Bike, SURF, Run

This was probably the best "recovery" day ever. I was planning on taking it easy given my hard training week with a nice hard weekend--Sat: 80 miles biking/T-run, Sun: 14-mile run--but that didn't happen. I ended up getting in a different kind of triathlon today: biking, surfing and running!

The day started off with an easy bike down the street to the Laguna Hills Half Marathon where I checked out the racers (well, I actually was a little late to see most runners... I slept in, enjoyed a leisurely breakfast...what!?). I mainly went down to hang out with my good friends at their Juice Plus booth at the expo. What a fun group.

In the pic below, the woman on the left, Jacke, just got finished doing a 3-day 150-mile moutain bike ride/tour through Moab, Utah. She's gnarly on a mountain bike and leads a local group called the Trail Angels. I don't even think I could hang with her. In the middle is her daughter-in-law and one of my best best friends of many years, Marcai. As you can see Marcai is very pregnant, and I've come to the conclusion that her little boy (due in July) is going to be a triathlete. Since I'm not planning of having kids anytime soon, I can mess with my friends' kids. Ha ha.

After spending a couple hours with them, I took the long way home on my bike to get a little mileage in. Felt good to spin out the legs. When I got home, my dad had the van packed up and he, my mom and I jetted down to San Onofre to go surfing. I haven't surfed since last August-ish, so I was super excited to get out and see if I could still do it. I used to be quite the surfer chick back in the day. Thankfully, today was a PERFECT day to be at the beach! That's me getting ready with my trusty 9'0" Becker and stalling pulling up my wetsuit (putting on a surf wetsuit sucks compared tri suits).

Surfing was absolutely amazing. Call it luck, but I caught so many waves that I lost count! Maybe all my swimming is paying off in other ways because I was taking off on wave after wave like it was nothing. Such a blast! Even though my "style" was a little rusty, I couldn't have asked for a better first session back. I'm going again soon!! The best part - no sharks and no fear of sharks... despite knowing there are sightings at San-O 24/7, including last weekend when an 8-foot Great White breached by Dogpatch. Eeekk!

After the surf sess, the family fun continued. It's weird, I live at home but I rarely see my parents, especially my dad who works his butt off, so it was nice spending time with them rather than the typical "See you later!" as I run out the door. Anyways, we felt bad that Sydney missed out on the San-O action, so we took her on a run. The parents beach cruisered it and I ran with Syd. Once again, an unexpected workout, but totally mellow and enjoyable.

To top off an amazing day, for dinner we cooked up fresh Mahi-Mahi tacos, homemade guac and a bunch of other good stuff, inlcuding one of these:
Pretty good recovery day. No complaining here.

Beer Makes Me Faster

Well, that's probably not true, but I've drank more beers in the last six days than I have this whole year so far and I've seen an improvement in my swim, bike and run times during training the last several days. I even did the Encinitas Triathlon kind of worn down from major lack of sleep and the going out, and I did alright - podiumed in my AG (2nd). I guess in that case the adrenaline rush of racing allows you to push beyond fatigue - well at least for a short sprint race. And in the spirit of beer drinking, I won a Encinitas Sports Festival beer mug that says "I'm Really Fast." I suppose beer can work into the equation, as long as I don't get a beer belly. (Flashbacks of SDSU coming to mind!)

Each occasion during which I've drank lately has been well worth the indulgence because despite how focused I am on personal goals like improving in tri, being a good student, etc., it's all about balance and enjoying good times with good people. And that's exactly what I've done. Although I did put off studying for two major finals I had Tuesday and my scores might reflect that I chose a weekend in San Diego over hitting the books. But I had good grades going into finals so it's cool...

