Bears, Beets, Battlestar Galactica

{Ah, one of my all time favorite Office intros. Love the Jim/Dwight banter.}

So if you haven't heard, I'm training for a triathlon. Which happens to be long. And at elevation. And for someone who literally lives at the sea, this isn't an easy feat. Since I know race day is full of surprises, I'm trying to minimize the shock factor. By shocking my system into shape. What's more shocking than a bear? The past 3 weekends have been filled with bear sightings:

1) Tahoe girls weekend; a brown bear managed to stumble into town and climb a tree after being spooked. Slept on the branch all day as tourists wandered past taking photos. I have to admit, his little {okay, very large} paw hanging from the branch was cute. He must have crawled down at night as he was gone by sunrise. 

2) California State Criterium Championships at Brentwood; ie the race for the coveted bear jersey! Kyle and I had a fun getaway up to LA last weekend. Stayed at the local Brentwood Inn, a quaint upscale hotel minutes from the race course. Kyle picked up a "W" in the men's 4/5 race, which sadly was not contesting for the jersey. I managed first loser in the 3/4 race in my first crit of the season. {dang it! I forgot how freaking long that sprint section is! Should've sucked wheel longer! Congrats to the Skyflash ladies for playing the cards perfect and for a ridiculously strong sprint.} Kyle battled back after a crash in the 4s and solo'd the remainder of the race. The highlight for me was hanging on for the finish of the pro 1-3 race! 55 min of constant attacks and counter attacks. Read: not what this endurance girl has been training for! Power meter picked up some great data to use next season. Last year I was dropped after 20 min {granted I tested positive for strep throat the following day} and this year I found myself amazed to be there in the end. A super fun, yet ridiculously challenging race. Ended up 14th, but the first cat 3 over the line. So by an un-technical, technicality, I was a state champ. :)

3) Big Bear Lake, CA; training camp weekend with a bunch of San Diego peeps training for Tahoe. Got another chance to train at elevation a bit closer to home and learned more valuable lessons to store in the suitcase for IM. 

Kyle, Jeremy and I headed up late on Friday night and arose after a restless first night of sleep. {ugh elevation!} Hopped on the bike for a 60 mile effort with the gang up to Onyx summit {and down and back up again}. Tried to stay within IM efforts and am really learning to hold back. Had a quick change transition and headed out for a 9 mile run. And I survived! Confidence boost and more deposits in the bank. 

Sunday was quite the opposite. Everyone woke up a bit more lethargic and the impending doom of the century ride was starting to set it. Another night of restless sleep.

 

The first 65 miles were great. Beautiful views riding on the "Rim of the World" down highway 18 looking out towards LA. Turning north over Crestline, the descents on hwy 138 were epic! A freshly paved road, wooded, and winding with beams of sunshine, this is a road you must ride. Made it to the desert floor and my slow leaking rear tube finally gave out. Limped our way to the nearest market to refuel {no mxn coke!} and change the flat. 

Survived the next 15 miles to the base of the climb back up to Big Bear and I was feeling the cumulating efforts of the weekend, the heat, the elevation, the saddle and then this- a freaking mountain in front of us. I said this in a post, but I've never wanted to get off my bike so badly, so I did. After a 10 mile slugfest up, I had enough. Everyone was regrouping under a bush and Kara, Kevin and I made the decision to pull the plug at mile 90. Kyle and Jeremy were our knights in spandex kits and finished the final 14 miles to the cabin and rescued us. Seated shower, pizza and a Corona haven't been better. 

I was finally able to sleep through the night {yeah I'd hope so} and Monday we slept in. Well, minus Kyle who had a 4am wake up to make it back to SD in time for work. The rest of us headed to the lake for a swim after a lazy morning. 

I was enjoying myself until a police boat scared the living crap out of me with his siren/horn! Apparently there is an ordinance about swimming 50ft from shore. He said it was highly likely I would get run over by a boat. So I swam in and along the shore back to where I started. Chatted with a few raft floating fisherman who noticed the boat speeding towards me and thought he was going to hit me. Lol. They asked if it was me who screamed. Yes, yes it was me and a heart attack while swimming is no joke. Luckily they weren't catching fish big enough to eat my feet, but I put a move on it back to the start. We had a delicious brunch at the Teddy Bear cafe, cleaned up and Kara drove Jeremy and I {and a very full Corola} back to San Diego. Big thanks to her for organizing the weekend accommodations!

