Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Event Photos...
...can be found here. My bib number was 344, so you can search for me directly, or you can click through the general and pre-race ones to get a good sense of the event - they are great pictures! :-) Will work on getting Rob's photos up this week...
3:04:34
My alarm was set for 4:45AM. We had a wake-up call scheduled for 4:50AM. I woke up at 3:11AM. At 4:40AM I finally surrendered and got up to start getting ready. Rob followed shortly.
My nerves were a mess as I squeezed into my tri "uniform," but my gear was ready to go. We headed to the lobby to check-in with the TNT team manager at 5:30, then walked the ~1 mile to the transition area in the pitch black morning. Rob announced that he was taking credit for being my coach, but really ended up being my own personal paprazzi - he got some amazing photos that I'll upload once we're back on the mainland.
You could see the transition area from quite a ways away, as it was lit up with stadium lights. Or, you could just follow the steady stream of cyclists who were heading the same direction.
I got there and found my bike slot: bib number 344, third row from the front, about 1/4 of the way in, on the right side. The space we got was tiny: only the area to the right (as you look at the bike) of the bike, and your gear could not extend beyond the front tire upon penalty or rearrangement by the staff. As I planned to bike and run in what I swam in, I really only needed to place my bike shoes, helmet, sunglasses, hair tie, running shoes, and water bottle in my allotted area. Then, it was off to get body-marked, where they stamp your bib number on both of your arms. Once I was marked with "344" on both arms I got in another line to pick up my timing chip, a little electronic-containing plastic piece attached to a velcro ankle-strap. We had one for the Stanford Treeathlon that was all velcro and left me with a nasty deep cut on my ankle, and I was worried about a repeat so I slapped a big band-aid over that region. Thankfully, the timing chips were neoprene with just a velcro attacher part, so I didn't even notice it.
So that was done around 6:15, and the race didn't officially begin until 7:30. Of course.
I ended up hanging out in the transition area with a bunch of the TNT-ers, taking photos (but not with my camera because I was too dumb to bring it!) and stressing out. When we finally went down to the water we took an official Team photo - all 108 of us! We are the largest TNT faction by far, so cramming us all into the photo was quite the adventure, but we did it!
Then, people were hopping into the water to warm up and before I knew it the race was starting.
The waves were as follows and were three minutes apart:
Wave 1: Pros/elites and relays
Wave 2: Men 15-39
Wave 3: Men 40 and over
Wave 4: Women 15-39
Wave 5: Women 40 and over
Each wave had its own cap color: Pros were orange, relays were white; men 15-39 were red; men 40 and over were green; women 15-39 were pink; and women 40 and over were yellow.
Before I even get into the race itself, let me just call bullshit on starting the younger women after the older men, and starting the waves three minutes apart. Actually, let me call bullshit on generally starting the women after the men. You'll see why in a minute.
So, the waves begin, and before I know it wave three is getting into position, so I just followed them into the water and hung out behind them so I could get a good starting position. I am convinced that half the battle in the swim (and it is a battle, trust me) is where you position yourself, and I want to be in the front.
As the men leave the women swim into position and for the next three minutes we are crammed up against each other in water too deep to stand in, and it's all arms and legs and kicking and pushing and grabbing and maneuvering for position. I had to really fight to just keep my spot two or three people back from the front line, and that was not ideal for me.
And all of a sudden we're starting! Splashing and kicking and elbows and feet and shoving and trying not to swallow water or have your goggles knocked off and where's that first bouy and am I going in a straight line and who's this bitch next to me trying to steal my line and can I just get in front of her enough to hook my elbow on her shoulder and push off? Total chaos. Usually, in the open water swims I've done previously, the field spreads out and you end up with your own water in which you can swim smoothly.
This race, however, was a battle from start to finish. This was directly due to two things: 1) starting the older men immediately prior to the younger women, and 2) the 3-minute lag between waves. The course was rectangular with left turns, and as soon as we rounded the first buoy into our first left turn we encountered the slower men from the wave before us. Soon, there were hoards of men from the previous wave. Now, not only were we swimming with each other (the faster women from the "pink" wave were pretty well spread out and had lots of space), we were swimming "with" less experienced swimmers, some of which were doing breaststroke right in your face (big faux pas). It was one bog jockey for position, and passing got increasingly difficult as we encountered more and more green caps, in fact sometimes a wall of green caps, and then I saw some of the red caps - the men from two waves in front!
Clearly, a three-minute separation is not enough if swimmers from two waves back are catching up.
Ugh.
So, the finish was a zoo - they funnel you into this narrow space and the beaches are not sand. I swam for as long as I possibly could - into water that was probably less than knee-deep - before I hooked my fingers into the rocks and pulled myself into a standing position. I sprinted out of the water and heard "Go Megan!" and when I looked to my right there was Rob, right up against the rope with his camera pointed right at me! He got an amazing video of me running up the sand. And then apparently followed me, as he has photos of me running into transition and then getting ready for the bike!
In transition, I tied back my hair, put on my sunglasses, and put on my helmet (in that order) first. Then, I shoved socks onto my feet and crammed my feet into my bike shoes. I got these "quick zip" shoelaces that you don't have to tie, and my transition time was a full minute faster than the Stanford Treeathlon one (count for 60 seconds and see how long that actually feels - now imagine that under pressure in a race!). I took an electrolyte pill, washed it down with electrolyte fluid, chewed on a ShotBlock, then I grabbed my bike and jogged it towards the mount line, which you have to cross before you can get on your bike to avoid running innocent bystanders over.
I got on the bike and the route took us out to the main road, which was part of the actual Ironman Triathlon race course! Once out there, we were riding on pavement through lavafields in the sun. The route out was mostly uphill and into a small headwind. I am clearly not a very good cyclist, because almost immediately I was getting passed profusely. Seriously, people were jamming by me at an alarming rate. On the uphills they started calling out encouraging words, which makes me think that perhaps I wasn't looking so strong. I think I'll start blaming my bike.
At one point I was passed by a hoard of TNT men, one of whom, as he was passing me, said, "I knew you were a fast swimmer!" To which I replied: "Yes but clearly that's the only part I'm good at!" And I think I heard him laughing as he rode away.
But whatever - it was MY race, and I was going at MY pace. I figured holding 12 mph (so a 2-hour ride) was a good estimate, but all of a sudden I was at the turn-around! We took a hard right off the highway onto a steep downhill, then a VERY sharp left, over a speedbump (that was fun), through a dark tunnel, then a sharp left and up a huge hill, another left then a quick right back onto the highway but heading the other direction. This part was ridiculous fun - mostly downhill, no headwind, and I was flying. Oh, I was still getting passed, albeit less often, but I was really flying. I actually passed a person or two myself! The course is notorious for causing flat tires - one woman had three last year! I was appropriately paranoid, and brought with me two tubes, two CO2 cartridges to inflate them, tire irons, and a patch kit just in case. But, I also utilized my amazing tire-puncturing-debris-avoidance skills and managed to finish the bike with tires intact! Also, Rob had re-installed my pedals (you have to ship the bike sans pedals) and put on a two-water-bottle-carrier onto my seat post (which involved removing the seat and then re-adjusting seat height), and he was worried the pedals were going to spontaneously fall off during the race or that the seat wasn't the right height or that the water bottle holder would disintegrate or something, but they all held quite well! I made sure to drink a LOT of liquid (two big water bottles worth!) and eat a bunch of shot blocks (two packs!) during the ride, so I felt a little sloshy at the end of it...
Before I knew it was heading back towards the transition area, which was lined with people, but I couldn't see Rob anywhere! Apparently he'd walked back to the hotel (~1 mile), picked up the car, and driven the bike route - where he stopped at the halfway point to try and catch me. Unfortunately I had already passed that point by the time he was there...
Riding back to the transition area was exciting! People crowded up against the railings and cheering as we rode in and dismounted, then jogged our bikes back into the gated area to re-rack it and strip off the bike shoes, sunglasses and helmet, shove on the running shoes, slap my hat on my head, grab my water bottle, turn my number from back to front, and head out on the run. Still no sign of Rob though!