Letting loose a little also gives me something to laugh about while working out. Like today, during my 35-mile bike, I was laughing out loud while replaying last night over in my head: country-line dancing at OC Tavern in San Clemente immediately after our Anatomy and Physiology final. There's a lot wrong with this scenario. A) I don't like country music. B) I can't dance very well, let alone country-style. C) My friends had no idea what they were doing either. But I dressed the part - cowgirl boots (my sister's), jeans, a westerny shirt, and thankfully some of the good guy dancers took me out on the floor and had me doing the two-step and were twirling me around in every direction. I also learned a square-dance routine called "good times." Coming from a non-country girl, it was actually very fun, and I would totally do it again. Not to mention, it was quite a workout! I was sweating like crazy. I wonder if I can log that as training hours hahaha....

Anyways, back to the Enicintas Triathlon. It was a super fun race in a place that feels like home away from home. One day. I did some counting, and this was my 9th triathlon ever and I think my 15th race ever since I started this multisport lifestyle in 2007.

ENCINITAS Race Report:

Woke up at a hotel in Oceanside at 4 a.m. (stayed with my best friend from college who was there for work). On the road by about 4:45, transition set up by 5:30, an hour + to kill. Sweet. All the while, it was drizzling hard. This was my first "wet" race.

SWIM
I did a pre-race swim and made a mental note to watch out for all the ditches in the sand - no more sprained ankles please. I was the 3rd wave (I love being spoiled by going off early and getting to avoid course traffic!), and as soon as I got going my swim plan was blown. Instead of getting a set on the way in, where I would have attempted to body surf, we got a set on the way out just like I didn't want; I dove under about 3-4 waves and lost time doing so. Kind of lost my breath too. Bummer. But finally found a rhythm and was talking sh*t to the sharks in my head (there was a sighting at Moonlight Beach a couple weeks ago). That was fun and pumped me up. Got out at 13 minutes, hit the mat at 14 min, and ran up that damn, long, steep ramp to transition.

BIKE
I was doing windshield-wipers on my Rudys with my fingers a lot. But even though the ground was slick, I didn't hold back. I'm getting more confident every day on my bike and I hit some pretty high speeds (for me) going down PCH. Right now, cycling is my strength so I hammered hard. Since it was a sprint, I wanted it to hurt. I did notice my Cateye said the course was over 13 miles (not the planned 12.4), and I averaged just about 21 mph. Usually, during the bike I'm focused on passing girls who beat me in the swim, but not in this race. I was pretty much on my own the whole time, so I didn't really know where I stood. I figured whoever was ahead of me smoked me on the swim and I had no chance.

RUN
Once again, the goal was to hurt and not hold back. I exited transition just behind this 14-year-old girl and tried to stay on her feet, but she was too fast - and probably 80 lbs. Ha. So I just pictured myself doing a track workout and set my pace by the way a feel during that. It worked alright, and I ran just over a 7 min.-pace for the 5k. I'm satisfied. I also was wearing sunglasses and a hat, which I realized were totally unnecessary given the cloudy, damp conditions. Guess I don't have to do the same thing in every race.

DONE
I crossed the finish line at 1:17 for the 820-yd swim, 12.4 (13+)-mile bike and 5k - 2nd age group! The girl who beat me did it in 1:10. Wow! I really wanted to meet her, but she didn't stick around for awards. No bueno, I should have grabbed her beer mug. After everything wrapped up, I jumped on the Felt and rode south to climb Torrey Pines then into La Jolla then turned around. Good ol' Torrey - a must! Right? Then showered up and hit the bar for beer, grub and Lakers. Good times. I slept very well that night.

CHEERS!

Lots Going On

This has been the busiest week I've had in a while, but it's been one of the best weeks! I thrive off having tons to do, even if I occasionally bitch and moan about it - but that really only happens if/when sleep starts to suffer. This week was also my third hard week of training, and unfortunately my volume suffered a tad because I had to devote lots of attention to two major exams, a project, finals prep (such a nerd!) and work stuff, I also did some fun stuff like get an hours-long bike fitting and hear pro triathlete Chris Legh speak at Tribuys. Those last two were clearly not "mandatory," but they might as well be in my book! So next week is a recovery week, which works out well because I decided last minute to sign up for the Encinitas Sprint Triathlon May 17. I'm addicted to racing. Thankfully I have good friends in SD who let me crash with them.

