Kermit in Vegas

After a successful course recon in St. George, Kyle and I headed back south and made a little stop in Vegas. My parents were in town for my mom's Tupperware convention. Yes, get your giggle out now, she is a Tupperware Lady. She has been for most of my life actually. I think her title is Executive Director. She's pretty BA> even has a car provided by them! Anyway, I digress. So we park and I decide that I'm not leaving my bike in the car in the self park section. So Kermit comes for the adventure. On an elevator, down an escalator, through Paris, past the slots and blackjack tables to hotel check in. Where we met my parents. Check out this video...watch for the lady's face near the end. Hilarious. Everyone was staring.

So after getting settled we met up with my grandma and grandpa and went to dinner at a yummy burger place in the Paris hotel. The next day we wandered around for quite some time and stopped at the fountains...that didn't start for another 4 hours! My grandpa won $1100 on the penny slots the night before, not kidding, so he bought us breakfast at buffalo bills. :)
Took a much needed nap and then awoke to this: Fat Elvis. He had an amazing voice that was spot on, but he was quite a bit larger than the real Elvis. Here's another one. Hmm. Apparently he has lost weight. He used to weigh twice the amount he is now. CRAZY!After his performance we went back to the room to get all dressed up for another performance. We went to dinner at a cool seafood place in the MGM. Kyle had his first raw oyster at the demands of my father. Hilarious, wish I had that on video.

The other performance was Cirque du Soleil KA. What an amazing show. The moving stage was unbelievable as were the many acts. I have been a huge Cirque fan after watching the many hours of Cirque week on Bravo TV back in college. I can't wait to go back to vegas to see another one!In Paris. Playing the giant slot machine...no I didn't win. :(
It was so great to be able to see my parents and grandparents for a quick trip. Walking was probably a good recovery from the work laid out in St. George. Although I think the heels were a bit much. :)

Partly Cloudy, Mostly Crazy

St. George preview day two. Only partly cloudy, but sure to be another long day. Kyle and I headed to T1 to check out the swim. Thanks to the friendly lady at the gate, she let us in for free, since I just needed to unload my bike from the car, snap a few pictures, and roll out. The Sand Hollow Reservoir is awesome. It was very calm when we were there, so I can't imagine a race ever being canceled. And yes, I will be very grumpy if that happens in May. Anyway, the transition area will have a great setup. A short run up a boat ramp will lead you to a very large, flat (the only thing on the course that is flat, along with the water) parking lot and T1 area. The first couple miles are relatively flat as well. But I knew what was coming, as we had to drive down the course to reach the water...thus riding back up those hills to reach the loop area. Ugh. 3 major climbs, 7min, 3min, 12min, until you reach the interstate and the edge of town. A couple turns bring you to the turnaround portion of the run course, which you actually bike first. 24 miles. Mostly Up. Luckily the flat area is right out of transition which leaves enough time to settle the HR and get in some calories before the climbs start. Luckily. :)

So, heading to T2, the arm warmers came off, run clothes on, and Kyle joined me for and out and back preview of the run. A half marathon. A B*tch of a run. I'm serious. These Ironman peeps are mostly crazy for designing this course. Personally, I feel there are much better areas for the run, that are a wee bit more mellow. If you are running, you are either going up, or down. No flats. Not kidding. The course elevation chart isn't lying. That is the real time garmin chart for one out and back of the course. Well, it's 2x that for the real deal. Up, down, up, down. Twice. Each loop has this much elevation change:Which was mostly felt within the first 4ish miles. Out of transition isn't that bad. Diagonal Rd isn't too bad either, with a pretty low angle climb. Once you make the first right turn the course takes a turn for the worst. The little out and back "jut" from the main road isn't fun. The steep 10% grade also isn't fun. There really isn't much to bring a smile to your face, because once you are so sick of going up, you go down. And down is where it hurts. Where the jarring starts. Where, because your legs are already shredded from the prior events, it hurts. At the turnaround, you are then faced with what you just came down. Up. The run is bad but the practice day wasn't that bad. It was slow, with total acceptance for being slow. It was with a low heart rate. 154bpm average...and I won't divulge my San Dieguito average HR till that post...but I cannot believe how much higher it was while racing. I was glad to have Kyle as a distraction from the jarring. I was actually able to "run" at a chatty pace. Which is so not me. I was worn out from the previous days events and the bike beforehand, I don't think my body let me run fast, so essentially it let me not get injured, or really feel that sore. I managed to hop back on my bike for a quick 10 mile ride, just to get used to what it will feel like to have to keep going after that first loop. I think I recovered pretty well. I was very hungry:And set out camp in the T2 area next to the car. Parked myself down and ate some yummy pizza hut leftovers. :) Mostly crazy since it was the parking lot of the court house.

Thanks again to Kyle for a very successful training camp. I couldn't have done it without him. I am so glad I previewed the course and I keep running/riding it over and over in my head. Hopefully with some extra hills training it will come easier on race day.