The run took us out over a dirt/lava path, then onto blacktop. The sun was shining and it was pretty warm, and after a 25-mile bike ride I was starting to drag. My legs were really tight and it took about three miles for them to loosen up. As I was running the first half, up a little hill, on the blacktop, who do I see running across the street with his camera but Rob! He'd caught me in the car, pulled over to the side of the road and got out to get some photos and yell encouragement at me - that was the hardest part of the race, I think - those first three miles were brutal. Blacktop, not a lot to look at, hot...
The aid stations were great - because I had a water bottle already I didn't need to drink water, but I took water at each station and dumped it over my head. Right before mile 3 there was an aid station that had a huge bag of ice, and there was a boy putting handfuls in people's hats - brilliant! I ran the next couple of miles with a hatful of ice cubes that melted down my neck and dripped off the brim, and was a convenient stash for chewing. I just reached up, pulled a cube out of my hat, and popped it in my mouth!
After mile three we cut into the resorts, and the run got really interesting. We ran right by our room, through the Hilton grounds, where people had their law chairs turned to face us and were cheering as they lay motionless in the sun (or in the shade, or in the pool, the bastards). We ran by pools and waterfalls and frolicking children. I thought about hopping into one of the pool really quickly but decided soggy running shoes sounded miserable.
The course took us on a single-track dirt and rock path with a 6-foot drop into the ocean, which was exciting. I ended up behind a woman who was a little slow, and soon enough there was a big line of people behind us. I finally passed her but then had to step aside a few times to let faster runners through, which was a bit scary - you did not want to fall in that area.
After the single-track gauntlet, we wound around the resort through some trees and over a trail that was entirely lava rocks. After that much time in the sun exerting yourself, it's a bit scary to try and navigate such a treacherous path, and I was petrified I was going to twist and ankle or trip and fall, and I slowed way down. There were people scattered through the trees cheering for us - a lot of women cheering specifically for the female racers, which was funny - lots of "go women!" on the trail.
Emerging from the lava trail through the trees put us onto the last 1/4ish mile, which was all on soft sand. I think people were walking faster than I was running at that point, but I was actually running. I got passed by a bunch of people who turned on the speed for a strong finish, and I made the executive decision to just cruise right in.
I did try to pick up the pace right at the end, but the guy in front of me came to a dead stop when his two kids (4 and under) came onto the course to run to the finish with him. It was very cute, and I feel badly for bitching, but the finish chute was narrow, and he should have stepped aside to let people pass before taking up the whole chute and running very slowly. I actually slowed to a near walk to give him some space, as there was a photographer catching everyone at the finish line and I didn't want to ruin his shot. Of course, I also wanted a good shot, so it wasn't entirely altruistic!
I finished! I got the photo, and someone immediately removes your ankle timing chip and someone else puts a finisher's medal around your neck. One of the finish line volunteers grabbed my arm and asked me if I was okay, so I think I looked pretty rough. Then, they shove you right into a line to pick up a wristband for the lunch buffet. There was no clear area for water or food immediately after the race, I was crammed into a crowd of sweaty athletes who were all taller than me so I felt really stifled, I was hurting, I couldn't see Rob, and I totally started to cry and hyperventilate. I had to bend over and catch my breath for a moment, and actually another finisher who was yelling about how stupid that situation was made me laugh and calmed me down a bit. They had two people handing out wristbands, checking you off the list, no clear place to buy a wristband for significant others, it took for-freaking-ever, and it was totally stupid.
After I was wristbanded, I found the food table. I was dying for water and a banana. The food table had cookies, and only cookies. No bananas. They'd run out. Also, the people handing out water were trying to hand out little paper cups of it, but the nice lady took one look at me and gave me a huge bottle. I drank half of the thing on one fell swoop, dumped some over my face, and started scanning the crowd for Rob, who magically appeared! He missed my finish because the traffic was so bad and he got stuck in it, but the finish line was so crowded I don't think he would have gotten a good shot anyway.
Turns out after my first transition, he'd walked the ~1 mile back to the hotel to get the car to try and catch me on the bike, but apparently I beat him to it - he drove to the turnaround and took a bunch of photos of other cyclists, then came back to try and find me but I'd already gone into the run - that's where he caught me! Then he had to park the car and try and find me on the run course, but again I beat him to the finish line.
Here are my final stats, and you can see how much better my swimming is by my ranking after that leg versus the other legs of the race:
Overall Place: 447/816 finishers
Overall Age Group Place: 28/73
Swim Time: 24:24
Overall Rank After Swim: 83
Age Group Rank After Swim: 4!!!!!!
Swim Pace: 1:28 per 100 meters
Transition 1 Time: 0:57
Bike Time: 1:28:55
Bike Pace: 16.7 mph (!!)
Overall Rank After Bike: 188
Transition 2 Time: 1:09
Run Time: 1:09:11
Run Pace: 11:10 per mile (!!)
Overall Rank After Run: 447
Total Time: 3:04:34
Yeah, can you see where I'm weakest? I suck at running! I lost 300 places after the bike! HA HA!
After the race, we hung out for the after party for a bit, had a beer, then headed back to the room and fell asleep for like two hours. We got up and got ready for the TNT Victory Party that started at 6PM, and as we were walking over to the bar for a quick cocktail pre-party, I GOT ENGAGED!
What a day! There's going to be another whole post about the proposal, don't worry. It was sweet and took me totally by surprise, which apparently was the biggest challenge for Rob because apparently I pay very close attention to events and behavior and he didn't want to tip me off with a big romantic dinner on the beach or some other obvious thing...
Yay yay yay!
My nerves were a mess as I squeezed into my tri "uniform," but my gear was ready to go. We headed to the lobby to check-in with the TNT team manager at 5:30, then walked the ~1 mile to the transition area in the pitch black morning. Rob announced that he was taking credit for being my coach, but really ended up being my own personal paprazzi - he got some amazing photos that I'll upload once we're back on the mainland.
You could see the transition area from quite a ways away, as it was lit up with stadium lights. Or, you could just follow the steady stream of cyclists who were heading the same direction.
I got there and found my bike slot: bib number 344, third row from the front, about 1/4 of the way in, on the right side. The space we got was tiny: only the area to the right (as you look at the bike) of the bike, and your gear could not extend beyond the front tire upon penalty or rearrangement by the staff. As I planned to bike and run in what I swam in, I really only needed to place my bike shoes, helmet, sunglasses, hair tie, running shoes, and water bottle in my allotted area. Then, it was off to get body-marked, where they stamp your bib number on both of your arms. Once I was marked with "344" on both arms I got in another line to pick up my timing chip, a little electronic-containing plastic piece attached to a velcro ankle-strap. We had one for the Stanford Treeathlon that was all velcro and left me with a nasty deep cut on my ankle, and I was worried about a repeat so I slapped a big band-aid over that region. Thankfully, the timing chips were neoprene with just a velcro attacher part, so I didn't even notice it.
So that was done around 6:15, and the race didn't officially begin until 7:30. Of course.
I ended up hanging out in the transition area with a bunch of the TNT-ers, taking photos (but not with my camera because I was too dumb to bring it!) and stressing out. When we finally went down to the water we took an official Team photo - all 108 of us! We are the largest TNT faction by far, so cramming us all into the photo was quite the adventure, but we did it!
Then, people were hopping into the water to warm up and before I knew it the race was starting.
The waves were as follows and were three minutes apart:
Wave 1: Pros/elites and relays
Wave 2: Men 15-39
Wave 3: Men 40 and over
Wave 4: Women 15-39
Wave 5: Women 40 and over
Each wave had its own cap color: Pros were orange, relays were white; men 15-39 were red; men 40 and over were green; women 15-39 were pink; and women 40 and over were yellow.
Before I even get into the race itself, let me just call bullshit on starting the younger women after the older men, and starting the waves three minutes apart. Actually, let me call bullshit on generally starting the women after the men. You'll see why in a minute.
So, the waves begin, and before I know it wave three is getting into position, so I just followed them into the water and hung out behind them so I could get a good starting position. I am convinced that half the battle in the swim (and it is a battle, trust me) is where you position yourself, and I want to be in the front.
As the men leave the women swim into position and for the next three minutes we are crammed up against each other in water too deep to stand in, and it's all arms and legs and kicking and pushing and grabbing and maneuvering for position. I had to really fight to just keep my spot two or three people back from the front line, and that was not ideal for me.