My Sunday morning ride was probably the highlight of the week. Got on the road early after having my power oatmeal, and was extra excited to test out my new bike fit on a long ride. I love getting started before the masses are out. Something surreal about being in Santiago Canyon all alone, especially at the top of Modjeska Grade Road....which you can see below. Even though it was kinda cold out, I was sweating like crazy of course!

By the way, see that jersey? That's my France jersey that serves as motivation to do Ironman France. I really want to do it in 2010, but I don't want to do it alone and don't have anyone crazy enough to do it with me yet.

This next picture isn't from this morning, but while riding I made a mental note to mention it. The property below is on Modjeska Grade Road, and the original house burned down in the 2007 fires. Those fires were awful for everyone who suffered, but I was extra upset to see the canyon, which I consider my backyard, go up in flames. Anyways, after this home burned down, it remained a vacant lot for a long time. A U.S. Flag and a sole chair were the only things there. It was heart-breaking to ride by it all the time. A while later construction began, but it's been slow to progress. Finally, things are looking promising for the owner of this property, as the house is really coming along! I took this photo about 2-3 weeks ago, and this morning there was even more work done! It's been quite amazing to watch the transformation of this property, and I can't wait to see the finished product!

Another thing that caught my during my ride was OC Duathlon signs! I can't believe I'm doing this race. What am I thinking? My running fitness is nowhere close to what I wanted/expected it to be by this point in the year, but that's life for ya. Damn ankle sprain. And as nervous as I get about the swim before a triathlon, I don't think running a 5k right off that bat sounds ideal or even that fun. It should be an interesting experience. At least I know the course like the back of my hand.

So my ride was basically epic. I was happy and smiling. Life is good right now. I sang out loud to the songs on my iPod, I drained the sinuses with a gagillion snot rockets, I reached and held speeds of 35 mph+ multiple times (shhh, don't tell my mom) and the best part: my new bike fit is PERFECT. The Felt is finally truly dialed in to fit me as much as it can. I also had an epic "target practice" win. The guy had been drafting off me for like 15 minutes, then he finally passed me, then I got stuck at a light that he made, but I still passed him going up a long hill and on the downhill I never saw him again. Woo hoo!! After the ride, I got in my fourth run for the week. This one was a lot cooler than the scorchers I put myself through (on purpose) on Wed & Thurs.

To wrap things up, I have to mention this last picture because I love Syndey. (We've almost had her for fives years now; can't imagine life without her, or a dog around for that matter.) So, I do a lot of work on the desktop in my room, and Sydney loves to distract me and try to get me to play with her. I'm such a sucker. I always give in; how could you say "no" to a face like this:

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there. I have the utmost respect for you all!!

Target Practice

I like to play little games with myself on bikes and runs. Makes the time pass by faster and I tend to push harder. One of them is something I call "target practice." Basically, I see a cyclist or runner out in front of me, and it's my goal to catch that person and leave him/her/them in the dust. Sometimes I succeed, sometimes I fail miserably. Well, today, I was on fire! I passed about five people and/or groups on my bike ride. Maybe it's cause I got a late start and all the fast morning-ride guys were already done. Oh well, I was happy.

Then on my T-run, I had a hard target to catch about 4 miles in. He was probably 2-3 minutes ahead of me and running at the same pace, so I had to pick it up if I wanted to get him. It took a while, but I was successful! Passed him, held a good lead, then I think I fired him up and he sped up and started pacing off me, which made me run farther than I planned. Got in about 7 miles and it was the best T-run I've ever had after a decently long/fast bike. I averaged 7:30-min miles on a hilly run, which is an improvement from past T-runs.

On top of that, I put in a hard week of work trianing-wise. I was logging in my weekly totals and was impressed! I got in four swims, three bikes, four runs, three strength-training sessions and multiple stretching sessions. Although I didn't log in major mileage (or time) in any one workout, I did more workouts at harder intensities across in all the sports, and my total mileage was just about where I wanted it, including an intended increase in swimming yardage (about 9,000 yds). I had to miss one scheduled run due to majorly sore legs from a killer weight session, but oh well, learned my lesson.