 

I know I shouldn't be hard on myself for Sunday. But it's hard to swallow quitting something I've set out to do. Finding limits. Testing them. I can only ask so much of myself, but ugh. {I know, #firstworldproblems} We all have goals and aspirations and places we want to be. I want to be an Ironman {again}. Maybe I need to start eating beets. :) 

Trans Tahoe

I have had this race on my bucket list since I first heard about it in 2009 after just meeting speedster Erin H. I finally got the opportunity after meeting Noko's pal and neighbor Allison. I signed up for Ironman Tahoe last summer knowing I'd need to head up pre-race for some recon. Combed objectives into a quick vacation up north.

Kyle couldn't miss class, Steve was racing Lake Stevens 70.3 {and crushed it!}, and Kara's bf was in DC all week. Screw the men, it's girls weekend! We left after a half-day at work on Thursday and arrived late. I slept like crap with obvious altitude effects of a higher heart rate and increase breathing cadence.  

Tahoe Course Recon 

Friday was 96 miles and the absolute worst brick run of eternity. By anyone. Serious struggles. Couldn't breathe. Everything hurt. Could hardly stand. Was barely moving. Walked three times. Yuck. Was seriously considering bagging this race cause altitude sucks. After the longest 21min run ever {yes I know time doesn't slow, but this was as close as it gets to that feeling.} Internal pity party commenced. Sat in the water at lakeside and tried to push away my negativity. 

After thinking about the bike course and my pacing, nutrition, course finding, power, heat, altitude, and amount of climbing I'm okay with what happened. I learned a lot, of which was published in a book to the coach. Excerpts from that writing:

3) I have a during-ride coke addiction. I crave it. I need it. Stopped in Truckee on 2nd lap at a gas station on course. Can I please bring $2 with me and stop during the race? (Is this legal?)

5) Hill grades. I hate anything above 7% ish. Erin is strong. Stayed attached to her wheel and was pushing 170-195. Then incline started to increase. And she rode me off her wheel. Felt like Froome vs Contador. Incline increased more. Cadence was 34 at one point. Couldn't turn pedals. I see a few Via Capri repeats in my future. 

6) REMEMBER TO PACK INHALER. {life or rather lung saver}

Trans Tahoe swim relay

This was definitely the highlight of the trip. I awoke on Saturday morning excited to be on the lake {and not on the bike; sorry Super Grover.} We drove to a nearby boat launch and met {for the first time} our Draggin' Anchor teammates. Kara drove Erin to the start and before we knew it we were searching for #1207. Speedster Erin was the 2nd person from the 2nd wave to the meeting point and we were off on our 11ish mile trek to the west side of the lake. 

The team decided the order and I was 3rd but had to jump a bit early as our 2nd swimmer's lungs didn't agree with the altitude {which made me nervous about mine!} Lungs were fine {phew!}; it was the legs that were lead, draggin anchor on the bottom of the lake. After many cannonballs {2x20 min swims for me} Erin was back in the water for what was the final leg. 

We finished in 4:40ish; picked up Kara and headed on the pleasure cruise back to the boat landing. Scott, our amazing captain, gave us the chance to try wake surfing. So Much Fun! I got up on my first try and wow, that's a leg workout, riding the endless wave. We definitely had the nicest boat and captain in the race. 

Video here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkjTMrFh8fU

Tahoe Sunday Brick

Today was what I needed. Drove to T2 and rode the loop from Squaw Valley. Lungs and legs felt much better. Temps were much more favorable starting earlier and only doing 1 loop. We went up the descent from Northstar as far as we could before gated neighborhood on other side. Was smarter with nutrition and water. And was riding harder. Felt better on big hill too, still fading the last half mile, but faster and felt easier, although the coach may say otherwise. Channeled my inner Julie D. descending skills {and will during the race} hammering down towards the lake. Rode a consistent 10 miles back to t2. 

Run felt surprisingly good. Like 100% increase from Fridays sorry excuse for a run. Ended up as a huge confidence builder, yet still showed me I have work to do! Thanks to my amazing friends Kara and Erin for making the trip up and agreeing to do "my" workouts! You girls are pretty awesome and super badass. More of these, please!

What an amazing weekend in such a beautiful place I had yet to visit! I told Kyle we are parking the future RV here for a summer or two. Looking forward with anxious anticipation to Ironman in 2 months and a day!