Plans for 2011

Oh boy, I can't believe that 2010 is almost over...just a few short days left to what turned out to be one of the wildest years in my life.  A slightly uncoordinated, definitely unathletic girl started out in March 2010 with her first 5k race, the St. Patrick's Day Dash, in Seattle and finished up the year with a local (and very chilly) 5k race, the second annual Turkey on the Run on Thanksgiving day.  In between the 5ks were several other 5ks, a 10k and two triathlons!!  A bonus to all of the events was meeting and getting to know several other local athletes.  There are some AWESOME people in Wenatchee who were so helpful to this newbie.  I can't wait to learn more!!

The plan for 2011 include some of the same races and some new challenges.  In April, I'll be running my first half marathon, the Wenatchee Half Marathon and I've also signed up for a 1.76 mile swim in August, the Long Bridge Swim, which will take place in Sandpoint, ID.  Pretty sure it was a moment of brief insanity (and a bargain) that caused me to sign up for this!!   Early registration is still happening so you too can swim across a lake for the low price of $12!!  Come drown swim with me!! 

My planned events:
March - St. Patrick's Day Dash
April - Wenatchee Half-Marathon
May - Mazma 10k Fun Run (and pancake breakfast!!)
June - Iron Girl Portland (a new event put on by Aflac Iron Girl)
July - ChelanMan (Sprint or Olympic distance, hrm...)
August - Long Bridge Swim
September - Iron Girl Lake Tahoe (way too much fun!!)

January 1, 2011 starts a whole new year of fun and training and I'm sure another few fun races or triathlons will sneak in too.  Santa was good to me and brought me a Saris Bones bike rack for my car so traveling to all the triathlons is going to be a breeze!

Mine's this color!

Slacker Much?

It's been two months since my last race and I haven't done much of anything!  It actually felt good to not have to train, to not have to figure out the logistics of getting to and from an event and to not have to coerce someone into running with me.  Maybe I was just burned out...9 events in six months might have been overdoing it a bit much for my first year running/biking/swimming. 

One thing I have done in the past two months is working some strength training into my extracurricular activities.  The Pather Circuit to be exact.  BioSports, my favorite choice of physical therapy clinics in Wenatchee, started the Pather Circuit for the local high school athletes.  Over time it has evolved into a community affair and on a given Tuesday in the fall/winter, you can find 20 or more people sweating it out in the WHS gym.  Thursdays don't seem to be as busy as Tuesdays are. 

I went to my first Panther Circuit on a Thursday and thought it was tough but doable.  Mostly weights and upper body stuff...I don't know all the technical names for moves we were doing.  Then I went on a Tuesday.  Whole different story.  Due to a new position at work, I could only go for 20 minutes my first time.  The next day, I was SORE!!  Mentally, I'm thinking if I'm this sore after only 20 minutes of work, how would staying the entire one hour make me feel?!  The second time I went on a Tuesday, I only stayed for 30 minutes or so.  I could barely walk, much less sit and stand up, the next day.  Phew!!  But what a workout!!  It was a GOOD feeling despite the pain.

Yesterday was the first time I stayed the entire hour on a Tuesday.  I felt great if not a little embarrassed by the fact that I'm extremely uncoordinated and asking me to stick a 6lb medicine ball between my feet and hock it up into the air like some sort of soccer superstar is just not going to be pretty.  Today I realized that I'm obviously getting some strength in my core and other parts since I wasn't nearly as sore as the first time I went to Panther Circuit a month ago.  Winner!!

My goal now is to get back into training.  Nothing over the top, there's no marathons in my future (yet).  Next event is a week a way and my will also be my first event in Wenatchee.  I'll only have to travel 3 miles to get to the event and no need to coerce anyone since pretty much every athlete I know in the area is already participating.  If you're not already doing something this Thanksgiving morning, come on down and join me in the 3rd Annual Turkey on the Run 5k / 10k.  This is going to be a fun event!

Panic! At the Disco

Sometimes my mad geek skills get me in trouble.  Like this morning, for instance.  All was well in my little world of being super dooper research nerd.  My subject?  Lake Tahoe.  It's all I've been living, breathing, dreaming and focusing on for the past two weeks.  I've kept an eagle eye on the weather and scoped out the course on Google Earth.  I've learned about the water temperature and clarity.  This morning I learn that it is probably going to rain on Sunday.  Well, shoot.  I can swim and run in the rain but I don't know the first thing about biking in the rain.  And what in the world am I going to wear?!  Quick run up to the coffee stand and I've got a plan of action.  Phew!  Pop over to the FB page for Iron Girl and, oh holy crap, there's a comment about elevation change.  Never. Ever. Thought. About. That.  My super nerdy alter ego (I really need a cape) hops on the internet.  Current elevation = 780 feet above sea level.  Future elevation = 6,225 ft above sea level.  Panic ensues and triggers another jaunt up to the coffee stand for more advice.  Luckily, our resident über athlete was also there and I got a lot of good advice, what its going to feel like while running/biking at a higher elevation and some new tips and tricks.  I feel a little better now but not as confident as I was yesterday.  I'm just glad there aren't any cliffs that I could accidentally ride off of...at least not to my knowledge.