I was reading Matt Fitzgerald's plan for IMAZ training, and he's doing something similar - "spend as little time training as necessary to achieve [his] goal." This entails about 12 workouts a week that are generally shorter and harder rather than fewer total workouts that are longer and drawn out. His reasoning is that he wants to keep his wife (haha), but from my single-girl point of view, I kind of like this approach, it's nice to work out A LOT and still have time for the rest of my life. I think my longest training sess was today - about 3 hours for my bike-run. I may switch up the weeks because I think getting in 70+ mile rides with long T-runs is important, but it's fun playing around with training. I don't get bored.

PS - Congrats to everyone who raced this weekend. I checked out some of the Wildflower times and was super impressed and proud of the people I know of who competed, way to rock it out there!!

Tagged

"Running with a Bottle of Wine" blogger Chloe tagged me with one of those "tell-us-about-you" survey things. So, here ya go...

The rules are:

1. Fill it out
2. Change one question with one of your own
(I think I changed two)
3. Add an additional question
4. Tag 3 other people to do the same

ME....

1. What are your current obsessions?
Triathlons (duh), the TV show "House," raw almonds

2. Which item from your closet are you wearing most often?
2XU compression socks. Do they actually work? I don't know, but I'm giving them a try. Close second: My stretchy pants from Target. So comfortable!


3. Last thing you bought for yourself?
A massage. Next up, a FIST bike fitting at Tribuys in a couple days. Talk about self-indulging. Geez.

4. What’s for dinner?
Probably flank steak, sweet potatoes (yum!) and some kind of green vegetable, topped off with dark chocolate.

5. Say something to the person who tagged you:
Chloe, you and I seem like we're a lot alike. I love your lifestlye! If I ever come out to Florida to race, can I stay at your place? :)

6. What is one item you could not live without?
I have two. First, sports bras. I wear them more often than regular bras. Second, like Chloe, my contacts... I'm flat out blind. Worst fear: losing one during a race!!

8. Vacation spots you must visit before you die?
My life goal is to plan vacations around doing an Ironman, so France, Australia and tropical Ironman locations are on my list. Crossing my fingers that France happens in 2010.

8. What is your most immediate short-term goal:
To finish this and my freelance work, get over the the gym for upper-body weights and swim No. 4 for the week, and then go to my new job (more on that soon). Oh, and recover from the sorest legs I've ever had, lower-body weight strength training destroyed me!

9. What are you reading right now?
The new issue of Triathlete mag and kinesiology textbooks: exercise physiology, and strength and conditioning. No time for a "real" book right now.

10. Tell us three random things about you.
1) I have racing (and the desire to go fast) in my genes. My grandfather is/was a world-renowned race car driver in the '50s, '60s and '70s and won basically every prestigious race in the world. After retiring from driving, he continued to build race cars and ran a racing team. He is still working to this day, and now my uncle is a professional race car driver. They also build some faaaast motorcycles and often ride where I do - Santiago Canyon/Cook's Corner!

2) I hate shopping for clothes and stuff like that. I don't enjoy the whole process of browsing through racks and trying everything on. I'm such a dude when it comes to that. The problem is, I love having new and cute stuff to wear.

3) I have not had coffee since the beginning of February. Coming from a former (extreme) coffee addict, this is huge.

11. What is the last movie you saw and enjoyed?
Marley and Me. Very cute, but the book was better - I remember being on a plane and bawling my eyes out when I finished reading it. I love dogs and have had one around for the better part of my life.

12. What’s your guilty pleasure?
A big container of frozen yogurt and wine (not necessarily together).

13. What’s your favorite smell?
Well, it's NOT the smell of 24 Hour Fitness' pool chlorine, which is extra potent and sticks to me for days. Yuck. Hm, I love the smell of barbecues and showers (once again, not necessarily together).

