julia. FOCUS. Coach is rolling her eyes at me.

The Body is playing along "pretty well." I have to believe that a few of the tight issues correlate

with our cruddy weather. I had NO issues running in Tucson, AT ALL. Trails and heat.

Here our trails are flooded ( and i mean FLOODED, not just damp) and its cold and my Glute

and Piriformis have been acting up when i run. Its no fun bc it zings me a few times and then

goes away. Not sure what to make of it, but i am religious on the corework and the glute release,

and trying to get that Pirformis to stop acting like my Glute Max. I have my first open road race

on April 30, a half marathon and i cant remember the last time i ran an open half. In my 20's?

I am prepared for a sufferfest and really have few time expectations other than to not go out too

fast and blow up at mile 7. More on that later, but the course is pretty flat but the last 3-4 miles

are false flat back up towards the finish so a great place to either rejoice that you paced right or

groan and understand why miles 4-7 felt so easy.

My hope is that April snow will bring May flowers, and maybe some temps above 40. The first

time trial is only a few weeks out, and heck that is pretty funny to think about. I have been out on

my TT bike only once this entire year.

Oh and its my birthday on April 30, too. So no matter how fast or slow i run that half I plan to

have a fun day, cupcakes and maybe even get up and do the Ironman Bike ride the next day.

It's 100 miles. Not sure the legs will like that after a half, but never hurts to have it on the "maybe"

list.

Thanks for reading. Hope i didnt c/o the weather too much:)

All you Pink Lovers...

Tucson Tri Camp and the After Party!

Well there is so much to say and since it's been a good 10 days I will do my best to post the highlights and not babble on too much! ( haha, good luck)

I went into camp with some fears, fears about my ability to do all the work and fears of having Rich come pick me up bc i couldnt finish camp. I had to let those rest and accept that i could do camp, if i just did the work, nobody was coming to camp to win. ( Ben Won, by the way, we are getting his trophy as we speak. More on that later)

Day one was a Butt kicker. We met at Tri Sports and off we went, waiting a bit bc Amy's bike was not ready, etc. but that let the temps warm up a bit ( yay) and we got to digest our breakfast and eat again ( me) before we even hit the roads. We had the awesome staff of Tri sports including their owner "Seton" riding with us. Funny story there, for later ( see this isnt going to be short) but we were off towards Madera Canyon. ( NO "i" in Madera people) I was THRILLED. This was the first ride i ever did when i came down to Green Valley to visit Rich before we were even married. He took me up that canyon ( its about 10 miles from where we stay with my mother in law) so i knew the climb were were taking on DAY 1 was gonna bust a few butts, mine included. Just getting to Green Valley from TriSports was a ride for most of us who had barely been on our bikes. Natural Selection had us into 2 groups after about mile 10 and we regrouped a bit along the way, the entire time Tri sports sagged us and that was SO AWESOME. nobody got dropped or left behind bc The TS van had our tails. ( Yes can you see that i was in the backgroup?) ha:)

When we got to Madera Canyon road i was with Elizabeth and Kari and Liz turns to me " are we climbing?" You bet we are. And up we went. Its not too bad till you get into the canyon, and the last 3 miles to the top make Lemmon seem like a downhill ride. Kari was a 100Yds ahaed of me, And my honey Rich had joined us, he and Liz were right behind me, and JEnny and Amy were back there too. I seriously hit my MAX HR and was having a total asthma attack...20 feet from the top. Kari had pulled off into a parking turn around not knowing we were that close, and i knew we were close but i think i was having a " I HATE JEN.I AMDYING. MOMENT."

Yes You:

Kari " are we almost there."

Me ( WHEEZE WHEEZE WHEEZE) " I CANT TALK RIGHT NOW."

Kari " ARe you ok?"

Me " NO."

Kari " are you going to be ok?"

Me "Yes."