I'm at F.I.S.T. school right now learning how to perform triathlon bike fits for Moment Cycle Sport. So much more to post: Vegas, Valentines, and my first half marathon.

Cloudy with a chance of Crazy

This past weekend Kyle and I made the trek out to St. George, Utah to obtain a course preview for the upcoming adventure in my life. There has been a lot of hype surrounding this course that the Ironman folks set out and frankly I didn't want to get caught up in what other people were saying. I needed to see/ ride/ run/ experience it for myself. My posts usually follow a story, so this won't be the most comprehensive course report, nor will it be the most humorous, but this is me. And my adventures in St. George. Here it is: Day One.

We left mid-afternoon on Saturday and it rained for 95% of the drive. Pouring rain. Poor Kyle, really. After ditching our camping plans (late arrival, and me being a fair weather fan, and Kyle wanting to get to bed after a stressful drive) we checked in to the Quality Inn. Woke up to a continental breakfast and went in search of the start of the loops.

The IMSG (Ironman St. George) bike course is a 2 loop course with an additional 24 miles from T1 to the start of the loops. Day One of operation course recon consisted of looping out the course (90 miles). It started out like this:

And this: that intersection will be a popular spectator location as you'll see your athlete 3x on the bike and 4x on the run. So I hopped on Kermit for a sure chance of crazy. It was raining already; my shoes were soaked by mile 2. Alright, 6 hours left to suck it up. The beginning of the loop is pretty mellow, with a few ups and downs. It follows a random course through the town and residential areas (even past a road named "Rachel Drive" - which is sure to bring a smile to my face on race day). Finally made it onto Hwy 91 for a real treat...more rain and more hills. The whole "backside" of the loop is basically up. Not real steep, nothing too intense, but just a slow moving up. People are going to blow up. I road this day knowing I had to conserve for the 2nd loop, and the 2nd day. Also, my feet would not allow me to push any harder as they were becoming blocks of ice. Spinning up with my compact crank and 27 in the rear, Kermit and I were getting the job done. I'm sure my experience in May will look quite a bit different. After you reach the "top" which was after what others were calling a "significant climb"...maybe 1 mile, over 350 ft of elevation gain, and approx. 7 min to get up (with ice blocks on my feet). You'll know what I'm talking about when you come up upon a 170 degree turn...then the hill hits. Someone had mentioned they had to walk up the steep section...I'm sorry, and I don't mean any disrespect, but I was almost laughing at the thought. I wouldn't consider myself a sissy, but I ride with a compact crank and a 12-27, and 650cc wheels for a reason. Mashing will blow you up. I have learned to hold a higher cadence and keep my HR where it needs to be. I didn't even have to stand up at any portion of the course. Anyway, after that "steep" section it teeters off a bit but the elevation keeps increasing. As I made the turn onto the road back to town, I saw this:This is at the turn onto HWY 18. The road becomes smooth (or slushy in my case) and bends around one of the last up sections into a long descent. Again, nothing too steep, and fairly straight. In non-icy conditions, you will be able to stay aero the entire way down. Unfortunately that 17 miles ends way too quickly, and you end up back at the start of the second loop.Looking back up at this. I have to admit, it is gorgeous. And I'm sure by May, things may be a little more green and a little less white. Either way, Kermit will fit in. :)This was one of the small glimpses of blue sky we saw the entire day. The colors were vibrant! But alas, the gray was back. As were the moods when I had to dismount my bike 4 times per loop for this:Freaking cattle guards. Really? These aren't the nice painted ones from the great western. Or even the roll bar ones from north county. These are 1' wide holes with flat, slippery bars. Again, I ride 650s, and with one small turn of my wheel my bike would've been sucked in and me over the handlebars. They were even difficult to walk across. People will be pissed if Ironman doesn't cover them.

Shortly after this I flatted. A car came by and I asked them if they saw a red Xterra truck to kindly tell him to come back for his little fallen frozen solider. Don't start the "she's a girl and can't change a flat" remarks yet. Come on, I work at a bike shop and I've been around the block a couple times. Give me some credit. I changed my own flat, but I needed a new tire anyway, which was in the car, so I figured it be best to just do it all at once. So after the change of the new tube and tire and not wasting a CO2 expedition, I was off again.
Here's the "steep" climb. You can see the road below, which is where you come from, make that turn, and then head up. Outside of Torrey Pines-esk type of hill. Shorter. Yeah, hills done. Descend. Finish. 90 miles completed. 6 hours of frozen toes. Time for a hot bath. Who needs an ice bath when you are frozen already?Kyle, my favorite sherpa. He drove the entire 90+ miles (even took a wrong turn, and I thought I'd never see him again) without a peep. He changed my socks and warmed me up multiple times. He did bottle switches, drink mixes, gu exchanges as if he was a pro-tour team car. Photographer, encourager, and driver. He is my favorite, and I am indebted to him. (I see many hours of belaying/seconding him up the multiple Joshua Tree climbs he intends to conquer, after this ironman.)

