60 km per hour

That's how fast garmin tells me I went down that big hill at the race on Sunday.....hoop dee doo!!

Some things I want to remember

I have had a couple of days to think about the race and this post is more for me to remember a few things:

• Alan's story about his Olympic triathlon made me giggle. And I thought about it on the bike a few times when things were getting a little hard and I would giggle again. It just improved my spirits!
• Seeing the purple pom-poms before I saw Susi. She was looking over her shoulder the other way and I actually thought "I bet that's Susi!!" And hearing her belt out the cheers was really great!
• The guy who got tagged for drafting...ME!! Can you believe that? The motorcyle pulled up beside us as the guy was passing me and pointed for him to pull over. I heard the motorcyle guy say "DRAFTING!!" I nearly drove into the ditch...what a goofball.
• How fast I went down that hill!! I need to check garmin because I bet it was way too fast and my mother will give me hell..."You have two kids!! You don't be riding your bike like THAT!!"
• I came out of T2 just behind Jenn. I could see her and then I slowed right down to say hello to Susi and gang and pose for a picture, when I looked again, Jenn was gone. I was thinking "Holy shit!! Jenn is going to burn this run UP!!" But she had ducked into the porta pottie...
• The freaking stress when I heard my tire pop in the transition area. I wish I would have had a blood pressure checker right there because mine would have been in very dangerous territory. And the entire beach stopped and looked at me.
• Seeing Darryl on the run and thinking..."Holy Crap!! That guy really CAN RUN!!" Runningman is a great name for him!!
• How hot and humid it was in those bushes on the run. Holy, it was like running in the jungle.
• At one aid station, I went to throw my cup in the garbage, missed and went back and picked it up and slam dunked it into the garbage...there was a little kid there watching and I gave him a high-five and he giggled and was so CUTE!
• Speaking of cute...the hot cowboy on his horse on the side of the road watching the bike race...all decked out in his cowboy gear...I said "Howdy!!" as I went by and he tipped his cowboy hat at me...
• The look on my kids' faces when they saw me on the run. Matthew yells out "Mom!! I don't think you are winning!!" That made me laugh for another few kilometers.
• Hearing the finish line with about 2km to go. That was a great way to finish. And seeing my boys...Luke ran across the finish line with me. Was slow going as he is only 2...but he was so proud and kept smiling up at me and then looking and pointing at the finish line.
• The guy who put the medal around my neck. He shook my hand and looked me straight in the eye and said "Good job!!" He just held my hand for that extra second and patted me on the back and I think he really meant it. OR I looked like I was a mess and he was just making sure I didn't need medical attention...but I am going with my first theory!!!

GWN Race Report

Wow.

All spring I have been secretly hoping I would get a flat on my bike. Out on a training ride, somewhere in the middle of nowhere and I would have to deal with it. I have been secretly praying this would happen before the race. But it didn't. We got to the lake on Saturday afternoon to drop my bike off in the transition and I took it for a short ride to make sure the gears were working and the brakes etc. No problems. I was WALKING it to the transition to rack it up and....POP!! My tube blew on my front tire. We got it changed and fixed and all was well. I was actually relieved. Really relieved

Slept like hell Saturday night.

Thank-you to Jenn, Allan and Dwayne for taking me to the first transition. Got there in good time and wandered around for a bit. Could hardly look at my bike as I was just anxious about the ride and the tire etc etc. To be honest, I was scared shitless before this race. Scared. Shitless. I just had no idea what to expect and I did not want to embarass myself. Stood in line for the porta potties, chatted with a few people I knew, got my wetsuit on and I was mid-sentence with someone in the water when the gun went off for the start!! DUH!! Maybe I will focus more at one of these races.

The swim was hell. Was not prepared for how freaking aggressive these people would be!! OMG! Someone had told me to start at the front...at the front was super competitive men and their testosterone...I was actually very scared for a few minutes as they were bigger and stronger than me and smashed over me. Fine. Take the space. You obviously need it more than I do!! Was a little unhappy with my swim time but it was a serious struggle just to stay above water so I was happy I survived.

Out of the water and there were many wetsuit strippers to help us out. I was wearing my itsy bitsy tri shorts and was a little worried they would be coming off WITH the wetsuit if I let them help me! So I stopped and said to the one guy "I have these shorts on and they may come off!!" He looks at me and says "Well, lay down in the grass and it's best you hang on to them then!!" I couldn't stop giggling!! Can't say I have ever done that before.

Got to my bike and said a small prayer to the triathlon gods. I actually wanted to stop and watch everyone as it was chaos. Literally chaos!! Put my gear on, took a quick second to just make sure I had everything with me and grabbed my bike and off I went. Holy hell. I am pretty sure everyone was coming out of transition at the same time! Got on my bike and my pedals just spun. Got off my bike and my chain was off. RATS! C'mon Tri Gods...I need a serious hand here!! Got the chain on, got back on the bike. Still nothing. Got off my bike. This sweet soul was across the road and all of the bikes were whizzing by and he is yelling at me "LIFT THE BACK TIRE AND SPIN THE PEDALS...!!!!!" I didn't hear why... I just did it. Voila. "NOW RUN IT UP THE HILL AND GET ON IT!!!" Yes SIR!! Got on that yellow cervelo and took a quick look at my heart rate and it was at about 170!!! Gotta love adrenaline. But I also said a quick thank-you to the tri gods.....