Funny, we made it the last 2o feet to the top:) And we rode down and home. Now home means back to Tucson. So tho we got some free miles downhill ( maybe 20 or so) we still had a good 25 to get home. Kari and i took our time and decided ( well not really, we were like 200 feet behind a group of 5 and i am not sure why we got there, but we just stopped to take our jackets off or something and could NOT catch them) so we were with the Tri sports van the entire way home. Thanks to Kari for pulling my sorry MN legs, and trust me, we exchanged a few of our favorite lines ( those lines were not our favorite after we rode with Jimmy later on) " THIS SUCKS. BARF." and things along that line. And yes only in Tucson and Green Valley can you have a headwind out adn a head wind back.

Note: Green Valley is higher than Tucson, its like a bowl, and Green Valley is on the southern edge, and Tucson is in the middle. So you can start the day with winds in your face, and midday the winds are in your face again. nice.

We survived and Seton hopped on with us about 5 miles from Tri Sports. I didnt know what his name was and when i finally got it " YES SETON. Like SETON HALL." I of course said "or like SEAT POST." then i went on to say i was expecting more of a retail storefront. What i meant was i didnt expect it to be a warehouse. I really had no idea they stocked it all there. And so when i got there i was expecting more of a commmercial retail ( aka Sports mart) type location. It's not. Its not a place people would just stop by if they didnt know it was there. And when Seton said " I think we have a pretty competitive retail space" I think i then realized he was someone. Yup. the Owner. Oops. Sorry, i meant no offense but after 80 miles on day 1 i think i am entitlted to a few oops moments. Lovely place, lovely people, and a great retail space! Really!

Jimmy Ricitello spoke to us all after we did a T run and had lunch. I had no idea who he was/is, so sorry if i wasnt all " starstruck." but after talking to him, and listening to his funny stories, and down to earth look at Triathlon and being a USAT Ref, i was giggling and laughing at the goofiness of this sport. And how fun it was to share that day with my friends.

JImmy joined us again up Lemmon and the commentary got even better.

I wont go on and on about each day, i promise, but Lemmon deserves some commentary as well. Yes we ran in there and did a swim that was my longest swim ever....less than 12 hours before we had to get up to climb Lemmon, that wasnt pretty, but i kept saying "do the work."

So Lemmon. I have to tell you that climb does not get any easier. We had good winds and good temps, so that part was nice. But when you are geared out in mile 1 riding a 12-23 it makes you really think you need a 25 or 27 or a compact crank sometime in the future. or an all carbon or Ti bike. Anyways ...rich was able to get up to Tucson to ride with us for this as well, which was nice. I wasnt sure how he would do, but he did great. Hanging on with me til nearly the tip top. I think he figured that i could order his cookie and have it waiting.

Jimmy rode ( backwards) with us for the first 6miles and talked nonstop. It was hilarious. When he heard that Rich was an oral surgeon he had some things to talk to him about and all i heard from behind was Rich saying " yes, ok, uh-huh. really? Yes, i know, yes, yes." When they were done i said to Rich " so did you help him?" And Rich said " i think he talked it all out, and figured it out for himself." too funny. That is how Jimmy rolled. And roll away he did about mile 6...darn there goes our entertainment. At mile 14 we had a quick stop and he rode with us some more. Stories of Lance and other things not fit for the blog, kept us going till about mile 19-20 when he went back down ( seriously) to check on Jen and Kari. all was fine, and he danced on the pedals past me and Rich to see who was up ahead. ( EVERYONE) Julie H had already shredded her rear derailleur ( animal) so she was not up there but Erik was in my sights and I was hoping to catch him, but no luck.

He and Julie were so fun to hang with. I have never really been with them other than for the usual " Hey Jules, good race, way to kick my ass on the bike," talk and to feed Erik cupcakes:) haha, ( I know you are reading) but i am not sure i can find Paleo cupcakes you two!