And all of a sudden we're starting! Splashing and kicking and elbows and feet and shoving and trying not to swallow water or have your goggles knocked off and where's that first bouy and am I going in a straight line and who's this bitch next to me trying to steal my line and can I just get in front of her enough to hook my elbow on her shoulder and push off? Total chaos. Usually, in the open water swims I've done previously, the field spreads out and you end up with your own water in which you can swim smoothly.
This race, however, was a battle from start to finish. This was directly due to two things: 1) starting the older men immediately prior to the younger women, and 2) the 3-minute lag between waves. The course was rectangular with left turns, and as soon as we rounded the first buoy into our first left turn we encountered the slower men from the wave before us. Soon, there were hoards of men from the previous wave. Now, not only were we swimming with each other (the faster women from the "pink" wave were pretty well spread out and had lots of space), we were swimming "with" less experienced swimmers, some of which were doing breaststroke right in your face (big faux pas). It was one bog jockey for position, and passing got increasingly difficult as we encountered more and more green caps, in fact sometimes a wall of green caps, and then I saw some of the red caps - the men from two waves in front!
Clearly, a three-minute separation is not enough if swimmers from two waves back are catching up.
Ugh.
So, the finish was a zoo - they funnel you into this narrow space and the beaches are not sand. I swam for as long as I possibly could - into water that was probably less than knee-deep - before I hooked my fingers into the rocks and pulled myself into a standing position. I sprinted out of the water and heard "Go Megan!" and when I looked to my right there was Rob, right up against the rope with his camera pointed right at me! He got an amazing video of me running up the sand. And then apparently followed me, as he has photos of me running into transition and then getting ready for the bike!
In transition, I tied back my hair, put on my sunglasses, and put on my helmet (in that order) first. Then, I shoved socks onto my feet and crammed my feet into my bike shoes. I got these "quick zip" shoelaces that you don't have to tie, and my transition time was a full minute faster than the Stanford Treeathlon one (count for 60 seconds and see how long that actually feels - now imagine that under pressure in a race!). I took an electrolyte pill, washed it down with electrolyte fluid, chewed on a ShotBlock, then I grabbed my bike and jogged it towards the mount line, which you have to cross before you can get on your bike to avoid running innocent bystanders over.
I got on the bike and the route took us out to the main road, which was part of the actual Ironman Triathlon race course! Once out there, we were riding on pavement through lavafields in the sun. The route out was mostly uphill and into a small headwind. I am clearly not a very good cyclist, because almost immediately I was getting passed profusely. Seriously, people were jamming by me at an alarming rate. On the uphills they started calling out encouraging words, which makes me think that perhaps I wasn't looking so strong. I think I'll start blaming my bike.
At one point I was passed by a hoard of TNT men, one of whom, as he was passing me, said, "I knew you were a fast swimmer!" To which I replied: "Yes but clearly that's the only part I'm good at!" And I think I heard him laughing as he rode away.
But whatever - it was MY race, and I was going at MY pace. I figured holding 12 mph (so a 2-hour ride) was a good estimate, but all of a sudden I was at the turn-around! We took a hard right off the highway onto a steep downhill, then a VERY sharp left, over a speedbump (that was fun), through a dark tunnel, then a sharp left and up a huge hill, another left then a quick right back onto the highway but heading the other direction. This part was ridiculous fun - mostly downhill, no headwind, and I was flying. Oh, I was still getting passed, albeit less often, but I was really flying. I actually passed a person or two myself! The course is notorious for causing flat tires - one woman had three last year! I was appropriately paranoid, and brought with me two tubes, two CO2 cartridges to inflate them, tire irons, and a patch kit just in case. But, I also utilized my amazing tire-puncturing-debris-avoidance skills and managed to finish the bike with tires intact! Also, Rob had re-installed my pedals (you have to ship the bike sans pedals) and put on a two-water-bottle-carrier onto my seat post (which involved removing the seat and then re-adjusting seat height), and he was worried the pedals were going to spontaneously fall off during the race or that the seat wasn't the right height or that the water bottle holder would disintegrate or something, but they all held quite well! I made sure to drink a LOT of liquid (two big water bottles worth!) and eat a bunch of shot blocks (two packs!) during the ride, so I felt a little sloshy at the end of it...
Before I knew it was heading back towards the transition area, which was lined with people, but I couldn't see Rob anywhere! Apparently he'd walked back to the hotel (~1 mile), picked up the car, and driven the bike route - where he stopped at the halfway point to try and catch me. Unfortunately I had already passed that point by the time he was there...
Riding back to the transition area was exciting! People crowded up against the railings and cheering as we rode in and dismounted, then jogged our bikes back into the gated area to re-rack it and strip off the bike shoes, sunglasses and helmet, shove on the running shoes, slap my hat on my head, grab my water bottle, turn my number from back to front, and head out on the run. Still no sign of Rob though!
The run took us out over a dirt/lava path, then onto blacktop. The sun was shining and it was pretty warm, and after a 25-mile bike ride I was starting to drag. My legs were really tight and it took about three miles for them to loosen up. As I was running the first half, up a little hill, on the blacktop, who do I see running across the street with his camera but Rob! He'd caught me in the car, pulled over to the side of the road and got out to get some photos and yell encouragement at me - that was the hardest part of the race, I think - those first three miles were brutal. Blacktop, not a lot to look at, hot...
The aid stations were great - because I had a water bottle already I didn't need to drink water, but I took water at each station and dumped it over my head. Right before mile 3 there was an aid station that had a huge bag of ice, and there was a boy putting handfuls in people's hats - brilliant! I ran the next couple of miles with a hatful of ice cubes that melted down my neck and dripped off the brim, and was a convenient stash for chewing. I just reached up, pulled a cube out of my hat, and popped it in my mouth!
After mile three we cut into the resorts, and the run got really interesting. We ran right by our room, through the Hilton grounds, where people had their law chairs turned to face us and were cheering as they lay motionless in the sun (or in the shade, or in the pool, the bastards). We ran by pools and waterfalls and frolicking children. I thought about hopping into one of the pool really quickly but decided soggy running shoes sounded miserable.
The course took us on a single-track dirt and rock path with a 6-foot drop into the ocean, which was exciting. I ended up behind a woman who was a little slow, and soon enough there was a big line of people behind us. I finally passed her but then had to step aside a few times to let faster runners through, which was a bit scary - you did not want to fall in that area.
After the single-track gauntlet, we wound around the resort through some trees and over a trail that was entirely lava rocks. After that much time in the sun exerting yourself, it's a bit scary to try and navigate such a treacherous path, and I was petrified I was going to twist and ankle or trip and fall, and I slowed way down. There were people scattered through the trees cheering for us - a lot of women cheering specifically for the female racers, which was funny - lots of "go women!" on the trail.
Emerging from the lava trail through the trees put us onto the last 1/4ish mile, which was all on soft sand. I think people were walking faster than I was running at that point, but I was actually running. I got passed by a bunch of people who turned on the speed for a strong finish, and I made the executive decision to just cruise right in.
I did try to pick up the pace right at the end, but the guy in front of me came to a dead stop when his two kids (4 and under) came onto the course to run to the finish with him. It was very cute, and I feel badly for bitching, but the finish chute was narrow, and he should have stepped aside to let people pass before taking up the whole chute and running very slowly. I actually slowed to a near walk to give him some space, as there was a photographer catching everyone at the finish line and I didn't want to ruin his shot. Of course, I also wanted a good shot, so it wasn't entirely altruistic!
I finished! I got the photo, and someone immediately removes your ankle timing chip and someone else puts a finisher's medal around your neck. One of the finish line volunteers grabbed my arm and asked me if I was okay, so I think I looked pretty rough. Then, they shove you right into a line to pick up a wristband for the lunch buffet. There was no clear area for water or food immediately after the race, I was crammed into a crowd of sweaty athletes who were all taller than me so I felt really stifled, I was hurting, I couldn't see Rob, and I totally started to cry and hyperventilate. I had to bend over and catch my breath for a moment, and actually another finisher who was yelling about how stupid that situation was made me laugh and calmed me down a bit. They had two people handing out wristbands, checking you off the list, no clear place to buy a wristband for significant others, it took for-freaking-ever, and it was totally stupid.