14. What is your fav trashy reality TV show?
No reality TV for me. However, I love the show "1,000 Ways to Die" on Spike, it's based on real stories, does that count? That show cracks me up, Darwinism at its best...how morbid. Ha ha.

15. What's something random that's happened to you recently.
I've dissected a sheep's brain and cow's eyeball and have studied a human cadaver in the last couple weeks and was not grossed out at all. However, on the topic of grossness, this was the most disgusting thing ever: While putting away a new thing of oatmeal in our pantry last Saturday, I discovered a mealworm (I think?) infestation in an old container of hot cereal that no one ate. I was home alone and had to dispose of it all by myself. I was shaking it was so awful. The weird thing is, the pantry is relatively new, so the cereal couldn't have been that old. We're not gross unclean people, I swear.

16. Whats one thing you can't go a day with out doing?
Chewing gum. Preferably Orbit Sweet Mint. It's a bad addiction.

17. What do you have an addiction to?
Ha, well beside gum, working out & popcorn. As for working out: I'm a triathlete, so duh, taking rest days are torture! As for the popcorn: I eat whole bag of Redenbacher's Smart Pop Kettle Korn on a regular basis.

18. Whats your favorite holiday?
Halloween. I don't know why, I guess I love the whole dressing up thing. And although I'm a summer person at heart (I must live in warm climates), I like how Halloween kinds symbolizes the transition to fall and the holiday season.

19. How many pairs of shoes (not just running) do you have??
Probably 10-15, but I only wear maybe 2 or 3, including my Rainbow Sandals 24/7. Non-running shoes are a low priority in my life.

20. Favorite activity besides training.
Cooking and "creating" meals. I am the resident chef at my house and don't mind it at all.
OK, now I'm tagging three people:
Brytri
Ian
623 Tries

Ride with the Felt Guys & Some

I'll admit, I was a little nervous when I woke up Tuesday morning, all in anticipation of noon. I was invited by the guys who work at Felt headquarters to go on their lunchtime ride with them. Sweet! But, a bunch of guys...who work for a leading bicycle company - could I hang?? It was worth giving it a shot! Come Tuesday, part of me was afraid if I'd be recovered enough to hang on - Sunday I did a 72-mile ride with 6,000 feet of climbing (fast Carol was with me for about 35 miles, great ride) followed by a T-run, had a Monday long run and swam 3,000 yds just hours before the Felt ride. But, thankfully, the ride went great!!


But first, how did little ol' nothing me even get invited on this ride? Kind of random... I've been having problems with my Bayonet system making terrible creaking noises and coming loose. Numerous trips to various bike shops, and the problem still wasn't getting fixed. Frustrating! So, I called Jim Felt, and he was super willing to help. I love that guy, so nice!! He had me go straight over to Felt, which happens to be conveniently located a few minutes from my house in Irvine - no joke, like a 10 minute bike ride away. See....

I met with Felt's senior design engineer Jeff, who was so awesome. Together, he and I took apart the Bayonet piece by piece to find the problem(s). Well, he took it apart and I watched intensely. Sure enough, he found a couple areas where it wasn't assembled correctly, and he corrected the problems. I'm happy to report after about 175 miles of riding since that meeting (last Tuesday), there is no noise and the Bayonet is as tight as can be! It's a complicated system, no doubt, and it just needs to be built correctly.


NOW, I really want to make this point: If anyone is considering a Felt bike, don't let this story have you questioning the quality of Felt bikes and/or the Bayonet. My B2R is an amazing bike and I'm proud to own it. Now that it's dialed in correctly, it's virtually flawless. Not to mention, I've gotten top-of-the-line customer service! Jim Felt runs an excellent business and puts out quality products. How many people (i.e. non-pro, average cyclists) can call up the founder/owner of their bike company and have him bend over backwards to make sure things are OK, and then get to hang out and ride with the guys who freakin designed your bike? Just plain awesome. Inside the Bayonet...

