New Friends and Bous Video's!

Today i slept till 8:30 am. I stayed up last night till midnight. I went for a walk today, with Rich. We walked slow. We went to get coffee, we sat there and didnt leave till 11. We shared a muffin, it was all cake like. Not grainy or good for you at all. Then i came home and had some halloween candy.

This is NOT my normal MO.

I was out last night with these fun ladies:

Kortney ( 2 kids down, one heck of a nice person and a magnified Vo2 max, hmm pregnancy anyone?!) Suzie ( lovely Suzie, who has the cutest dogs and a fabulous smile ..oh and dont mess with her on the bike), Hannah ( the nicest, and best Gear West staffer/manager/friend, dog mom who is hosting the next party in her sauna..who looks very serious here but i think that is bc the host was taking like 5 minutes to take the picture), Your's truly, and Marta( who ended up with a $52 salad after the parking ticket) Blah on that.

We kept it tame, good Greek eats and one bottle of greek wine ( for 5 of us, i would say we kept it tame!) These are my fantastic teammates. I am so lucky to have friends that are also people who love multisport. But best of all is that i think we genuinely like each other even if we werent swimming biking and running too. That is what this sport has come to mean to me. Friends, people that have a life outside of the sport, and despite our odd quirky love to tear ourselves up, I have gotten to know these women more off the race course/ training course than on. Pretty cool.

It took me a while to remember that I had these: Our group pic..I am in the middle

straight down from the E in "Best"...

As for the video they are not in order, but it goes T2, Run finish, then some swim video.

I may or may not have gotten cabin video in there too. oops. My biggest fan, Rich, took these video's and as you will hear, has a very loud voice!

I have another week of no structure coming up. That is just fine as i am taking my time getting back into the swing, searching for a pool that isnt 83 roasting degrees, biking outside on my road bike while its still above 40 and easing back into runs as my posterior allows. Not sure on that one really and since the A game doesnt need to be in full swing until next spring, why rush it? ( Easier said than done as i saw runners out today on the trails and ached to be running, not walking! ) Seems i am a huge wuss walking. I can envision running miles and miles but walking seems so long and hard and boring at times.

Anyways enjoy the video!

BOUS weekend and race report!

Best of the US!

This picture was my nightmare worst case scenario for this race. Luckily the pic was AFTER the race and not in the middle of the race, so all was good. PHEW. As many of you know about 2 weeks ago I encountered a case of the " MY BUTT wants to be done" -ITIS, it was the same day as AG natz that my butt started saying " You said TODAY was our last race, what is this 2 weeks to go stuff?" Turns out the temperature change, a hard week of running and just general body wanting rest made the 2 weeks leading up to BOUS a bit of a mental and physical challenge for me.

But...I was going to go and give it the old college try. Why not? I had plenty of sleepless nights about my sore backside, and my overactive PT brain had me thinking WAY too deeply about this. Finally I had to just say " I AM NOT INJURED" over and over again and that seemed to work.

Rich and I arrived friday afternoon and got settled, we flew into San Diego bc we would spend a day in La Jolla on the backside of this journey and fly out post race. We drove up to Mission Viejo and got a good nights rest friday and saturday then started with a bang! We kept MN time bc it would prove to be helpful for a 7 am race start sunday. So we were up early friday and went to Lake Mission Viejo to swim and bike and run. Other than they wouldnt let us in the water, oh well. It is a lovely lake, and let me tell you, Mission Viejo is a lovely place if you ever get a chance to visit. I know its a big swimming town, and this lake is owned by the community who pays to maintain it. Super nice. So instead i just biked and ran, and well...the run didnt go so well. Ok. Dont cry. 9 minutes of running and my butt was not happy.

Here is Rich showing me how to cross the finish line:)

Sigh. I did meet Seeley and we talked a bit and then Rich and i headed back to the hotel for another breakfast. Rich was killing me! I had been trying so hard to eat really well, and he goes and buys carrot cake whoopie pies! Oh and Red wine cube juice boxes! ( not for breakfast!)