After I was wristbanded, I found the food table. I was dying for water and a banana. The food table had cookies, and only cookies. No bananas. They'd run out. Also, the people handing out water were trying to hand out little paper cups of it, but the nice lady took one look at me and gave me a huge bottle. I drank half of the thing on one fell swoop, dumped some over my face, and started scanning the crowd for Rob, who magically appeared! He missed my finish because the traffic was so bad and he got stuck in it, but the finish line was so crowded I don't think he would have gotten a good shot anyway.
Turns out after my first transition, he'd walked the ~1 mile back to the hotel to get the car to try and catch me on the bike, but apparently I beat him to it - he drove to the turnaround and took a bunch of photos of other cyclists, then came back to try and find me but I'd already gone into the run - that's where he caught me! Then he had to park the car and try and find me on the run course, but again I beat him to the finish line.
Here are my final stats, and you can see how much better my swimming is by my ranking after that leg versus the other legs of the race:
Overall Place: 447/816 finishers
Overall Age Group Place: 28/73
Swim Time: 24:24
Overall Rank After Swim: 83
Age Group Rank After Swim: 4!!!!!!
Swim Pace: 1:28 per 100 meters
Transition 1 Time: 0:57
Bike Time: 1:28:55
Bike Pace: 16.7 mph (!!)
Overall Rank After Bike: 188
Transition 2 Time: 1:09
Run Time: 1:09:11
Run Pace: 11:10 per mile (!!)
Overall Rank After Run: 447
Total Time: 3:04:34
Yeah, can you see where I'm weakest? I suck at running! I lost 300 places after the bike! HA HA!
After the race, we hung out for the after party for a bit, had a beer, then headed back to the room and fell asleep for like two hours. We got up and got ready for the TNT Victory Party that started at 6PM, and as we were walking over to the bar for a quick cocktail pre-party, I GOT ENGAGED!
What a day! There's going to be another whole post about the proposal, don't worry. It was sweet and took me totally by surprise, which apparently was the biggest challenge for Rob because apparently I pay very close attention to events and behavior and he didn't want to tip me off with a big romantic dinner on the beach or some other obvious thing...
Yay yay yay!
Sunday, March 28, 2010
I Did It!
Just a quick post to say a couple of things:
1. I did it!
2. I finished WAY faster than I thought I would - I think I came in at just over 3 hours, and I think so because as I was getting close to the finish a woman yelled out the time (10:39, which would be three hours after I started) and I was about a half mile from the finish line.
3. Rob was a rock star and my own personal paparazzi.
4. I am going to take a nap now.
1. I did it!
2. I finished WAY faster than I thought I would - I think I came in at just over 3 hours, and I think so because as I was getting close to the finish a woman yelled out the time (10:39, which would be three hours after I started) and I was about a half mile from the finish line.
3. Rob was a rock star and my own personal paparazzi.
4. I am going to take a nap now.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Gear
There's a lot of it.
I just spent the past two hours laying everything out and going over it and over it. Thank god Rob came back from his crazy day of flying to help me get my double-water-bottle cage on the seat post as I was busy packing everything else.
Here's my race day grand plan:
I am not adding or removing clothing - what I swim in will also be what I bike and run in. This will be black, very sexy (ha!) tri shorts, a tri sports bra, and the Team in Training jersey over that.
After the swim, I will jog to the transition area to shove my feet into socks and my bike shoes, and I will clip on the race belt that I have already attached my number (344) to. For the bike, this number will be in the back. My hair will get tied into a low ponytail, my sunglasses will donned, and the last thing I will do is put my helmet on before I touch the bike (under penalty of disqualification!). Then, jog the bike to the "mount line" and get on and ride away!
The bike course is part of the infamous Ironman course, and is notorious for winds. Great. I have two water bottles already full of gatorade in the fridge, two replacement tubes, two CO2 cartridges, a patch kit and tire irons (or whatever they're called), as well as one Cliff bar that I will eat as fast as I can and three bags of shot blocks (two Cran-Razz and one Margarita with Salt flavor). The course will be hot, so I will also take one electrolyte pill. If you've ever seen me workout you know I sweat. A lot. It's not cute. There are also aid stations on the bike route, so if I finish a bottle and need water I will grab one and chuck my empty bottle.
Bike will be dismounted at the "dismount line" and I will jog back into the transition area to re-rack my bike, yank off the bike shoes and shove my running shoes on my feet, spin my number around to the front (as we are required to have it in front for the run segment), remove my sunglasses (which I always forget and thus end up running with sunglasses in my hand), grab my third water bottle and take the bag of shot blocks, and exit for the run.
There will be two aid stations for the run, so if I decide I hate running with the bottle (I doubt it, I ran an entire half-marathon holding a water bottle and shot blocks) I can chuck it and stop at the stations.
Rob has kindly offered to come with me tomorrow morning to help me get set up and ready to go, and then he will probably position himself strategically close to both the event and the bar. At least that's what I would do!
After the race, which finishes on the soft sand (which I am not happy about - ever run on soft sand? After a 1.5K swim/40K bike/10K run? In the heat?), there will be an awards ceremony for the speed demons (we fully expect our coach to be on the podium as an overall placer, he's that fast), then the fun really begins!
There will be an after-party at the pool, with drinks and food, and then I will probably take a long, hard nap before the victory party officially begins at 6PM tomorrow night.
I am very excited and a bit nervous! Woo hoo!
I just spent the past two hours laying everything out and going over it and over it. Thank god Rob came back from his crazy day of flying to help me get my double-water-bottle cage on the seat post as I was busy packing everything else.
Here's my race day grand plan:
I am not adding or removing clothing - what I swim in will also be what I bike and run in. This will be black, very sexy (ha!) tri shorts, a tri sports bra, and the Team in Training jersey over that.
After the swim, I will jog to the transition area to shove my feet into socks and my bike shoes, and I will clip on the race belt that I have already attached my number (344) to. For the bike, this number will be in the back. My hair will get tied into a low ponytail, my sunglasses will donned, and the last thing I will do is put my helmet on before I touch the bike (under penalty of disqualification!). Then, jog the bike to the "mount line" and get on and ride away!
The bike course is part of the infamous Ironman course, and is notorious for winds. Great. I have two water bottles already full of gatorade in the fridge, two replacement tubes, two CO2 cartridges, a patch kit and tire irons (or whatever they're called), as well as one Cliff bar that I will eat as fast as I can and three bags of shot blocks (two Cran-Razz and one Margarita with Salt flavor). The course will be hot, so I will also take one electrolyte pill. If you've ever seen me workout you know I sweat. A lot. It's not cute. There are also aid stations on the bike route, so if I finish a bottle and need water I will grab one and chuck my empty bottle.
Bike will be dismounted at the "dismount line" and I will jog back into the transition area to re-rack my bike, yank off the bike shoes and shove my running shoes on my feet, spin my number around to the front (as we are required to have it in front for the run segment), remove my sunglasses (which I always forget and thus end up running with sunglasses in my hand), grab my third water bottle and take the bag of shot blocks, and exit for the run.
There will be two aid stations for the run, so if I decide I hate running with the bottle (I doubt it, I ran an entire half-marathon holding a water bottle and shot blocks) I can chuck it and stop at the stations.
Rob has kindly offered to come with me tomorrow morning to help me get set up and ready to go, and then he will probably position himself strategically close to both the event and the bar. At least that's what I would do!
After the race, which finishes on the soft sand (which I am not happy about - ever run on soft sand? After a 1.5K swim/40K bike/10K run? In the heat?), there will be an awards ceremony for the speed demons (we fully expect our coach to be on the podium as an overall placer, he's that fast), then the fun really begins!
There will be an after-party at the pool, with drinks and food, and then I will probably take a long, hard nap before the victory party officially begins at 6PM tomorrow night.
I am very excited and a bit nervous! Woo hoo!