The bike ride was really fun. Yes, you read that correctly, it was FUN!! Okay, the rain was not fun and getting passed by everyone was not fun but I felt really good and Jenn had told me it was a hilly course but I did not find it that bad. My first Powerbar slipped out of my hand in the rain onto the road. Drat. That large hill near the middle was seriously fun going down. I just tucked right down and let er rip! I passed about 5 people!! And then thought "If one of these tires blows, I am dead..." but it was still fun!! And the climb back out was not that bad. Had to take a pee break at the half way mark. At about the 75km mark my guts went a bit sideways. A huge cramp and I could not wait to get off that bike. The last 15km took FOREVER!! Got to T2 and the cramps were just getting worse. I wasn't sure what to do so put my running gear on and figured I would just start running and see what happened. There were aid stations at every mile so I made a deal with myself to run one mile and see how I was feeling. Got to that first mile and I still was not feeling all that great. So let's run another mile and see what happens. And this is basically how I ran the half marathon!! Mile by mile. The cramps never went away and I just ignored them. I felt like I could have ran way faster but every time I tried to pick up the pace, my guts would say "No thanks." And honestly, I did not know what to expect. I remembered how hard those last few kms were in the half marathon in May and I did not want to blow up.

Sometime after the 10km mark, I saw Jenn coming the other way and I can't remember what she said but it was along the lines of "Looking strong!" or something like that.

I started to bawl.

Yup. Right there in the middle of my run, I was sobbing. I got to the next aid station and this older gentleman grabs my arm and says "Are you all right?" I nod my head, but he did not believe me and he motioned for who I am guessing was his wife, to come over. Because older men and a crying woman is usually not a great combination.

She comes over and says "What's wrong, dear?"

And all I could get out was "I am just so happy to be doing this!" So she gives me a big hug, and says "Well, get running then girl! You only have about 7km left!!" So that's what I did.

All in all, I was thrilled with this day! I felt pretty good the entire way. The gut cramps were annoying but manageable. I kept smiling at everyone and felt that really helped to just put them mentally aside. I was super duper conservative the entire way as I did not know what to expect. I cannot believe how great I feel today. I am not stiff one bit.

Bring on 2009!!

kkkkk...all systems go..over..kkkkk

What a difference a year makes! One year ago a half ironman was somewhere out there in my dreams. I will be at the start line of my very first one in about 2 days! One of the major goals this year was to get to that start line feeling good and ready and no injuries. Done. As long as the goddess of the left leg smiles down on me on Sunday, all should be well.

I have no expectations time wise for this. None. But here are some race goals or things I want to focus on to make sure I have a good day:

The swim: Steady, long and strong. A decent kick, keep my head down. Don't go out like a bat out of hell...this is a triathlon, not a 2000 meter time trial. Even though this is definitely my strength, I don't want to swim so hard so I am exhausted when I hit the bike.

The bike: Someone who's advice I respect told me to not start eating until about 20 minutes into the bike. All my blood will be in my arms and if I start filling my belly then the bod will be saying "What the heck? Where do you want me to focus? Your arms or your legs?" He said take about 20 mintutes to find a groove then start the nutrition plan. And don't eat about 20 minutes away from the run. This morning I went for a ride and boy oh boy!! What a difference fresh legs make! Felt like I was flying. I put an extra bottle cage on my bike this weekend so I should have every one of those bottles drank by the end of my ride. Have also attached my old stop watch to beep every 10 minutes for a reminder. I will have to keep telling myself to do my own thing on the bike as I fully expect a good chunk of the field will pass me during the ride. Justin says I will surprise myself but he also said that if a choice has to be made between eating and going fast...always EAT!! Triathlons are won and lost on the run.

The run: Hopefully I have been smart and things have gone well on the bike. It is supposed to be a warm day on Sunday. I love running on a nice warm day! As long as I am hydrated and feeling good, I should have decent run. By decent I mean feeling good and I don't blow up. I will probably walk the aid stations just to give myself some shorter goals within the run, but I do plan on taking something in at EVERY aid station.

Here we go....next post....RACE REPORT!!!

THREE...gulp!! And some other musings...

Huge butterflies when I read the widget today.

Not much to report in the way of training. Went to the lake for the weekend and did nothing...I mean, literally nothing. Ate, slept, read, swam with my kids, ate some more, had a few beverages, visited with friends, slept, read a totally mindless romance novel. The book took place in medieval Scotland so I have been using all the new words I had learned over the weekend any chance I get...also read my newest edition of "History" magazine...I am a total nerd. But a relaxed and re-charged nerd.

Did get my run in yesterday as we had to come home Monday for a ball game. Waited and ran in the heat. Just to remind myself that I can function okay in the heat. Comes from all those summers on the farm when we had to work outside on the jobs Dad lined up for us...pulling weeds, painting bins, cleaning machinery, shoveling and hauling grain...trust me, I can work in the heat!! Also got to my swim today. Nothing much to report from there. Someone asked how fast I was going to go on Sunday...I almost heaved!! ON SUNDAY!! As in 3 and some days away!!! I said I have no idea...not really worried about the swim...just please get me through the bike!!