We had a busy day planned with packet pick up, a race meeting with a Tri coach from the area. She was SOOO enthusiastic but she kinda stressed me out bc she was SOOOOO enthusiastic. I think she must have been a 1st grade teacher or a drama major. Or just really really hyper:) Anyways we headed out to drive the course and boy was i glad i did. It was hilly but LONG hills, the kinds i love:) And i knew i would need to use the small ring a few times. But what a descent it would be when we got to go down into the canyon.

We made it back to the 2pm Bous meeting where Jerry and Trudy introduced alot of the athletes, we "meeted and greeted" ( bad grammer, but you get the idea) and got our numbers and our wine:) hee hee.

What a great race goodie. It's a local label called Wyland with wildlife on the label. Yum!

The only sorta stressful thing ( other than the tri coach lady who was doing cartwheels and talking REALLY loud) was getting T2 set up the day before. I have had separate T areas before, like at KS, but i have never had to leave my run shoes outside all night. So i wrapped them up in a baggie with my visor and my nutrition and we left those at T2. I was lucky that i thought ahead bc many people race morning were without warm up shoes since they didnt have two pairs of run shoes.

I slept ok, not great, but ok and got up around 3:45 am ( PT) The lake opened at 5 am and the parking was going to be tight so we figured we would get a spot right at 5 and then take our time getting into Transition. That worked like a charm. It was so helpful to have Rich help with my bike, carry some stuff and just calm me down a bit pre-race. I tell ya, those headlamps are pretty cool but i dont know if people who are wearing them know HOW BRIGHT they are in your face when they turn to ask you a question! Whoa, blinding.

I warmed up a tiny bit in the parking lot with my special pair of shoes:) I did laps up and down and actually felt OK! WOW. Dont jinx it, just go with it. I have to admit that i did start taking celebrex (bid) the day before ( for my period, which thank you very little arrived race day too! Alright, this is gonna be a sufferfest for real!) And then figured i didnt need to win the warm up and stopped.

Marit was arriving and i found her right before i got into the water to warm up! Pink socks and all I cant say how fun and special it was to see her, and for Rich to have a veteran Triathlete to spectate with all morning. Most the race day pics are from Marit, who truly knows how to capture a moment on film. And who knows how to say just the right thing to make me feel like a champion:) more on that later.

Ok did you want to read about the race?:) you know some of that is a blur but here goes:

SWIM: The water was about 74 and perfect. I was not hot or cold in my wetsuit and was glad to have it on for the added protection it gave me from the arms and feet smacking me around. I Did start up front, or close to it, so maybe it was my fault that i got kicked around a bit.

I cant say i had the best swim. I got my goggles knocked off/ or at least the left goggle got wedged off my eye in the first 200 YArds from an errant foot. I was going to stop but it was chaos and i realized i could still see out of the Right goggle and so i soldiered on. I was VERY trusting of the women next to me, bc i could not sight a dang thing. There was one buoy about 800 Yards out and a lifeguard boat with a flashing light in btween that first buoy ( where we would turn right and i would get kicked again) and the 2nd buoy where we would turn back intowards shore. So i just kept that red light to my right and prayed i would suddenly see a big yelow buoy. Horray there it was! I turned right and SMACK, i got kicked again. Oh well.

One more turn and i was able to catch up to a few people but now the sun was right at us and again, I prayed i was headed in the close vicinity for the boat ramp. It wasnt a straight shot back, it kinda veered to the left and i just kept the shoreline parallel to my swim and then veered left at the final buoy and seemed to find the boat ramp. Phew. I made it in!

I ran up the ramp and headed to my bike!

Bike:

I debated shoes in or shoes out. I just have tried to be consistent and they stayed in, despite a real uphill T area and start. I started in the small ring so i thought that would be adequate.

All was fine till i was getting my Right foot in and UGH, AGAIN. my shoe liner bunched up. I nearly had to come to a a full stop, but i just pushed my feet in so hard that the liner bunched in the toe area and i said " Ok i can ride 24 miles like this. it will be fine" and off i went.

I do need to figure that out bc its the 2nd time i have had to come to a nearly complete stop bc the liner slides when i put a wet foot in.