So when i got to the top of Lemmon I was so happy. It was hard, and i knew i would make it, but i had had some medial Quad tightness leading into camp and after the day 1 ride I had some lateral quad issues ( I blame this on the DUMB BENTO BOX, my legs are too long so i hit the thing when i ride, so i then ride more on the outside of my feet, ie using my lateral quad more)

so i ditched the bento and dont know if i can use that for my IM, which presents an problem for another day. But i made it and now the only work was to descend. Yippee!!!

We had a cookie ( well actually we scored, getting the oatmeal raisin, not the choco chip which got poor reviews) and then put some warmer clothes on that we really didnt need since it was 60 at the top, and headed down.

This is at Windy Point, 14 miles from the base. I met up with super descender Rich and we checked on Kari who was rocking the road, just being safe and smart and headed on down. Around mile 9 Rich had stopped. He had 2 bee's in his jersey, they got into his bibs and stung him. Luckily he was able to stop and not go down. YIkes. he had two welts for the entire rest of our trip but was ok! Descend with a closed jersey people!

We got home ok and Kari and i ran ( short and sweet) but we ran and then it was day done! What do we do now? We help rich put the bikes in the back of the car bc we are done riding and he can take them down to Green Valley. What a sport. We hung out with The cool nice people from Chicago, Dean and Russ and??? not sure who they are but they are from the midwest so they had to be nice, and then it was Blanco time! Rich had to go home to get the car back to his mom, but what a nice day, thanks everyone for welcoming my hubby to the camp that day!

And maybe this is a note for Kari but dont fret the descent. The first year i raced my bike ( um only like 5 years ago) I was such a chicken descending. I am finally not afraid ( not totally true) but it takes time to learn to descend and to learn how to take corners, etc...its fun but heck living where we do we dont do it much:)

Blanco:!!!

Not sure but we all look like we need to go to bed, other than Glen who rode with his phone locked to his side, i was so afraid he would drop it! He had lots of business to do:)

Not sure why Kari and i decided to model our half full beers, and Liz in the background looking like we feel " um 1/2 a drink is fine, check please, i am tired." Food was great as always at Blanco! Such a neat place. I am curious if i went there having not climbed lemmon if i would think the place had bad food, ha!

Last day was all about survival, A shorter run at another trail then a shorter swim of 3000( thank you jen!) and then it was home for most of us. some had to skip the swim due to travel issues but to swim outdoors one more time was worth any fatigue we had.

I have pretty much used up your "break time" for a blog, so here are a few more pics and the commentary from the after party is this:

Rode alot more. Ran alot more. Swam 1x in a heated pool in GreenValley that was 90 degrees and i got out after 2500 so i didnt get heat stroke. Temps were well into the 90's each day ( this was when JH had her 2nd camp) and i felt for those campers! I did get a chance to drive up to Tri sports to see Kate, Melissa, Jamie, And meet some others. They were doing great! And tri sports sold them some salts, that is for sure.

I didnt get any pics of Ben, but Ben is a rock. What a good solid athlete, and more tolerant of things than i can imagine. Kari and i named Ben the winner of camp. Our criteria is subjective, sort of like the Oscar's but we think Ben won Camp. Always a kind or enocouraging word, and even on email he stands tall, does the work, and doesnt complain. Yay Ben. Your trophy is in the mail. ( not really)

Rich and I had a blast with his mom and we were very sad to come home to our backyard piled high still with snow. Thanks for reading :)

Kari and I contorted around the Sabino Canyon Rock:

Jerome feels like death but still takes a good picture:)

Recovery day ride, to Tubac, 40 miles round trip with a LONGCOFFEE stop!

Recovery done, thursday was Aravaca Road day. We bet we would see 5 Border patrols, 1 bus of "campers" being taken back to Nogales and 5 open range cows on the roadside. We didnt see the bus this time but we had a great ride, pulling in some LT intervals along the way and a quick stop at the Gadsen Coffee house where somehow the drinks still have prices that harken back to the 1990's. Maybe they didnt get the memo from Starbucks and Caribou that each drink should cost $5. Thank heavens for shade grown coffee:) according to the sign!