Hawaii (continued)
Once I settled into the room, I headed for the bar. Hey, it was only Thursday and I knew Friday and Saturday were going to be pretty dry days, so I figured I had to check it out. I walked through the grounds and sat at an open-air bar and had a beer or two and ended up chatting with a couple of other women who are also doing the race, two older women who happen to be Canadian (there was some bonding there about Newfoundland and Regina), and the race announcer himself. The announcer actually walked with me for a minute to point out part of the run course and to show me the general direction of the finish line (yay!). Turns out we will run on the pathway that abuts the bar, so I'm hoping people will be squirting beer at us as we run by.
I picked Rob up from the airport around 5 and after we got him settled into the hotel we had a lovely dinner at Roy's. Yes, I had my own souffle, and it was even Rob's idea to get two. As we were celebrating his birthday, they'd printed up special menus with "Happy birthday Robert" at the top and wrote out the same in chocolate on his souffle plate.
Yesterday we got in the car and tried to find the part of this island that we think Hawaii is supposed to look like. We nearly succeeded - we drove up into the hills and then north, and had spectacular views of this side of the island (barren, jutting volcanic rock from volcano top to just before the ocean, where the green abruptly starts and is marked by palm trees). We stopped on the north shore at a little ocean park and got some nice photos, then headed back south. We stopped at a place called the "Seafood Bar" for lunch, but after we sat down and enjoyed the view of the refinery (or something else with toxic waste holding tanks) we decided to change venues. We ended up at the Macaroni Grill right by the hotel.
At 2PM I picked up my bike, which couldn't have been easier - they were all racked and tagged and you just wandered around and took yours out. I guess I should have upgraded! I inflated my tires and checked it over and all looked good.
Last night (Friday) we'd booked a night dive to go see the manta rays. That was hands down one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. The boat takes you ~30 minutes up the coast to a little cove, and after dark the dive guides take a basket of floodlights to the bottom and shines them upwards. The scuba divers all kneel on the bottom and shine floodlights up, and the snorkelers float at the surface and shine floodlights down. This attracts plankton, which manta rays eat. Actually, before we were even in the water there was a manta ray swimming at the back of the boat, attracted by the plankton that was attracted by the lights on the bottom of the boat. When we jumped in there were four huge rays swimming around us.
We swam about 20 yards over the lights that they call the campfire, and set up shop. There were over 14 manta rays, and as the local biologists have been studying them they all have names. Our guide kept a list of which rays were present and was able to name 14, but couldn't get a good look at the 3 or 4 that were hanging around the outskirts.
We spent 40 minutes underwater, watching the rays do somersaults, swoop down at you and avoid your head at the last second, flap their "wings" in your face, and it was absolutely spectacular. They are huge, huge creatures - some had a "wingspan" of ~15 or 16 feet! They direct plantkton-filled water into their guts with two little arm-like appendages at the front of their mouths, and then when they are heading your direction it's a bit intimidating. They look like they're going to eat you, and you can shine your floodlight right into their smooth guts. They swoop down right at you, "mouths" open, and then, right at the last second, they redirect and just barely brush the top of your head.
In case you don't know what a manta ray looks like:
And imagine that 15 feet wide. It seriously was one of the coolest things I've ever seen in my life.
I was in bed at 10:30 last night after one glass of wine, and this morning was up early to meet the team and go for a swim in the ocean.
We walked down to the start, saw the transition area being set up, saw the finish (on soft sand. Waaah.), and checked out where the swim course would be set up. The buoys weren't out yet, but they were being inflated and we could at least see the bay. It was amazing - calm and blue and 78 degrees. Heaven! We swam for about 15 or 20 minutes and then I ended up walking through some shops and heading back to the hotel, where I picked up my race packet. It has all of my numbers and the information I need for race day tomorrow. I also picked up some schwag - got a bike jersey and a visor! I'm very excited - the swim felt fantastic and I feel good.
Now, I am back in the room and about to take a quick nap/rest before Rob comes back from his day-long adventure flying some super sporty plane (he calls is the corvette of small planes, sounds fun). I have to then set up all my race gear, then there's a pre-race meeting at 5PM today, then it's out to dinner and then immeidately to bed. The team meets in the lobby at 5:30 tomorrow morning and the transition area opens at 6. Race starts at 7:30 sharp!
Just think, in 24 hours I'll have a beer in my hand...
I picked Rob up from the airport around 5 and after we got him settled into the hotel we had a lovely dinner at Roy's. Yes, I had my own souffle, and it was even Rob's idea to get two. As we were celebrating his birthday, they'd printed up special menus with "Happy birthday Robert" at the top and wrote out the same in chocolate on his souffle plate.
Yesterday we got in the car and tried to find the part of this island that we think Hawaii is supposed to look like. We nearly succeeded - we drove up into the hills and then north, and had spectacular views of this side of the island (barren, jutting volcanic rock from volcano top to just before the ocean, where the green abruptly starts and is marked by palm trees). We stopped on the north shore at a little ocean park and got some nice photos, then headed back south. We stopped at a place called the "Seafood Bar" for lunch, but after we sat down and enjoyed the view of the refinery (or something else with toxic waste holding tanks) we decided to change venues. We ended up at the Macaroni Grill right by the hotel.
At 2PM I picked up my bike, which couldn't have been easier - they were all racked and tagged and you just wandered around and took yours out. I guess I should have upgraded! I inflated my tires and checked it over and all looked good.
Last night (Friday) we'd booked a night dive to go see the manta rays. That was hands down one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. The boat takes you ~30 minutes up the coast to a little cove, and after dark the dive guides take a basket of floodlights to the bottom and shines them upwards. The scuba divers all kneel on the bottom and shine floodlights up, and the snorkelers float at the surface and shine floodlights down. This attracts plankton, which manta rays eat. Actually, before we were even in the water there was a manta ray swimming at the back of the boat, attracted by the plankton that was attracted by the lights on the bottom of the boat. When we jumped in there were four huge rays swimming around us.
We swam about 20 yards over the lights that they call the campfire, and set up shop. There were over 14 manta rays, and as the local biologists have been studying them they all have names. Our guide kept a list of which rays were present and was able to name 14, but couldn't get a good look at the 3 or 4 that were hanging around the outskirts.
We spent 40 minutes underwater, watching the rays do somersaults, swoop down at you and avoid your head at the last second, flap their "wings" in your face, and it was absolutely spectacular. They are huge, huge creatures - some had a "wingspan" of ~15 or 16 feet! They direct plantkton-filled water into their guts with two little arm-like appendages at the front of their mouths, and then when they are heading your direction it's a bit intimidating. They look like they're going to eat you, and you can shine your floodlight right into their smooth guts. They swoop down right at you, "mouths" open, and then, right at the last second, they redirect and just barely brush the top of your head.
In case you don't know what a manta ray looks like:
I was in bed at 10:30 last night after one glass of wine, and this morning was up early to meet the team and go for a swim in the ocean.
We walked down to the start, saw the transition area being set up, saw the finish (on soft sand. Waaah.), and checked out where the swim course would be set up. The buoys weren't out yet, but they were being inflated and we could at least see the bay. It was amazing - calm and blue and 78 degrees. Heaven! We swam for about 15 or 20 minutes and then I ended up walking through some shops and heading back to the hotel, where I picked up my race packet. It has all of my numbers and the information I need for race day tomorrow. I also picked up some schwag - got a bike jersey and a visor! I'm very excited - the swim felt fantastic and I feel good.
Now, I am back in the room and about to take a quick nap/rest before Rob comes back from his day-long adventure flying some super sporty plane (he calls is the corvette of small planes, sounds fun). I have to then set up all my race gear, then there's a pre-race meeting at 5PM today, then it's out to dinner and then immeidately to bed. The team meets in the lobby at 5:30 tomorrow morning and the transition area opens at 6. Race starts at 7:30 sharp!
Just think, in 24 hours I'll have a beer in my hand...
Hawaii
Rob and I arrived on the Big Island of Hawaii in Kona almost 48 hours ago and it's been pretty action-packed.
The plane flew between Maui and Hawaii, landing over the water. The landscape here is moon-like and it's apparent that this is an active volcano, or at least was recently. Lava rocks cover everything. The only green parts are where people have planted trees or grass, right near the coast. The highway cuts about a half-mile inland and runs along the coast but is carved into this violent tumble of brown and black lava rocks. Clearly we are on the dry side of the island, and clearly eruptions occurred recently. So recent, in fact, that in places you can see "No Parking" signs swallowed up to their necks in black hardened lava. Once your back is to the ocean, everything slopes uphill to the highest peak in Hawaii, Mauna Kea, which rises over 13,000 feet into the sky. There are clouds swirling around its peak constantly and it doesn't look very hospitable, yet at night you can see dots of light where people carved out towns and manage to live.