Somehow out of nowhere i pulled my next Bike 101 error, I pulled a Schleck. I really cant tell you what i did, but yup, my chain was off. I tried to back pedal to get it to catch but it was too far off so i did have to stop. And that just added another UGH to the early ride. I Was happy with how easily i just let those both go. I kinda forgot about them until i saw another gal drop her chain on a major climb and it made me feel a bit better.

The ride was so fun. It was alot of climbing, and as it was about 7:30 am you would go thru these hot and cold pockets as you climbed up Santiago Canyon. When we dropped down into the canyon it was alot hotter and the roads were so fun to ride. I am not sure if it was my Coffee Powergel or that i was having so much fun but i felt like i was flying! I knew we had to climb back out of the canyon and that was going to be hard, but then i knew we had a great descent to look forward to. The bike went by super fast and i played cat and mouse with a few gals and that kept me honest and made me work hard. Coming into T2 we had to get on a bike path the last 2 miles. That was super fun and tho i was a bit cautious ( one of the things the hyper Tri lady told us was that we would have to SLOW DOWN to get on the path, and it was no passing on the path) well the path became as wide as a road so there was plenty of passing room but since it was dark, and the shade made the road hard to see i just rode fast ( at times 30 mph!) but safely behind a few gals. All the sudden they are yelling dismount line! What?? I did nearly throw myself from my bike but i got it together in time to do this:

My ride was good ( despite the early mishaps) but this was the sweetest dismount ever:)

Now to be honest I didnt even know who that girl was but she bolted past me in the first mile and i think she ended up like 6th. But it was sweet while it lasted ! I got my stuff out of the bag, and didnt fumble too much and i was off on the run. My mantra was " I am not injured" and i planned to focus on anything that did not hurt. So for mile 1 I was thinking " LEFT ARCH LEFT ARCH!" you see i spend alot of time working on my foot strike and NOT falling out to the outside of my feet. I tend to oversupinate ( spend more time on the outside of my feet) and that can lead to peroneal issues and of course the big bad ITBS. So left arch it was. The first few miles are downhill, gradually down hill, and on the same path we were biking in on. I passed a gal right away and then just kept chasing. The Hammer gal who i passed in the dismount area was not impressed with me and had left me in the dust:)

They had said there would be water stops "about" every mile, but that was rough so as i was starting to get tired i just sorta zoned out and had no idea where i was on teh course or what my pace was. I never race with anything, HR or clock, i just have to GO HARD. The first of the hills came about mile 3, i think. Up up up a woodchip path and i thought it was hard but not too bad. I passed another gal and we exchanged " goood jobs" And i thought..."HMm, they said the hill was at mile 4, we arenot at mile 4..." knowing deep down i wished we were. Then all the sudden i see it. a sharp left turn up Vista Del Lago. That sucker went on and on and on and it was not a gradual hill. I thought about staying up tall bc i felt like my 5 foot 9 stature had shrunk to at least 5 foot 4, i felt so hunched over. Lots of volunteers greeted me at what felt like the top of the world ( i guess it was about 500 yards long?) and said "That is it, no more hills! "

Um not really.

Of course every little incline felt like a hill after that:) I knew there was a gal behind me, i coul hear her and i had a gal in front. I just could not close the gap on the path bc it was weaving andup and down. But i sure tried. When we turned onto the final mile they take you past the finish area, down about 200 Yards then back up to the turn into the Lake MV park. I Tell ya I HATE seeing who is behind me on those out and back! IT's funny how the people i see in front look liek they are going SO Fast, but when i turn around i see the people chasing me and i think " WOW they are going fast I am gonna get caught!" So i tell ya, it was ZONE 5 from that point on. I didnt want to look back bc i didnt want to know and its a waste of energy to do that. CAtch me if you can was my thought, and i just picked it up as hard as i could.

Not until I turned into the park, and the slight downhill towards the lake did i glance and see nobody. But i still was gonna get this done ASAP.

IF you want a glimpse into the pain locker here it is:

My lovely hubby was there to greet me, and i still look a little bit wasted.