Keep Paddling

And....we're in the home stretch.  Six days and counting until the Iron Girl Lake Tahoe triathlon.  I'm pretty stoked for this event.  Weather forecast last week indicated rain/thunderstorms but now we're looking at sunny skies with a high of 72 degrees.  Race starts at 0730 and I should be crossing the finish line roughly around 930 barring any unforeseen difficulties. 

Pretty much the same expression and thoughts I'll be having on Sunday

On Your Left

It truly is amazing what a pair of properly inflated tires will do for your Wednesday afternoon ride.  Last Friday I dropped Louise off at my LBS to see if they could figure out what was going on with her tires.  Before ChelanMan, I had a friend put in new tires, tubes and liners but ended up with a flat rear tire the night before the race.  I pumped it up the morning of the race and spent the entire 12 miles worrying that I was going to go flat.  Another ride a couple weeks ago was cut short because both tires were going flat.  Not wanting to run into this problem in Tahoe, Louise and I made a trip to Arlberg.

The super helpful guy in the repair shop took apart the rear wheel and blew up the tube.  No holes.  What?!  That tire was definitely not keeping air.  Further inspection revealed that it could have either been the spokes poking through the wheel in a few places or this open hole about the size of a jellybean in both wheels.  Hmm....guess maybe if I had ridden her sometime during the first year I owned her, I might have figured this out sooner?  Any ways...I left Louise there overnight so she could be sanded and patched and new tubes and liners put on her.  My new BFF also promised to do a quick tune to make sure Louise was in tip top shape for her CA/NV debut.

What a difference.  First ride around the loop in several years took place on Labor Day with my usual partner in crime.  We managed a pretty good pace for the 10 mile loop and I was impressed at how much easier it was.  Perhaps the tires?  Or perhaps all the extra work I've been doing over the past couple of months to get in better shape?

This afternoon's bike ride was all sorts of fun.  Locked my car keys in the trunk when getting my bike out.  Good thing the car was unlocked or that would have really sucked.  Got my heart rate going for a little bit, that's for sure.  Needed to keep a good pace tonight since I was racing the thunderstorms, maybe finish in under an hour?  Easy.  I think.  I wore a pair of biking shorts that I bought a couple years ago when us SAC Angels were plotting to do STP 2009.  The Pearl Izumi UltraSensor Short.  I swear I tried these on when I bought them.  The rise must have just grown about six inches while being stashed in the bike bag.  I could pull these suckers up under my armpits!!  Sheesh.  Well, at least I didn't have to worry about plumber's butt for a change.  Heh.  They were comfortable to ride in.  Slippery though.  My second heart rate increase happened when I shifted a bit backward on the seat and my slippery shorts kept on going.  Thought for sure that I was going to fly off the back of the seat and hurt myself. 

After all that, the ride was fairly uneventful save the fish on the bridge, the wind and racing the train just for giggles.  Reached my goal and finished the 10 miles in exactly 45 minutes (even with taking one wrong turn).  This weekend is the long ride, two times around the loop for an even 20 miles.  Anyone want to join me?

Video Killed the Radio Star

It's two weeks until my last triathlon of the season. I'm feeling way more prepared for the Iron Girl Lake Tahoe triathlon than I did for my very first triathlon this past July. My body is stronger, my biking is better, my swimming still sucks (but we won't talk about that) and I've got a pretty great group of people traveling to Tahoe to cheer me on.

I received a promotional email this morning asking me if I wanted a personalized video of me participating in the triathlon. Hrm....good question. So far, photography at the events I've participated in hasn't been the greatest. I've yet to have that "I'm totally rocking this event" look on my face...it's more a "Good lord, I think I'm dying" face. Do I really want to have this preserved on video for the low, low price of $24.95?! I'm considering.

Take a gander at the offerings and let me know what you think. Should I or shouldn't I?  Is it worth the price? Can they guarantee that they'll get enough footage of me?  Will my future political campaign come to a crashing halt when this video surfaces?

I Done Did It.

My goals going into the 2010 ChelanMan Multisport Weekend were to (1) finish the triathlon and (2) not drown, fall or trip while accomplishing Goal #1.  I'm completely over the moon to to be able to report that I accomplished both goals.  I'm a little less happy about reporting that a 72-year-old man beat my overall time by at least 10 minutes.  Give me a minute while I scrape my ego up off on the pavement...

  

Some of the ladies that competed with me this past weekend.

Better Late Than Never

I meant to start this blog back in March 2010 when I started running races and training for my first triathlon.  I'm five days away from that triathlon so you can see how well I am at blogging; Sunday will show you how good I am at training.  I'm not freaking out (much).  I've assured my mother than I cannot drown (only due to the shallow water that I'm swimming in, not due to my talent as a swimmer and strategic placement of men in kayaks).  My bike tires have air in them (for a change) and as long as I don't encounter any Seattle-sized hills in the run, I should end up at the finish line more or less in the middle of the pack.  Maybe.  Hopefully.  Is it too late to reserve an oxygen tank?