It's not pretty.
The water, on the other hand, is stunning. Dark blue and turquoise up against the browns and blacks is really striking, and best of all is that it's warm. The heat and humidity is not that bad (yet), and I am growing more confident that (a) I will not die and (b) I will not be last.
After we arrived we picked up the rental car and I took Rob over to the Tropic Bird charter flight company, which is housed in a trailer next to the airport. He went on a check ride with the local flight instructor and I went to the hotel to get us checked in.
This hotel is like nowhere I have ever stayed. Once you veer off the moonscape of the main highway towards the ocean you can see the enclave of tourist hotels and condos by the bright green palms and grass. The grass, where planted, abuts this explosion of lava rock and it's a very interesting juxtaposition.
I arrived to find the nicest valet guy, who took all 5 bags (3 were Rob's) and had them sent directly to my room. Check in was quick and painless, and we are staying in room 2263 in the Palace Tower. There are four buildings, separated by paths and lagoons and pools and restaurants. I think there are like 15 restaurants in this hotel alone. To get to my room I could either take the tram or the boat. The tram wasn't there, but the boat was, so I climbed aboard and literally road a Disneyland-esque tracked boat to the Palace Tower through gorgeous grounds with bird sanctuaries and Koi ponds and Japanese-influenced landscaping and decoration. The tower we are in is maybe 7 stories high and the center is open-air with huge trees. We are on the second floor in a humongous room with a king bed, couch, table-and-chairs, pretty big bathroom and a walk-in closet. Oh, and air-conditioning. Thank god for that.
I have to run - there's a swim this morning and I have to start walking to the lobby as it takes 15 minutes (no joke, it's like a mile to the lobby) - but will finish updating later this afternoon when I finally have some free time...
The plane flew between Maui and Hawaii, landing over the water. The landscape here is moon-like and it's apparent that this is an active volcano, or at least was recently. Lava rocks cover everything. The only green parts are where people have planted trees or grass, right near the coast. The highway cuts about a half-mile inland and runs along the coast but is carved into this violent tumble of brown and black lava rocks. Clearly we are on the dry side of the island, and clearly eruptions occurred recently. So recent, in fact, that in places you can see "No Parking" signs swallowed up to their necks in black hardened lava. Once your back is to the ocean, everything slopes uphill to the highest peak in Hawaii, Mauna Kea, which rises over 13,000 feet into the sky. There are clouds swirling around its peak constantly and it doesn't look very hospitable, yet at night you can see dots of light where people carved out towns and manage to live.
It's not pretty.
The water, on the other hand, is stunning. Dark blue and turquoise up against the browns and blacks is really striking, and best of all is that it's warm. The heat and humidity is not that bad (yet), and I am growing more confident that (a) I will not die and (b) I will not be last.
After we arrived we picked up the rental car and I took Rob over to the Tropic Bird charter flight company, which is housed in a trailer next to the airport. He went on a check ride with the local flight instructor and I went to the hotel to get us checked in.
This hotel is like nowhere I have ever stayed. Once you veer off the moonscape of the main highway towards the ocean you can see the enclave of tourist hotels and condos by the bright green palms and grass. The grass, where planted, abuts this explosion of lava rock and it's a very interesting juxtaposition.
I arrived to find the nicest valet guy, who took all 5 bags (3 were Rob's) and had them sent directly to my room. Check in was quick and painless, and we are staying in room 2263 in the Palace Tower. There are four buildings, separated by paths and lagoons and pools and restaurants. I think there are like 15 restaurants in this hotel alone. To get to my room I could either take the tram or the boat. The tram wasn't there, but the boat was, so I climbed aboard and literally road a Disneyland-esque tracked boat to the Palace Tower through gorgeous grounds with bird sanctuaries and Koi ponds and Japanese-influenced landscaping and decoration. The tower we are in is maybe 7 stories high and the center is open-air with huge trees. We are on the second floor in a humongous room with a king bed, couch, table-and-chairs, pretty big bathroom and a walk-in closet. Oh, and air-conditioning. Thank god for that.
I have to run - there's a swim this morning and I have to start walking to the lobby as it takes 15 minutes (no joke, it's like a mile to the lobby) - but will finish updating later this afternoon when I finally have some free time...
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Ready, Set, Get on the Plane!
Tomorrow Rob and I get on the plane to Hawaii. The car comes to pick us up at 6:15, and we arrive in Kona (nonstop, thankfully!) around 11:30AM. I love flying west.
Our flight info on the way there is:
United flight 0059, departing SFO at 8:46AM
We are staying at the Hilton Waikoloa (both our names on the reservation in case you want to call!) from the 25th until the 30th.
I have two bags packed and ready to go - one small one that contains all of my race gear (and darn is there a lot of gear!) and a large one that contains all of my other shit. I have a lot of shit. I need to bring casual clothes (clearly, it's Hawaii), dressy clothes as we have multiple fancy schmancy dinners planned, beach gear/towels, toiletries/hair dryer, make-up... There's a lot of shit. My bag is heavy. Thankfully I am not trusted to carry luggage over the hardwood floors (as they are not especially hard) so I'm sure Rob will take it out to the car tomorrow morning. :-)
I'm excited. I went for a very quick run today on the trails above UCSC, just about 3 miles or so (maybe a little less). I run the same trails and am very familiar with the terrain, and at the end of these runs is a very steep uphill section that always leaves me winded. I focus on it, and struggle up it, but have gotten better and better at it. When I started running, I could hardly make it up that hill at all in actual running form; my feet barely came off the ground and it was a struggle to actually run. Today, I was so lost in thought as I was running that when I came back into my head I realized I was already up the hill! And even better, I felt great!
This afternoon I spent running errands and doing laundry and packing, and am ready to go. I just have to zip the big suitcase and go to bed.
Aye, there's the rub.
I'm not tired. And there's leftover chocolate cake that I desperately want to eat. Hm, I'll be right back...
Our flight info on the way there is:
United flight 0059, departing SFO at 8:46AM
We are staying at the Hilton Waikoloa (both our names on the reservation in case you want to call!) from the 25th until the 30th.
I have two bags packed and ready to go - one small one that contains all of my race gear (and darn is there a lot of gear!) and a large one that contains all of my other shit. I have a lot of shit. I need to bring casual clothes (clearly, it's Hawaii), dressy clothes as we have multiple fancy schmancy dinners planned, beach gear/towels, toiletries/hair dryer, make-up... There's a lot of shit. My bag is heavy. Thankfully I am not trusted to carry luggage over the hardwood floors (as they are not especially hard) so I'm sure Rob will take it out to the car tomorrow morning. :-)
I'm excited. I went for a very quick run today on the trails above UCSC, just about 3 miles or so (maybe a little less). I run the same trails and am very familiar with the terrain, and at the end of these runs is a very steep uphill section that always leaves me winded. I focus on it, and struggle up it, but have gotten better and better at it. When I started running, I could hardly make it up that hill at all in actual running form; my feet barely came off the ground and it was a struggle to actually run. Today, I was so lost in thought as I was running that when I came back into my head I realized I was already up the hill! And even better, I felt great!
This afternoon I spent running errands and doing laundry and packing, and am ready to go. I just have to zip the big suitcase and go to bed.
Aye, there's the rub.
I'm not tired. And there's leftover chocolate cake that I desperately want to eat. Hm, I'll be right back...
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Bad Blogger and Taper
Yes yes, I have been a bad blogger. This will be a long post.