I was really really happy with the run, the race and how my butt held up! I would be lying if i didnt say that even tho i went into this race with a slight mental hurdle of the sore butt, i was still going for top 10. I knew i was close. And when i found out I was 11th by about 20-30 sec's I was heartbroken. I wanted nothing more than to podium for our state, for Jerry and Trudy, and for me new Gear West Bike and Tri team. I told Marit that i was bummed. I felt like it was so close, and then i realized that I had all the sudden gotten SO GREEDY. 3 hours earlier, or even 43 minutes earlier ( before the 10k) I was not sureI could even run!) and all the sudden i am pouty lipped ( not really) at finishing 11th? When i looked at Marit i felt selfish, and i quickly apologized. My good friend has been faced with more challenges than any young person should have to, and I am thinking....boohoo I didnt podium??! Julia, pull your head out.

Thankfully Marit ( as i said, she knows what to say!) said " Julia you are a great athlete, you set goals and you extend yourself beyond your limits to try to reach them, its normal to be disappointed, but that doesnt mean you didnt have the race of your life."

And how well said, that sure made me feel happy and proud of myself, proud of Marit and so grateful that my butt let me do one more race!

It didnt hurt that Jerry came up to me and said our MN team had gotten 3rd! Woohoo! And that was quite a treat as well.

Me and the fastie Matt Payne, who got 3rd OA! What a nice guy, It was great to meet Matt and his wife! They headed to San Diego and Sea World after the race.

and a few more images from Marit:

This is a great picture that i am thrilled to end the race season with. I gave it all I could and I am so thankful for the chance to go race with the best in 2011.

Thanks again to Jerry and Trudy. You seriously know how to make us feel special and i applaud your quest to give back to the amateurs that are racing day in and day out for the love of the sport. Many thanks to my husband of course, my coach who led me to the pain locker but never closed the door on me, she let me do that myself, and to all the super fun friends on blogland, fb land and in real time that are so supportive of me and this amazing sport! I am super excited, as i said, to be joining a new team for 2011 and racing and laughing with the Gear West Tri Team.

We already have our first race this coming weekend. The Beer Mile. I am not sure i can race but i will do my best to sherpa for anyone that needs me:)

More on the recovery later!

But it started that night with dinner in La Jolla at Piatti with Marit:)

Race Week

Yes.

Original title I know:)

But here we go. I am ready in spirit, the body is lagging but if it can hold on for one more race I will be quite happy. To be honest I havent really thought too much of the "what if's??" That doesnt mean i havent had my fair share of restless nights and dreams about stress fractures and odd things that likely as a PT I know WAY TOO MUCH about. Yup I can tell ya all the worst case scenarios from one little symptom. So my mantra continues to be " I AM NOT INJURED." Bc I really dont think i am, I think i just need some extended rest.

Lots of peeps i know are in Kona, a few going to Dallas, and a few doing Chicago.

For all of us I think the comraderie of "Getting it done," Should help along with my motto of cross the line smiling no matter the outcome. That may be hard if i am throwing down a 50 min 10k, but i know what i am capable of healthy and i have every intention of working towards that on sunday!

Good luck to everyone racing. Have a blast!

Comme Ce Comme Ca

That is how things are. Not better not worse. Thanks for all the good vibes. I will let ya know how the pilot study for the 2 week taper is. Perhaps I am on to something that we can learn from:) All in all I am trying to pull my head out and not let the worry settle in my piriformis. I have all the best PT knowledge and then some ( thanks Libby!) working for me.

I found some pics from the Square Lake Tri, thanks to Minnefoto Moments. I can see why i nearly drown. Nearly ran over the photopgraher who decided that sitting right in the middle of the shoulder while the roads were open, was a good idea, and thatI am getting some shoulders. Finally. ( oh and JH says "Barely"...haha, camera adds 10 lbs really? not on my shoulders, that is real muscle!)

La dee dah, 5 more minutes....5 more minutes....freezing in the mean time.

While we were getting the " just 5 more minutes," for the 3rd time we were asked to say hi. that is me with the big old wave.

And now that is me using that butt to kick people off me. I think i am that half submerged red cap near the front. Being used as a bungee to propel someone over me.

Alas i survived, and was able to hit the road to try to take out the photograher. Can you tell i am like "dude, you are taking up the ENTIRE shoulder!" His car was parked there too. Hmm.

Exiting T2

Finish. I am not sure why i was running past the finish line???

