Vineman Race Report

The alarm went off at 4:45...I had my first good night of sleep before a race. Usually I toss and turn the night before a race but this time I woke up after sleeping 8 1/2 hours in the same position. NICE!!! I got dressed and went to meet the others at 5:20 to take our bikes to transition to get them set up. I was one of the first ones there for my age group so I got a spot at the end of the rack. NICE!!! I went back up to the cabins to eat breakfast and use the restroom again. The rumors of the porta potties at Vineman are true. There are only about 15-20 toitlets for 2000 racers and others. I came back down to the beach and waited for my 7:50 swim wave. It was only about 48 outside and the water temp was 70.5 degrees. Great....I am swimming without a wetsuit.
I take my sweats off at 7:30 and get ready to get in the water at 7:42. When I get in I am pleasantly surprised.....because it is so cold outside, the water feels warm as bath water. The announcer tells us that we are the biggest swim wave age group of the day...147 women ages 30-34. Off I went on the swim. When I got to the turnaround I look at my watch at it is already 30 minutes....crap!! Why is this taking me so long. I walk around the turnaround bouey ( the water was below my waist) and start swimming again until bam. I swim into a guy walking. What the .... I look up and realize all of the men ahead of me are walking because every time you take a stroke, you scoop gravel unless you swim on top of the boueys....so if you can't beat them, join them. When the water starts getting deeper I resume swimming. Swim time: 52 minutes.
I run out of the water and hear Angie, Joe, and Jim yelling for me. I throw my goggles and swim cap to Angie...I still don't know why! I run for my bike but think they have already taken my rack down???? What is going on???? Then I hear Kevin yell at me to keep going, I am 2 racks away! I get ready and roll out. T1: 3:30 minutes
When you come out of T1 there is a steep hill. I already had planned to run up it and then mount since I had heard the stories of lost chains and people falling over. I got to the top of the hill and was off. What a beautiful bike ride! It was overcast and cold, but beautiful through the vineyards. I warm up right away as there are hills to be climbed everywhere....but where you climb up...you must come down. One time I looked down I was going 35...and coming to a corner that had a 20 mph sign for cars!!! CRAP!!! If they can only go 20 with 4 fat wheels...should I be going 35 with only 2 thin wheels???? At mile 28 I run over a powergel package someone had dropped on the ground and hear a pop...was that the gel or my tire. I stop and feel my tire...It is still full so I get back on. I head down a hill and as I come around the big red barn at mile 29 my tire flattens. CRAP!!! I am going to have to change it myself. I see 4 people across the street cheering on the atheltes. I yell across the street "Anyone want to help me change my tire???" One of the guys runs over to help me as his wife rides past me. Darn...I had just past her on the last uphill! Anyways, I picked an ironman to help me! He has done Lake Placid and Canada!!! His wife was doing her first 70.3. Anyways, you can be disqualified for outside help so I ask him to watch me to make sure I do it right, but he takes it from me and says to let him do it and to stand real close to him in case a race official comes so he can hand it off to me. As he changes it, a volunteer runs over and says he has a floor pump if we need it so no need for CO2 cartridges! It is my lucky day for getting a flat! They get me all set up and 9 minutes later I was on my way. 1 mile down the road a race official passes me on his motorcycle...by was that close. The next major event is Chalk Hill. I say this becasue it is a mile long hill at mile 45 on the course and has a grade from 7%-12%. Are you kidding me???? Is this someone's idea of a sick joke??? I try my hardest on this hill, bu 3/4 of the way up I am going 3 mph and am about to fall over. I have to get off and walk to a spot where it flattens out and then I get back on and ride the rest of the way up the hill. Next time I will make it all the way up!!! I finish the ride and head into T2. Bike Time: 4:00:07
I run into T2 and get my running shoes on. I had planned on changing into my running skirt but did not have time do to the flat tire. I head out on the run. T2: 5:30 minutes
As I head out ont he run I see Shannon coming in with only .2 miles to go...are you kidding me! She is awesome....her first 70.3 she pulss a 5:32. WOW!! I run out and see our support crew out there cheering us all on. The run course is an out and back so I pass Darwin at mile 1...his mile 12. At mile 2 I hear a lady yell "SNAKE!" WHAT??? I look down and see A 3-4 foot rattlesnake slithering across the street between us. Everybody else stops and I run around it. I have seen many rattlesnakes growing up in Cali and know that as long as it is outstretched you are safe if you give it room. If it starts to coil...RUN!!! Then I pass Pam, then Deb, then Patty, then Tessy, and then Jen (who was in the last swim wave!) At mile 6 we get to run through La Crema...how cool. I keep plugging along but start getting doubts in me head...what was I thinking when I signed up to do this. You think crazy things when you are tired! After I pass mile 12 I see Angie coming towards me yelling "There she is!" I then see everybody else at the corner. Angie stays with me until we catch up to everybody else. They push me along yelling encouragement. When I have about .3 miles left they take off to meet me at the finish line and I run around the school by myself.. As I come up to the finish Kevin handed Josiah over the fence and he ran across the finish line with me. I DID IT!!! Final time: 8:37
I want to say that I could not have done this without everybody who trained with me but most of all, the 12 incredible people I traveled with and went through this with....Tessy, Patty, Deb, Pam, Shannon, Jen, and Darwin, and our wonderful support crew of Kevin, Jim, Joe, and Angie. This is something I will never forget!

I FINISHED!!!!