My workouts have been good, albeit short. We have been tapering our workouts for the past week-and-a-half and suddenly I have so much energy I don't know what to do with myself. Thursday I went for a 6-mile run and then took my bike to get shipped to Hawaii - so I have been bike-less for the past week! Very exciting. Friday I went for a 2400-yard swim as follows:
600 yards free
2 x 300 yards free
4 x 150 yards free
8 x 75 yards free
Saturday morning was the last official coached TNT workout of the season. I cannot believe it's over already! We met at an elementary school and ran about 1.5 miles up to a cemetery where we gathered around the grave of Louis, a former TNT memeber and Leukemia (or lymphoma, I can't remember) sufferer is buried. There were about 40 of us, in our running gear, scattered on the grass. One member got up and spoke about Louis, the work we are doing, the good that the funds we raise will do. Another member got up and spoke about a young girl suffering from lymphoma who is back in the hospital and is, apparently, not going to make it. Not a dry eye in the house. Then, the floor was opened up to us, and people stood and told their stories.
One woman spent the last three months of her mother's life caring for her as her mother died a slow death from cervical cancer. She thanked Team in Training for giving her her life back. Another member is a wife and mother with two kids, and is currently being treated for lymphoma. Another woman confessed that she'd missed the first weeks of workouts because she thought her cancer had recurred and had to have surgery, and her previous treatments left her with a weakened heart. One man lost his brother to cancer. Another lost his best friend. Our coach's wife survived lymphoma, but her treatment left her with one paralyzed lung. Each of these people is training right next to me. I feel like the luckiest person in the world and I think I will never complain again (or at least until we get to a later part of this post). About halfway through I had to tune out - it felt like we were being flogged with these stories and it was a bit much to take in.
After the sob-fest was over, we ran back to our starting point and enjoyed bagels and fruit and juice before we started talking about our Hawaii schedule...
I go to Hawaii in TWO DAYS! WOO!
The schedule is as follows:
Rob and I arrive Thursday at 11:30 in the morning. We pick up our rental car, and then I take Rob directly to back to the airport where he will go on a check ride with the local pilots for the afternoon. They will make sure he is proficient with that model plane so they feel comfortable renting it to him so we can fly around the island like crazy people.
Thursday I check into the hotel and go for a short jog, mostly to get a feel for how freaking hot it's going to be. Seriously, I might die. It's going to be in the high 70's and humid. Well, more humid than California, which for me is really freaking humid. Again, I might die. I don't do heat, and I certainly don't do humidity.
Thursday afternoon I go back to pick up Rob, and then we have dinner reservations at Roy's. Thursday night I am allowed to have a few glasses of wine and stay up a little late, so we're having a nice dinner.
Friday morning we have no idea what we're doing - maybe scuba diving, maybe driving to see the lava. The important thing is that I have to be back at the hotel by 2 because I have to pick up my bike. Rob is convinced he can bribe a bellboy to pick it up for me so we can go have more fun instead, but I need the TNT people to help me put my pedals back on! Hm, conflict. We'll see who wins. (I will.)
Friday night we're going to another nice dinner but we're not sure where yet (I hear a restaurant called Huggos is good - but I will leave that up to Rob).
Saturday poor Rob is on his own. Guess what he's going to do? It's one of two things - scuba or flying! I know, shocking. Saturday morning I have a practice swim with the team where we will scope out the course, then we might take a little bike ride, then at 12:45 we pick up our race packets. At 5PM there is a mandatory pre-race meeting for all Lavaman participants, and at 6PM there is the TNT "insiprational dinner." Rob and I are skipping that to go have our own quiet little dinner instead. I'm glad I made that decision, as after Saturday's sob-fest we were told that that was nothing compared to the inspirational dinner.
Sunday morning: RACE DAY! TNT meets in the lobby at 5:30AM (ouch), the transition area opens at 6, and the race begins at 7:30. There are five waves, and mine is 4th. Supposedly waves leave 3 minutes apart, so I should be swimming out of there right around 7:40. The swim leg is 1500 meters, we leave from waist-high water, and swim in a giant rectangle making left turns. That is excellent as I breathe on my left side so it will be easier to spot the buoys and turns. I expect we will be swimming with colorful fish and hopefully some sea turtles, and maybe Rob. He's threatening to don scuba gear and hang out underneath the swimmers.
The bike is a 40K out-and-back route along the asphalt in Kona, followed by a 10K run, again on an out-and-back route. The finish line, as if the course was not hard enough, is on soft sand. Actually, the last 1/4 mile is soft sand.
That'll be fun!
For inspiration I watched the Kona Ironman on TV. The Ironman, in case you don't know, is a 2.4 mile swim, a 100 mile bike, and a 26.2 mile run. Essentially it's insanity, and the coverage profiled people of all body types and athletic skills, including athletes without limbs. They showed people missing the swim time cutoff and bursting into tears, they showed people wobbling on the bike in the heat, grimacing through leg cramps, they showed people running half-bent over, falling down, sweating and crying and passing out. They showed people being carted off on stretchers. They talked about the heat and humidity. They talked about what happens to your body when depleted of water and electrolytes, and it sounds pretty awful. (They also showed the winners, who were all 20-something incredibly fit professional athletes, but that was much less interesting.) The Ironman is in Kona. My race is in Kona.
So maybe watching that was a bad idea. Hopefully the weather won't be as awful, as we're starting early and only doing a 1/4 Ironman, so should be finished within four hours (hopefully closer to 3.5). That puts me done before 11:40 (again, hopefully closer to 11). How bad could that be?!
After the finish we check out with the TNT tent and hang around to watch everyone else finish (assuming I don't die on the course). Then there's a pool party and then we get a little break before the victory dinner, which sounds like one amazing fiesta! Big dinner with lots of drinks and an after-party that apparently the Silicon Valley chapter is famous for. VERY excited about that!
Monday Rob and I are renting a plane a flying to Hana (because we can, why else?) for the afternoon. Seriously, who gets to do shit like that?!
Tuesday we fly home!
We are staying at the Hilton Waikoloa Village in Kona from the 25th to the 30th of March. Oh, and Rob's birthday is the 24th (tomorrow!).
Whew!
I'm VERY excited and can't wait to get on the plane. I already have a list of things I need to pack but am not allowed to start until tomorrow, because I'll just unpack it all and repack it to make sure the important stuff is in there...
T minus 5 days! Woo hoo!
My workouts have been good, albeit short. We have been tapering our workouts for the past week-and-a-half and suddenly I have so much energy I don't know what to do with myself. Thursday I went for a 6-mile run and then took my bike to get shipped to Hawaii - so I have been bike-less for the past week! Very exciting. Friday I went for a 2400-yard swim as follows:
600 yards free
2 x 300 yards free
4 x 150 yards free
8 x 75 yards free
Saturday morning was the last official coached TNT workout of the season. I cannot believe it's over already! We met at an elementary school and ran about 1.5 miles up to a cemetery where we gathered around the grave of Louis, a former TNT memeber and Leukemia (or lymphoma, I can't remember) sufferer is buried. There were about 40 of us, in our running gear, scattered on the grass. One member got up and spoke about Louis, the work we are doing, the good that the funds we raise will do. Another member got up and spoke about a young girl suffering from lymphoma who is back in the hospital and is, apparently, not going to make it. Not a dry eye in the house. Then, the floor was opened up to us, and people stood and told their stories.
One woman spent the last three months of her mother's life caring for her as her mother died a slow death from cervical cancer. She thanked Team in Training for giving her her life back. Another member is a wife and mother with two kids, and is currently being treated for lymphoma. Another woman confessed that she'd missed the first weeks of workouts because she thought her cancer had recurred and had to have surgery, and her previous treatments left her with a weakened heart. One man lost his brother to cancer. Another lost his best friend. Our coach's wife survived lymphoma, but her treatment left her with one paralyzed lung. Each of these people is training right next to me. I feel like the luckiest person in the world and I think I will never complain again (or at least until we get to a later part of this post). About halfway through I had to tune out - it felt like we were being flogged with these stories and it was a bit much to take in.
After the sob-fest was over, we ran back to our starting point and enjoyed bagels and fruit and juice before we started talking about our Hawaii schedule...
I go to Hawaii in TWO DAYS! WOO!
The schedule is as follows:
Rob and I arrive Thursday at 11:30 in the morning. We pick up our rental car, and then I take Rob directly to back to the airport where he will go on a check ride with the local pilots for the afternoon. They will make sure he is proficient with that model plane so they feel comfortable renting it to him so we can fly around the island like crazy people.
Thursday I check into the hotel and go for a short jog, mostly to get a feel for how freaking hot it's going to be. Seriously, I might die. It's going to be in the high 70's and humid. Well, more humid than California, which for me is really freaking humid. Again, I might die. I don't do heat, and I certainly don't do humidity.