3 More Sleeps

Then it's Go time. Camp time. Tucson time. Fun time.

That is what i am calling it bc gosh do i know this winter has been rough.

A few goals for camp:

1) Do the work. That may mean the work is done at my own pace and that i take a bit longer to ride or run. Or i walk a bit or I stop before i fall into a cactus.

2) Dont break down mentally or physically. This is a fine line. I want to challenge myself and get in some good training but with the winter i have had and with the season SO young for me, my mind needs some " OH YEA! BABY!" wko's not some "OH BOY, WHAT DID I DO NOW?" wko's.

3) Smile alot and laugh with my buddy Kari.

*** wait, this just in...Kari and I climbing Gate's Pass 2010. I had a fabulous close up of Kari but i think she may hit me if i post it:)

4) Enjoy time with my hubby and my mother in law after camp at the post camp party south of Tucson. That's right folks, no Chris Harrison but there will be an "After the final wko" episode where i head down south to do some more riding and running and maybe even a swim in the 90 degree pools. Seriously. MY hot tub 84 deg YW will seem so wonderful then.

I love this pic. It's from 4 years ago, wow, when my bike team went to visit my mother in law and Rich had a women's bike team to accessorize his ride. What a great view, and this is where i will be after the work of Camp. Yes that is me on the far right. Holy Long dark hair!

That's all I've got for ya now, other than its raining cats and dogs and I hope all the snow is gone when i get home. Here are some pics from our ride this weekend:

Waiting.....

I am waiting for the thaw. I had hopes of riding outside today but windchill advisories and temps in the teens made that decision a no brainer. The only good thing about not riding outside for over 4 mos is that there is never any 30 min "get dressed, decide, assess, get too hot, get too cold, put heat warmers in your feet, but arent they too hot? pack fluids, will they freeze, what route, where is the wind? how long, do you have another Cross tire tube? I cant fix that in cold weather so who is coming to get me if i flat too far from home?...." blahblahblah.

Inside its just all about which WTA tennis match is on, or is it Davis Cup? or like today it was Top Chef and then a few Versus Reruns of cycling in Nice. Good times..

Friday we finally hit 40, and that lasted about 8 hours. They say we are hitting the 40's all next week so that means two things:

1) Operation Move everything out of the basement that flooded last year, ( race wheels)

2) GET OUTSIDE on my bike. I have permission to ditch any trainer wko for my cross bike. And i intend to take advantage of that more than once if possible.

We still have A LOT OF SNOW. I know some of you have lost your snow by now but i cant even open the back door bc of the snow and its literally piled up across the city. I heard friday that they had to "move" the snow at Parade Stadium to get it ready for baseball in April, but they werent sure WHERE to move it. That is insane. What about dumping it in the river? We are gonna flood like there is no tommorrow so whats some more snow?

Here i am icing my leg in the snow in front of our house. For scale you can see my green boot below. It's pretty easy to take a snow bath at my house.

And keeping it light and happy I am working to take each day as it comes, ice down as i can, and rest if i have to. Things are not 100% on the body front by any means but I am determined to let things play out and try not to be so stressed if they dont play out as i had hoped.

We all saw last week how quickly a life can be taken ( Sally) and like so many of you it stopped me in my tracks and made me think that my life is pretty darn good after all.

I am sorry for any of you that knew her, so sad.

I hope you all have a great weekend and that you arent waiting for dry ground as well!

Ok all the cool kids are doing it so...

A: 44

B: Bed ...KING and the best joke of all is that after Rich and I had just gotten married we got this sleep number KING bed. One night i said: "This is the best bed ever. It's like you arent even here." Yup, out of the mouth of a newleywed who has never shared her bed in 4o + years.