Onto the ride... Anyways, Jim mentioned the guys do lunchtime rides, so I brought up the topic to Jeff and some of the other guys working in the back while the Bayonet was getting fixed, and they totally invited me to join. Of course I accepted the offer! (In my head, though, I was thinking...they'll leave me in the dust.)


So Tuesday I raced home from class, did a quick change and rode over to Felt. A group of us took off, and I was all smiles. Call me lame, but being along on their ride was pretty special for me. The best part, I was totally cool with the pace they were going. No problems keeping up, but I'm sure it was just an easy effort for them. They took me on their Shady Canyon loop in Irvine, which is definitely a ride I'll be doing a lot more of - some rolling hills and partly on a bike trail so minimal lights. Meanwhile, it was great chatting it up with the Felt guys. I mostly rode next to one of the design engineers, Ty, who clearly is an amazing cyclist and super enthusiastic, he just raced in the Dana Point Grand Prix over the weekend and knows his stuff! These guys have dream jobs in my opinion! I definitely plan on sneaking over there during lunchtime a lot more in the future.


I was going to write about a couple other random things that have happened to me in the last week, but I'm exhausted. It's almost 10 p.m., and I haven't stopped since I woke up at 4:30. What a day: Swim, bike, run, morning/night classes and some other stuff...man, I'm beat!

Race Report: Newport Beach Triathlon

Today was amazing. Must have been my breakfast. I've found the perfect pre-race/pre-hard-training day concoction: Slow-cooked oatmeal with butter, milk, a scoop of vanilla protein powder, cinnamon, almonds, fruit and stevia for sweetness! Amazing, I highly recommend.

On to the race. I did the Newport Beach Triathlon this morning, which is a longer-ish sprint: 1/2 mile swim, 15 mi bike, 5k run. It was a fairly flat course, so you basically go all out. I finished in 1:20:14.8.... Got 1st in my age group, 8th female and 96 overall out of 750 racers. I'm super stoked on that, considering there were some legit racers out there. The top male overall finished in 1:05...smokin'!

Pre-Race

Got to Newport Dunes at 5:30 a.m., paid $10 parking (ridiculous!) and set up transition in the dark. That's it, I'm adding flashlight to my race-prep checklist! Saw some of my friends, and made a friend who racked next to me named Carol, an Ironman rockstar who I would later come to find rides the exact same speed as me on the bike.

Swim
The swim was in the very disgusting Back Bay, which is worse than Mission Bay. Straight up nasty. The swim was in a counterclockwise circle, which sucks because I usually end up breathing on my right side only in races (although I always breathe bilateral in practice), so I was looking the wrong way. But I'm getting better a spotting and staying on track. And to my surprise, I had a really good swim! I was out of the water in 13 minutes. And that's including some blind swimming due to heading right into the sunrise. I really felt like I pushed myself and aggressively worked through the crowd, it was a big wave-all women under 39.

T1

So the run to our stuff took forever, no joke like 2-3 minutes! And I think that's added onto our swim because I don't recall touching a mat for quite a while. Other than that, no fuss in T1. In, out & go time.

Bike

A two-loop course on a very narrow street (Back Bay Drive). Mostly flat expect for one steep grade of about 1/4 mile that's repeated. Translation: haul @$$. My goal on the bike is always to catch people who out-swim me, particularly those female calves with 20-24 ages. I passed quite a few chicks today, guys too for that matter, and felt like I was in a good position overall. I also didn't have to deal with a lot of a lot traffic because I was in the second wave, so that was nice. My new friend Carol and I were neck-in-neck literally the whole time, kinda crazy! She's 30-34, so not a threat AG-wise. I did the bike in 43 minutes and averaged about 21 mph. Felt & Zipps did me well.

Here are some pics I took of Back Bay Drive on a pre-race course drive, beautiful area....

T2
I have to say, I do well in T2. I don't waste a second. So I won't waste words talking about it.

Run
I'll admit, I was most nervous about the run. In fact, I think I subconsciously held back on the bike a little so I'd have good running legs. After Oceanside, there's a bit of fear. But it was only 3 miles, so I was just over-thinking it. Whatever. Biggest observation of the day: I always burp very big whenever I start a run off the bike. Oh man, all that gas just comes out after the position change. Quite funny and definitely not lady like- I totally burp like a big ol' dude drinking Budweiser.