And this gives me hope that yes i can run. I can do this. And I will do it! My butt will be ok, and I am doing everything i can to get across that line healthy!

Hang in there....

Those are words to myself, and words from coach and others. I was gonna be done after AG natz. That was this weekend. Congrats to all that raced in hot temps in the armpit of Tuscaloosa. Ok i have no idea, i just listen to my friends talk about Crimson Tides, and stuff that being a small college gal up in the northern parts i have no idea who is who. Anyways..In what seems to me to be ideal weather ( haha i know i know., i am running races in 50 and dry up here and Pr'ing ...that would NOT BE THE CASE in Alabama....) my bud's did great.

But I am not done.

Apparently my A$$ wishes it was done. The combo of the great track wko, TRX, some more outdoor rides and runs = LOCK down on my piriformis. The Deep 6 and the Piriformis went on strike sunday. I managed thru my long run ( in 40 degrees to start, double shorts and compression socks) but when i got done IT was done. HOUSE ARREST.

My A$$ was putting me on house arrest. I have one of those little bracelets that Lindsay Lohan has. I cant get near my bike or my run shoes till i am 95% or the bracelet sends coach an email and she promptly flies up to spank me.

It's doing better today, i learned that the ice baths are NOT gonna help loosen up those muscles that are SO tiny and so tight. And that hopefully they will let go so that my femoral head will stop feeling shoved into my labrum and the hip socket. And if you have no idea what i am talking about google Piriformis Syndrome and Deep hip rotators. I dont feel like explaining it.

So I am on opearation ARRIVE in one piece for BOUS. I am gonna wait till this sucker calms down and if that means a 12 day taper, then lets go for it. Hopefully the lockdown will ease up each day and i can get back to some run and bike by the weekend.

Congrats to all that are done, and my lovely husband has graciously offered to eat all the cookies and drink all the wine and caffeinated bevies i am avoiding till Oct 10, at 9:20am PT.

Hopefully when i will be DONE!

HAPPY 4th of July!

So just a quick "hi" and "bye," before the weekend gets going! In a short hand form here is what has been going on and what will be going on this weekend!

- I accepted the Bous slot. I sorta knew i would, bc I had 95% of me saying "what an honor, and how cool is this? I cant say no!!!" while only 5 % of me was relating this to a tennis analogy, where i have been, where I beat the top seed in the semi's and then when the reality of the great match hits me i am destroyed in the finals by an opponent who was very much my equal. Tisk tisk for thinking this, mainly bc I dont really feel like ANY of the girls i race WITH are my opponents. I am honored that they push me and i hope i push them to be better athletes and to enjoy the sport for the right reasons. I dont mean to make a huge deal out of it but i had my heart set on one more 70.3 and i just had to decide. We are doing alot of cycling in july, I am not even racing a Tri in july, and i just cant race back to back weekends doing longer stuff:(

-Rich does his first Tri tommorrow! I am SO EXCITED. He is in the last wave, and I am in the first wave so i will be home in time to watch him finish. GO RICH!!! I sure hope they dont allow wetsuits, its soupy out there and the lake is super shallow. But we all know how that goes., Ahem. Those lakes seem to drop a gazillion degrees overnight. Voila! ( NOT)

He doesnt have a wetsuit so not like i am going to derail his efforts in a 1/3 mile swim.

- I am also racing. But as i have told many, it is all about Rich. I had my fun last weekend. Which means i am gonna look at this as a SUPER DUPER HARD wko! I may run out of real estate with such a short flat course on the run but i sure will try to run down a few of my speedy bike friends.

-Then we are hopping in the car to go to the cabin where ice bathes are free and Dairy Queen grows on trees. Well not quite but it is a daily event. ( or should i just call it a food group?)

May have to try the new DQ flavor, Pecan Pie. Or make someone else try it so i can get a taste:) sneaky...

These are old but July 4 means picnics, water ballon tosses, 3 legged races and just good old fun. Oh and my dad's jestor hat:)

chippy may kill me for using these photos from 3 years ago but they still make me smile.

- Have a great weekend everyone. We come back from this weekend, then we leave the next weekend for this:

GULP....

