Fall

When I lived in Minnesota, autumn used to mean summer was ending, leaves changing, school's starting, and the days are noticeably shorter.

Now that I've been in So Cal for 5 autumns, I've almost forgotten what the leaves of fall look like, what going back to school feels like, and what the transition to winter is all about. Days getting shorter unfortunately do not change with a nicer climate. I do miss Minnesota - but not nearly enough to want to move back...sorry mom. Life in San Diego has been great; summer has been crazy busy and blogging has been lacking. I usually post a year end, but this year has had quite a few beginnings and endings, and what's a calendar and seasons to decide starts and finishes.

Summarizing summer sounds a bit like this:

I left off with the awesome race I had at SDIT, faking my way into shape. Moment was sponsoring the Carlsbad Triathlon a month later, so I snagged a free entry the day before the race (after standing on my feet all day moving the entire store to Carlsbad and back) and put together an okay race.

elusive both feet off ground pic!

My last run was SDIT and I had zero expectations. Carlsbad is a swimmers race, with a 1000 yard swim, 18 mile bike and a lovely 5k run. Although I was almost 2 min slower than last year and my run pace was slower than SDIT (and only half the distance!) I managed to get an AG win by 6 min, although I felt it was undeserving. I suppose it's about who shows up, and that's about what I did.

July and August [and mostly only September] were filled with work in preparations for the 4th annual San Diego Triathlon Classic that happened last weekend. All I can say is boy I'm glad it's over. Another mostly successful event with another sleepless evening in preparation for our biggest event of the year. It still kills me how people have the nerve to ask if I'm racing or if I raced. Um, no. The total amount of sleep the week before is right around 20 hours...I don't think I could physically race, even if I was allowed to! I hope you had fun if you participated...because that's why we do it! It sure ain't for the money.

My mom came to visit at the end of August. Sadly, Kyle was out to sea the entire time, but we had a blast in the short amount of time she was in San Diego. A zoo visit [I've lived in SD for 5 summers, and still haven't been until now!] and some time spent on the beach were the highlights.

oh yeah, i died my hair like gold medalist megan rapinoe

Managed a cove swim on Labor Day with Kyle. Such a rarity in life and it was pretty awesome. The swell was coming in and we tried to enter the caves but quickly retreated. 

floating w/ steve & frank. kyle not so much floating.

say "sharks!"

beach day at the cove? weirdos.

And... I pulled the trigger on my 2013 triathlon plans. I decided to give Oceanside a try - I've lived in CA for 5 years watching and following this race, and I have yet to toe the line of the closest Ironman branded event to where I live. I've had a lot of friends race [and with great success]. I hear it's a cold race with a hilly bike. After the heat of Panama last Jan, bring it. I swim in the ocean all winter and I'm not scared of a little chill. In fact, I'll embrace it because that's what I do...I'm Minnesotan, right?

So a couple weeks after Oceanside opened up, and I registered, a new Ironman was announced. Lake Tahoe. A full distance Ironman, new, and back in California...hmm. I know I know, I said I'd never do another one, but that was before this race was announced!! It's another first time event which I really like doing. Some people get nervous about first time events, but as a race director and a participant of a couple of first time events, I think they are the best. The volunteers are super excited, the locals aren't totally pissed off yet because they don't quite know what's going to hit them, and there aren't any expectations for participant times or any prior results to get anxious about. So, after a week of consideration after the announcement, I set my alarm and registered right when it opened [I was actually in a bike fitting at work, and cleared it with the lady ahead of time...]. So a boat load of money to the big M Dot corporation, paid for by the check I got for those stolen wheels at ITU. The race sold out in less than 24 hours. 

So just as May 1, 2010 was stuck in my head for a year, September 22, 2013 here I come. 1 year and 10 days...

Official training starts Oct 1.
24 weeks to Oceanside, 1 week rest and then 24 weeks to Tahoe; couldn't have planned it any better.