I finished my first Ironman 70.3 today. VINEMAN ROCKS!!! But I wouldn't suggest it for newbies! It was hard for my first 70.3, very hilly. I will post more details and my race report later when I am sober!!!! We are celebrating and the Korbel we bought at the Korbel Champagne Winery tour.

Going Back to Cali....

Ahhh....to be back home again. Josiah and I flew into Oakland last night. We had a great flight...actually 2 flights...plane stopped in Pheonix to let peeps off and on. It was a nice 68 degrees when we landed. On the way to my brother's house my sister-in-law (Ori) asked what we wanted for dinner....like she even needed to ask! I gave her a look and she said nevermind. To the In-N-Out drive thru...double double with grilled onions and a strawberry shake. The things dreams are made of....
This morning we woke up to a temperature of 54 degrees. My nephews had swim lessons so we were off to the pool. Josiah wouldn't get in...it was cold outside and inside...poor Texas boy. He doesn't know summer temps so low. It is now 94 out here at the house by the lake....a dry 94! We aren't even sweating! WOOHOO!!
4 DAYS UNTIL VINEMAN!!!!

Marathon Season Begins

Let the marathon prep begin!!! Today was the first day of Fort Bend Fit. I have missed some people...and others I have had the pleasure of seeing the whole offseason as we ran together. It was like when we were younger and we were at the first day of school. The newbies had on the new running clothes....the veterans were wearing the same old running clothes we have been wearing for years! I will say someone was really missed by me today....Steph B. I missed seeing her bright cheery smile and couldn't help have a little tear. So when you read this Steoh...know that I was thinking of you and missed you big time!!! At least we didn't get sushed for talking over Coach Terri!!! Anyways, we had an uneventful 3 mile run. Sandy walked a mile with me before my 3 mile group run to loosen up from my massage I had yesterday. I didn't do any extra running as Vineman is 8 days away. I had run 1 1/2 miles when I saw Lurlean limping across the street with me. Lurlean is my running partner (we run together every week except the first 2 weeks to run with some newbies and make them feel welcome.) She had twisted her ankle while trapped in the pack on the narrow sidewalks on Cartwright. I gave her the standard RICE orders and she will be getting x-rays later today. I walked it in from there and brought up the rear with her. NO MAN LEFT BEHIND!!! Besides, she has done all of my training runs with me while not training for anything herself. So, I had a great taper today!

Which is great since I got no sleep last night! We had to drop our bikes off at BikeSport for Tri Bike Transport to get them to the race. It has set in as reality now...RACE DAY IS COMING! So much for no nerves. What was thinking when I got talked into this madness....oh I know...I WASN'T! Never drink margaritas with fellow triathletes while they are discussing races, you can be talked into anything!

Well, the hay is in the barn and the door is closed! I AM READY!!!! I am posting some pictures of our post run breakfast.

Another Missed Swim...

Ok...this afternoon weather is getting crazy. My last long lake swim was before the TriAmerica rac in Clear Lake 1 month ago. UUUGGHHH! I need to swim. I rode 20 miles this morning with Patty and Catherine and then we swam 500 meters at the aquatic center. We did a short swim because the plan was to swim 2400 meters at Twin Lakes this evening. And then the storms broke loose! I am kicking myself for not doing a long swim this morning after our ride. 11 DAYS UNTIL VINEMAN!!!

Rain...

More Rain....

Blowout!!!

Yesterday while riding from Fayetteville with Jan, Alan, Erin, Dave, T-Bob, Shannon, Jen, Hugh, and Jason, I got my first flat on the road. And not just a flat... A BLOWOUT! I was about 2 miles from returnng to the car. I was going about 25 mph down a hill when I heard thump thump. I thought s&%@! I'm gonna have to change a flat by myself...but before I could get the whole thought out I heard gun fire. But it wasn't gun fire... my tire had blown out. I huge hole in my back tire. Thank god I didn't crash 2 weeks out from race day! I called Erin and she came and picked me up and put my bike on the rack.
I was going to stay in the country a couple more days but was itching to get back and get my tire fixed. I have to have it to tri bike transport on Friday. I got up early this morning to get back to Sugar Cycles but got side tracked by a message from a friend saying that the Houston Marathon was 97% full. I finally quit procrastinating and got online and registered for the half. I'm still undecided on the half/full this year. 2 hours after I registered it closed!!! Crap!!! Good thing I didn't wait until I finished the 2:15 drive back home...I would have been left out!
I walked in to Sugar Cycles carrying my bike not wanting to mess up the rim rolling on a flat tire. I walked straight past the 3 people asking me if they could help me to Kyle in the back. He said "Dang that is a good one!" He got me fixed up and ready for Vineman...and showed me again how to take off the back bike tire. Sam showed us 2 weeks ago but I already forgot. Kyle also noticed my chain needed some lubing so he took care of it and I am now ready to roll!
13 DAYS UNTIL VINEMAN!!!

A Week in The Country

We have come to the country for the week to visit my parents and grandparents. My grandparents have been in Colorado for 4 months and are returning for another 6 months. They are just here for the week. My grandfather is a pastor and has been asked to stay and teach at the bible college in Fort Collins.

I thought I could get some Vineman hill training while I'm here. I loaded up Josiah and my bike after working out on Wednesday and headed for Muldoon....half way between Flatonia and La Grange on FM609. Yesterday I ran 3 miles and today I rode my bike 15 miles. I will run 8 miles tomorrow and ride 2 1/2 hours on Sunday before returning home Monday morning.

A small hill....

Another Hill...

Mitch, Rose, and Josiah's Baby Donkey Chiquita....