Thursday afternoon I go back to pick up Rob, and then we have dinner reservations at Roy's. Thursday night I am allowed to have a few glasses of wine and stay up a little late, so we're having a nice dinner.
Friday morning we have no idea what we're doing - maybe scuba diving, maybe driving to see the lava. The important thing is that I have to be back at the hotel by 2 because I have to pick up my bike. Rob is convinced he can bribe a bellboy to pick it up for me so we can go have more fun instead, but I need the TNT people to help me put my pedals back on! Hm, conflict. We'll see who wins. (I will.)
Friday night we're going to another nice dinner but we're not sure where yet (I hear a restaurant called Huggos is good - but I will leave that up to Rob).
Saturday poor Rob is on his own. Guess what he's going to do? It's one of two things - scuba or flying! I know, shocking. Saturday morning I have a practice swim with the team where we will scope out the course, then we might take a little bike ride, then at 12:45 we pick up our race packets. At 5PM there is a mandatory pre-race meeting for all Lavaman participants, and at 6PM there is the TNT "insiprational dinner." Rob and I are skipping that to go have our own quiet little dinner instead. I'm glad I made that decision, as after Saturday's sob-fest we were told that that was nothing compared to the inspirational dinner.
Sunday morning: RACE DAY! TNT meets in the lobby at 5:30AM (ouch), the transition area opens at 6, and the race begins at 7:30. There are five waves, and mine is 4th. Supposedly waves leave 3 minutes apart, so I should be swimming out of there right around 7:40. The swim leg is 1500 meters, we leave from waist-high water, and swim in a giant rectangle making left turns. That is excellent as I breathe on my left side so it will be easier to spot the buoys and turns. I expect we will be swimming with colorful fish and hopefully some sea turtles, and maybe Rob. He's threatening to don scuba gear and hang out underneath the swimmers.
The bike is a 40K out-and-back route along the asphalt in Kona, followed by a 10K run, again on an out-and-back route. The finish line, as if the course was not hard enough, is on soft sand. Actually, the last 1/4 mile is soft sand.
That'll be fun!
For inspiration I watched the Kona Ironman on TV. The Ironman, in case you don't know, is a 2.4 mile swim, a 100 mile bike, and a 26.2 mile run. Essentially it's insanity, and the coverage profiled people of all body types and athletic skills, including athletes without limbs. They showed people missing the swim time cutoff and bursting into tears, they showed people wobbling on the bike in the heat, grimacing through leg cramps, they showed people running half-bent over, falling down, sweating and crying and passing out. They showed people being carted off on stretchers. They talked about the heat and humidity. They talked about what happens to your body when depleted of water and electrolytes, and it sounds pretty awful. (They also showed the winners, who were all 20-something incredibly fit professional athletes, but that was much less interesting.) The Ironman is in Kona. My race is in Kona.
So maybe watching that was a bad idea. Hopefully the weather won't be as awful, as we're starting early and only doing a 1/4 Ironman, so should be finished within four hours (hopefully closer to 3.5). That puts me done before 11:40 (again, hopefully closer to 11). How bad could that be?!
After the finish we check out with the TNT tent and hang around to watch everyone else finish (assuming I don't die on the course). Then there's a pool party and then we get a little break before the victory dinner, which sounds like one amazing fiesta! Big dinner with lots of drinks and an after-party that apparently the Silicon Valley chapter is famous for. VERY excited about that!
Monday Rob and I are renting a plane a flying to Hana (because we can, why else?) for the afternoon. Seriously, who gets to do shit like that?!
Tuesday we fly home!
We are staying at the Hilton Waikoloa Village in Kona from the 25th to the 30th of March. Oh, and Rob's birthday is the 24th (tomorrow!).
Whew!
I'm VERY excited and can't wait to get on the plane. I already have a list of things I need to pack but am not allowed to start until tomorrow, because I'll just unpack it all and repack it to make sure the important stuff is in there...
T minus 5 days! Woo hoo!
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
The Sage Advice of a Sister
I am lying in bed trying to not be sick and was having a quick word with my sister. I mentioned that there's a water polo workout tonight that I don't want to go to, and I said, "I don't want to get punched in the face." (Water polo can be a bit violent.)
She said, "Just punch yourself in the face and call it a water polo workout."
She is a wise one.
She said, "Just punch yourself in the face and call it a water polo workout."
She is a wise one.
Monday was a Good Workout Day
We are supposed to be tapering. It's a two-week process where the workouts are less intense and we get more rest.
I, however, decided on Monday that I was freaked out that I had never officially run the entire 6.2 mile distance that will be required of me on the 28th at the event. I brought my running gear to work and hit the trails at lunch, and was initially planning on the ~5 mile route I usually run. It was so gorgeous outside, the sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and I felt absolutely fan-effing-tastic, so in my infinite wisdom I extended the run. I ran up to the gates as usual, then instead of turning around I ran through the gates, across the road, and into Wilder State Park. There is a fire road that goes ~1.1 miles to a point that overlooks the ocean, with picnic tables, and I figured I'd run maybe halfway and then turn around so I would add about a mile to my total distance. I used to run these trails when training for that Death Valley half marathon, and was remembering how much I enjoyed Wilder.
Again, it was so lovely, and so peaceful, and I felt so great that I just kept going! I ran to the picnic tables, then turned around to head back. And promptly realized why I felt so great.
I'd been running downhill. Very downhill.
I guess I realized part of that, but had forgotten how long of an uphill it is on the way back. It just keeps going and going and going, which makes it great training, but not when you didn't bring a water bottle or any kind of electrolyte-replacement chewy thing. And it was sunny, so I was sweating. A lot. Which meant I was losing a lot of salt.
There's no dramatic finish to this, just that I did run the whole thing and managed to not die. Actually, I ended up finishing pretty strongly - there's a big uphill right at the end - it's short but it's steep - and I charged right up that thing. I think I was just so happy to be finished that I sprinted to the end.
My total distance was about 7.5 miles, and those trails ain't flat, so I am pretty happy with that performance.
Monday night was a lovely swim workout. Needless to say, Monday night I was pretty tired. Tuesday was an off-day, and today I am supposed to play water polo but I am not feeling super great and will likely skip it.
We are in a taper, right? Two days off in a row wouldn't ruin my training, right?! RIGHT?!
I, however, decided on Monday that I was freaked out that I had never officially run the entire 6.2 mile distance that will be required of me on the 28th at the event. I brought my running gear to work and hit the trails at lunch, and was initially planning on the ~5 mile route I usually run. It was so gorgeous outside, the sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and I felt absolutely fan-effing-tastic, so in my infinite wisdom I extended the run. I ran up to the gates as usual, then instead of turning around I ran through the gates, across the road, and into Wilder State Park. There is a fire road that goes ~1.1 miles to a point that overlooks the ocean, with picnic tables, and I figured I'd run maybe halfway and then turn around so I would add about a mile to my total distance. I used to run these trails when training for that Death Valley half marathon, and was remembering how much I enjoyed Wilder.
Again, it was so lovely, and so peaceful, and I felt so great that I just kept going! I ran to the picnic tables, then turned around to head back. And promptly realized why I felt so great.
I'd been running downhill. Very downhill.
I guess I realized part of that, but had forgotten how long of an uphill it is on the way back. It just keeps going and going and going, which makes it great training, but not when you didn't bring a water bottle or any kind of electrolyte-replacement chewy thing. And it was sunny, so I was sweating. A lot. Which meant I was losing a lot of salt.
There's no dramatic finish to this, just that I did run the whole thing and managed to not die. Actually, I ended up finishing pretty strongly - there's a big uphill right at the end - it's short but it's steep - and I charged right up that thing. I think I was just so happy to be finished that I sprinted to the end.
My total distance was about 7.5 miles, and those trails ain't flat, so I am pretty happy with that performance.
Monday night was a lovely swim workout. Needless to say, Monday night I was pretty tired. Tuesday was an off-day, and today I am supposed to play water polo but I am not feeling super great and will likely skip it.
We are in a taper, right? Two days off in a row wouldn't ruin my training, right?! RIGHT?!
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