IT makes me wish i had one of these:

If you dont know what that is. No it isnt a mosquito net:)

Happy 4th!!!

Waconia Race Report

Sunday was the Waconia Triathlon. I have a history with Waconia in that when i was playing alot of tennis, this race was the ONE race i did every summer. It was a good distance, not an all out sprint but not a full Oly distance.

1/2 mile swim, 20 mile bike, 4 mile run. Doable on minimal training. Even tho it is far from flat and the water is usually choppy.

I didnt have any expectations for this race, it was close to home, it was short by the HIM standard and since i had had unremarkable runs since Kansas i was in limbo about how i felt this would go. I did do a TT mid week that felt good so i hoped that IF my legs were good and strong for a ride that would carry me up and over cemetary hill and the rollers of this short but challenging 4 miler.

We had really bad storms saturday night, enough that Rich came up to get me to say we had to go to the basement since the sirens were going off. I wandered down and was then wide awake at 11:30 pm. There was so much flooding in our area that at one point i said to Rich, "Maybe it will be a swim-run! no bike, if the roads are closed!" And funny thing was i was all over that idea:) Oh well, I did fall back asleep and woke up pretty well rested at about 4:45.

Made my way to the race site ( about 30-40 min drive) and parked and racked and did all that stuff. It seemed so small compared to the M dot races. I liked it:)

Warming up I also thought how short the swim seemed. Really ? We only have to go to that buoy, the one that looks about 100 yards away? It was my first Elite wave swim so i was nervous about guys swimming over me. I can handle the knuckle fest with women but guys slugging me is another story. I laughed at that thought tho and recalled swimming thru the 55+ guys at Kansas and getting nailed by them so i figured I hopefully would be ok.

Warmup came and went and I even got into the 70 degree water to warmup. A first. 70 felt AWESOME compared to the 77.999999 ( ha, joke 81?) water we had at Kansas. I was ready to rock and roll, but my plan to line up 2-3 row was a bit screwed since we had a beach start and all the Elites were lined up on the beach in a horizontal line that must have stretched 50 long. Ok so not much place to go other than back a bit and find some water. I wished Suzie good luck, we both were in our goofy goggles so it was hard to tell it was her, but we we both had lumps in our throats before the start..and off we went.

I got knocked a few times but it actually spread out pretty well and i think i had a pretty clean swim. A bit of drafting, and since there was cloud cover it was ok to see and i think i made it in as 5th women ( someone yelled that) and into T 1.

I was racked near Brooke, who won this race last year, so when she came in right behind me I knew i had a good start to my race. Jan also came in RIGHT behind me. Getting the wetsuit off was fine, I was a bit dizzy when i was rummaging around so i had this weird fear i had left my helmet in T1, so funny i made sure to pat my head before i got out of T1 to be sure i had it on.

You go up Cemetary hill to get out on the bike. I knew i was 4-5 back from the leader and as soon as i got up the hill Brooke passed me. Then Jan passed me. And I had this "Ahhh so here we go again..." At that point i said to myself "Get top 10 elite Julia, its your first elite race, dont freak out." But as we rode ( and granted I think we had the best day EVER on this course wind-wise, I mean it is not an easy course, rollers and alot of open farm land) Brooke and Jan were coming back to me. And all the sudden i felt like i was riding their race....And since it was a shorter ride I "sat in" legally for a few then thought by mile 10 I was going for it. For about a mile I hung out at a legal and controlled distance from Brooke, who was ahead of Jan. Jan passed Brooke. Then about a mile later up a hill, I passed Broroke too. And from there on out I had Jan in my sights, often close enough that i thought i could pass her, but also controlled enough knowing it was 7-8 miles in that i wanted to be able to put the gas on at mile 12-15 to finish strong. I was pretty sure there were some "get out of the saddle" hills towards mile 18 as well.

And so I rode...Rich rode out from home ( got in a hundo!!) and took these videos...