C: Chore i hate....cleaning toilets. So i dont do it. ( dont worry someone does)

D: Dogs? Ruby, but she is my parent's so technically no dogs. Yet.

E: Essential start to my day? brushing my teeth. I am married to an oral surgeon. enuf said.

F: Favorite Color? Tourquoise or Periwinkle Blue.

G: Gold or Silver? I like them both.

H: Height 5foot 8 and 1/2 inches. Yes I want it all.

I: Instruments: Piano as a kid. I never practiced bc I was playing tennis, so i quit after 7th grade.

J: Job Title, I have a few. Physical Therapist, and Wellness Fitness Expert :) I didnt make that up I am not sure who did.

K: Kids. Not of my very own. Rich has 2 kids and I am a step grand mom, with one more on the way. ha, yea that is funny to me too.

L:Live? St Paul, MN

M: Mom's name? Helen!

N: Nicknames, well I have had alot. "Toots" from my family ( yes, dont ask), "Pluto" from my tennis team in college, "JuJu" from some riding buddies

O: Overnight stays in the hospital, just with my hubby!

P: Pet Peeves. Barista's that have no clue on how to make a good cappucino. Foam people, its all about making foam.

Q: movie quotes. Oh boy i could write all day on this. " Careful....I have a beverage here..."

Ok that isnt really meaningful and i dont really care about the beverage but it reminds me of the Dude, and that cracks me up.

R: Rightie

S: Siblings. Two older sisters, and a younger brother.

T: Time i wake up? Depends but usually btwn 6 and 7 am. I am a solid 8 + hour a night sleeper.

U: Underwear? Sometimes..

V: Veggie i dont like? That is a tough one. Uncooked Brocoli is all i can think of. makes me burp.

W:What makes me run late? SNOW and ICE and WINTER in general.

X: xrays? Oh I think just about every extremity, and my jaw even when i played basketball I got knocked around good.

Y: Yummy food i make? My mom has this great recipe for honey mustard chicken and also turkey wild rice casserole. So i try.

Z: Zoo animal? Like y'all i love giraffes.

Recess Is over

Or is it?

Thanks to you all for your support and thoughts. It means alot to me to know i am not alone in some of the feelings I have been having. And despite feeling sad that i missed some fun "events" this past weekend I Really did the right thing. The only thing i did for 5 days was swim. Once, with no workout, no clock, no nothing. It was pretty darn nice. And when i woke up on monday morning i knew it was time to Test the Leg and I sorta had this "Hmm, how do i want this week to go?" thought.

What i mean by that is that I was ready to get back on the horse, but mentally I was not ready to get back on it and GO 100 MPH. So this week has been all about doing some easy stuff, and remembering that I am the one in charge here, I am the one who wants to do this and really really not stressing about workouts AT. ALL. And you know what? It's working.

Today i woke up and it was -5 and -16 windchill. Seriously? IT's March.

I do dumb things when the sun is out. I Wanted to go outside SO BADLY to run.

So I emailed coach just to say " You know I want to go outside but i think i should be smart and stay in, do you agree?" I got a one word reply: TREADMILL.

I laugh that i need to have someone keep me from hurting myself. But sometimes drastic weather causes me to go insane, see previous posts:) The other thing i have been doing is eating a substantially larger breakfast and lunch. I dont need to go into details on that unless you really care, but in looking at what was not helping me, we found that my diet was lower in heme protein than i think i need to add the strength into my SBR. So my old diet of lots of grazing all day long then a bigger meal at night has been altered to include a bigger lunch with more meat and more eggs, and also some supplemental drinks. I Am also drinking milk with dinner wheras in the past i was just drinking water or Kombucha. So far so good. I feel like a Taurus Bull :) Which i am, by the way.

So just wanted to say thanks and that it's nice to be honest on my blog and not have people say HTFU. I say that to myself way too much and in the future i am working on keeping this wonderful sport in perspective and enjoying it. Because I do. Alot. Just want to get this show outside. Sometime before June!