Anyways, feet were a little numb when I started, but things were going well. There was only one 1/2 mile-ish hill to climb. I still didn't see too many women around, so I was determined to keep a good pace going. I had my eye on one woman about 30 seconds behind me. Meanwhile, I saw my friend from swim class, my friend who works at Edge Cyclesports, my ex-boyfriend (random!)...so I was cheerfully saying my hellooos!

20 minutes later I made the left turn into the straightaway to the finishline and that one chick who was trailing me started sprinting to pass me last-second style. Uh-uh! No way was she getting past me! I started sprinting like a madwoman and I beat her! (By literally .2 seconds.) We laughed about it afterwards...I was 1:22:14.8, she was 1:22:15. Turns out I ran a 20:37 5k, impressive for me!

Post-Race
At first I was one of the top females overall, but I got bumped back by a couple smokin fast 40-somethings who started after me and who showed that course who's boss! It was actually very inspiring to see how gnarly these ladies are!! And 8th female is still pretty nice!

In my 20-24 world, I was stoked to grab 1st place. Not a bad way to start off the day, or the still-fresh season for that matter. I also realized this is only my 4th tri since 2007!! Man, did that pump me up to make it a solid post-race training day.

Here's me (in the middle) with 2nd and 3rd in my AG.
Me and Carol, who got 1st in 30-34 females! Perk of the day: I've found a new riding buddy!! We're both doing Vineman, so good training times ahead!

This picture is sooooo special to me! My beautiful grandma showed up to root me on. I don't think I've ever seen someone so excited, and it was awesome feeling to make her so proud! Words can't describe how happy I am that she saw me get that medal.

Getting a big Grandma hug and squishing her dog Coco (aww!)So after all was said and done, I still had a ton of energy to burn... despite the extreme heat (high 90s?) and extreme winds. Hey, to me that means good training weather... makes you tough! So I went out for a spin through Santiago Canyon+. Thought two water bottles w/ Cyto would be enough. Oh man, was I wrong. I was parched after about 15 miles. I stopped at a park to refill, but that wasn't enough. Not to mention, I was battling some major winds! Let's just say, I didn't see too many bikers... only the Harley kind (Cook's Corner anyone?). I cut the ride off at 35 miles to save me from destroying my body.


I stopped by Irvine Lake for a pic, and man I was tempted to go jump in! Holy $@%&! Can you see that sexy stream of snot going down my face...niiiice.

An immediate calorie-dense smoothie followed that ride. It tasted like heaven! I was hungry for dinner merely minutes later, I was a calorie-burning machine today! I'm hungry again just while writing this!!!!

So now...all training and two races until Vineman. Hard work ahead. I'm damn excited!

Race Report, Recovery, More Racing & Awkward T1

Check out my full race report on EverymanTri.

So for the last two days I've basically sat on my ass and have done nothing. I have never been so sore. I even kicked back with several glasses of wine and a movie on Sunday. Rare. By last night my body was feeling pretty good, which I attribute to the foam roller, mass quantities of food and lots of sleep. So the little post-race vacation is over, and I'm slowly going to get back at it. That started before sunrise this morning with swim. I probably shouldn't have gone and slept in instead (I could tell I'm not fully recovered; my swimming begin to lag about halfway through), but I missed my class, my friends, listening to am radio as I drive to the pool and getting an early start to the day. The cool thing: after enduring the brisk start on Saturday morning, it didn't seem so cold running around in my bathing suit at 5:45 a.m.

I've also signed up for two more triathlons since Saturday's 70.3. I won't be doing Wildflower this year, I'm just not ready. So instead, I'm doing a sprint in Newport Beach on April 19 and the San Diego International on June 28. I might to Spring Sprint in SD too, but all these race fees are getting a little ridiculous considering my income is, uh...well, I don't need to go there. Ha ha.