I came into T2 in 3rd and left in 4th. oops. I had a few wardrobe malfunctions, and Brooke came in right after me and left before me. Oops. again. I could NOT get my shoe liner to stay put and i nearly fell over trying to get the shoe on. Finally after what felt like too long i said "to heck with it," go. And it sorta worked itself out ( both shoes actually) but miles 1-2 I had my liner at my midsole and I just decided to ignore it. It was rubbing but whatever. Then I realized the right one was bunched up too. Guess that is what i get for wearing these trainers ( sockless) when i go to the track ( um, 1x) and for sprint races. ( lets see, last sprint was a year ago.)

The run was hard as i expected. Mile 1 is slow you go up up up up turn right and keep going up. They call it Cemetary Hill, bc there is actually a cemetary at the top. I was close to Brooke and we ran close with her taking a good 20 foot lead on one of the downhill straight aways after mile1. I just sat there, getting my pace going and figured that if she was going to run away from me that was going to be a dang good run on her part. Go girl! At the turn around point we were together, she was a bit ahead of me, and on one of the uphills i passed her. And I never looked back. The crowd was really nice cheering thru downtown Waconia and i tried to gage where she was by the cheering. So when i went by people and they cheered I prayed and prayed that there wouldnt be a 5 second delay but more like a 30 second delay before they cheered again. I did NOT look back bc i knew that i just needed to run my run. And after i passed her i just gave it all i had. Even tho the last 3/4 mile is down hill there are some sneaky little rollers in there, even in the last 1/4 mile and i just again did NOT look back. I remembered how sick i felt at Kansas and knew this was a gimme if i didnt slow down.

Jerry McNeil had some really nice things to say, and that was pretty nice to hear. Thanks Jerry!

I do know that when i started the run he commented on the efficiency of my stride, and said " SHE WILL NOT SLOW DOWN." gulp. Ok, got to live up to that one:)!

I was really really proud of all the athletes that raced today. Suzie who is an up and coming start was hot on my heels as was Brooke obviously. But in an out and back race I just have to LOOK the OTHER WAY when you see people closing in, its just too much of a gut wrencher to try to worry about who may catch you! It was a hot day, with about 90% humidity from all the rain we have had and everyone that crossed that line did a phenomenal job.

Ok I would be lying if I didnt tell Rich that when i picked up my race number friday that I was a bit "FREAKED" at getting #3. But I also thought, a flighting thought that left me soon after, "What if I could get 3rd?" And ya know, I did! Jerry also told me that I got to go to the BOUS in Mission Viejo, Ca in October. When he said " ARe you going to Hawaii?" I laughed out loud, and then thought, wow he thinks maybe i could go to Hawaii? I just know that I have read on Beth's blog about the BOUS and I am honored that I can go. I dont know alot about it, but I guess this year they are doing a team format, so that 3 people from a state can go and represent themselves and their state as a team. What a team we would have:

1st place: A gal that just graduated from the U of MN and was a swimmer ( no joke, and a runner and a biker! her 2nd Tri EVER!)

2nd place: THE Jan Gunther. If you arent from around here you may not know Jan, but heck if she is even in my zip code i am proud. Founder of Gear West ( now she owns the ski side) multiple time finisher and winner of the Birkie ( Xc ski, like a gazillion miles in cold and wind and all that while i am sweating on my trainer, Ahh. I need to move...tangent) and winner of the 2009 IM MOO 50-54AG. I could go on and on. She is a total stud. Oh and she is 51 years young.

3rdplace: ME:) hee hee. Highly decorated tennis player who loves to work hard, tries to stay out of trouble, has a coach that makes dreams come true, or as i told JH last night "make dreams come true that i never even knew I had,"...

I am not sure how the Tri season will play out, that is a blog in and of itself. But I think i have to go to this BOUS? Anyone? Thoughts? My goal would be to have a fun time with the ladies and gents from MN, to meet some people, to see Marit, maybe go see my friends in La Jolla, and oh, NOT finish dead last:) That is sad to say, but that was my thought when Jerry told me I could go, since its not AG it's ANYONE!!! OMG, wow!!!

Thanks Gear West, as always for being so generous with your sponsorship of the races. And to the city of Waconia, Mayer ( Mayer Lutheran, they used to beat up on us in Basketball!! LOL), and all the volunteers!!!! and to my supporters, Rich, family and friends.

PS I took a 2x caffeinated Powergel on the bike. Vroom vrrom. training secret 101.