One more thing....

Checking out his ass During T1?
Huh? Here are a couple more race pictures I find funny. I decided against arm warmers for the bike, but still debated gloves in those frantic seconds. (Cold hands, big issue.) I almost went without them, but still grabbed them and decided to put them on as I was running out. Killed my T1 time but whatever. In the second picutre, it looks like I'm playing with and/or staring at that guy's ass. I swear, though, it's the gloves that have my attention :)

4th in AG & what an experience

Well I did it. I successfully completed my first half-Ironman, but by no means did I kill it out there. Quite the contrary. Still, I'm happy enough with my results given this was my first HIM. I finished in 5:40:13, with my worst leg being the run (it was baaad). Believe it or not, that time was good enough to get me 4th place in my age group! And at Cali 70.3, the awards go five deep, so I got a rad little plaque -- I guess you could say I podiumed. Hee hee.

That's me standing in blue at 4th place. I'll take it!! Funny how I'm the only one still in my race outfit. Not all showered and dressed up like the AG winner on the right!

I'll do a full race report later, I'm too tired right now and want to go get frozen yogurt. One thing I'll say: During those hours out on the course today I realized a million things I need to work on in training. That was a hard race, but what a fun learning experience!!

Some Pictures!!

It was absolutely freeeeeeezing in the morning!!

Right before the swim...a surreal moment

T1 was so-so, but I had a fast T2!

Some of my fans :)

Look close and I'm about to cross the finish line!! Whew

T-Minus 15ish Hours

Notice Mr. No. 1 above me? Nice. Also, is Jon Prasuhn the same as Jay Prasuhn of Triathlete Magazine? Hm. Well, we P's rock :)

I'm counting down the hours! As expected, this week has been whack. Everything feels "off" from my normal routine and it's driving me nuts. Plus, my sleeping is all weird - I've been getting enough of it, but in abnormal hours. I've also been having the craziest food cravings, while stuff I normally love eating is grossing me out. Weird.

My workouts the last several days have been generally shorter and easier with some intensity mixed in -- how could I not go all out riding with the Zipps for the first time; man I love those things!! This morning I got in my last easy 30 minutes on the bike. During my ride, I was thinking about the day I signed up for Oceanside. It was late September, and I was still at my old job. I was kind of in a funk then. Out of shape coming off the knee surgery, recently turned single, not liking my job so much... and I was ready for a new challenge! I signed up during work; must have been an exciting day at the office.

Headed out for the last pre-IMCA ride

Now with the race merely hours away, I'm so happy I signed up for this. I'm excited, nervous... every emotion! I've been imaging race morning in my head, and one thing I was planning on doing was getting a solid warm-up swim in. Well, that's clearly not going to happen! There's no warming up in the Harbor before the race. Automatic DQ. Period. We get in the water about 3 minutes before our wave goes off, that's it. Gnarly. I'm at least glad the swim is marked every 100 meters, I need that!!

A peak at the swim

At race check in, the weather was pretty nice. A tad on the windy side, but that's all - plenty of sun, no rain. Hopefully the sunshine sticks. I've been warned about the wind during this race, so that's no surprise. Plus, I've gotten in plenty of training rides in the good ol' Santa Anas.

Anyways, everyone keeps asking, "Are you ready?" "What's your goal time?" Being that this is my first half-Ironman, who knows! I've been dedicated to my training, so we'll see what happens. I honestly don't have a goal time. I'll set more specific goals and put more pressure on myself in future races, once I have some of these longer races under my belt. This is a test run. However, that's not to say I'm not feeling the pressure -- I'm a competitive chick, and I have some gnarly butterflies right now. I want to do well, of course, it's in my nature.

OK, now it's time to go pack up the gear, eat, label things, eat more, check the bike, eat, chill out, eat more, watch TV, eat more, rest. Ya know, typical day-before-the-race routine. Bright and early tomorrow! Well, it won't be so bright...we're leaving my house at 4 a.m. Ha ha.

It's all about getting here . Ahhhh!