Final thoughts. It's not that bad. It's not a PR course, but wait...it's my first Ironman, so a finish will be a PR. I spent a lot of time out of the aerobars and will have to think hard about which bike to bring. If it's raining, I'm bringing cookie monster (my road bike), no question. I'm not a great descender with Kermit when it's dry, so in wet conditions my nerves tend to build. and I don't relax, and I waste energy. So, we'll see come race week. 11 weeks away.

Next up, Day two. More bike course preview and yes, the h-e-double hockey sticks of a run. Nice job Ironman peeps. You have raised the bar to crazy.

new swim, bike, fun

Wee!! I got back in the ocean last Friday! Wow, I really miss the freedom of no walls, the chop of the cove and even that cold burn of my face. It was a quick jump back into a world I've neglected for quite some time. The Friday First Light swims used to be a staple for me last winter, but the focus this winter has switched to Ironman training. Yes, there is a swim during an Ironman, and yes, it's 2.4 miles, but during those first two base months, long ocean swims weren't the priority. Pool work has been mundane lately, non-inspiring, and just kinda Blah. The ocean brought life back into my stroke (as did the wetsuit and salt water!) but it wasn't perfect. Sighting is something I kind of forgot about. I wasn't going too off course, as there really isn't anything to swim towards anymore, but I'll have to add a weekly ocean swim to get consistent with sighting again. Good morning Friday. Good morning Cove. Good morning Mexican hot chocolate at Pannikin. Yes.
So I've been missing the cookie monster quite a bit lately. (My Parlee road bike). Kermit has been getting all the attention and has been enjoying his time in the light. I love my aerobars and my position, and just going...but sometimes those hills just bite back. I have a random week of training before my St. George preview this Sunday/Monday and I was able to take the monster out for some fun. I met the ladies of the MCS race team and had a blast pacelining around fiesta island. After strategy, leadouts, and sprinting I still had to get more miles in and headed up Soledad with a new friend from the team. What a beautiful morning out on a new-ish bike.New fun! CEP compression socks rep stopped by the shop...and I ended up with a new pair of hot pink socks. Perfect match with the new pretty shoes. :) Coincidentally, new running fun: I ran in the socks during my last long run. Same course, 45 sec/mile faster than last week. I won't credit the socks as being the only factor...but running is fun. shhh, don't tell anyone.

This weekend is shaping up to be one of the most epic training weekends ever. Cloudy with a chance of crazy.

Storm of the Century

...and other such musings.

It's pretty funny how worked up people get over a little rain and wind. Maybe it's just my negativity for trainers and treadmills, or thoughts of "real" weather back in Minnesota and North Dakota, but seriously? It wasn't that bad. It was a little challenging fitting it all in, but not once did I end up on one of those dreaded machines.

I live in San Diego. I'll say it again, San Diego living is Glorious. I can't imagine preparing for an Ironman anywhere else. May 1st is a pretty "early season" Ironman, and who else besides Arizona, Hawaii, and Southern Cal residents can possibly have an adequate preparation? So when people say us Utah'ers are crazy for signing up because of the dreadfulness of winter training, that should exclude us nice weather peeps. Yeah, we have to deal with the cold, the rain, and the wind...but not forever. It will continue to be sunny in San Diego. So suck it up.

Last week couldn't be a wash week (pun intended) for me. The previous week was my rest week, so I knew I needed to plan it out and get it done. Monday was a swim...partly cloudy. no rain. Tuesday was my day off, so I did bike intervals on Fiesta followed by what would've been my short track workouts, but decided to "race" a 5k on Kyle's Navy base. I ran through the finish line, and then kept running...partly cloudy. no rain. We rode home together, and just as we arrived it started to sprinkle. Yeah for getting it all in! Wednesday it was supposed to rain, so I opted for another swim. Sunny. no rain Literally, sun in my eyes. Outlook on the western front was good.

Thursday there was no avoiding it. I had to get my long run in, so I put on some layers and headed out in the morning. It was windy. It rained for maybe 2 of the 11 miles, one being the first mile, just to make me suffer soaking through the rest of the run. Although, a brutal headwind at mile 2-4 kind of dried me out. Then came the repeats up Cannon, and it was HOT! I was dying in all my layers. Good times.

Friday it was supposed to rain, so I opted for yoga in the morning. sprinkles, barely. Saturday it was raining when I woke up, but I had to get another ride in. I left the house at 7am right when the rain stopped. The roads were soaking, Fiesta Island was a mess, and Soledad Mtn repeats were a bit chilly, but nothing too horrible...but I can't say the same about my bike. Poor Kermit. Not a happy camper.

This was after the initial brush off.

He was a little cranky. :)

Sunday was...interesting. 7am departure for what was supposed to be a 4 hour ride. 39 degrees through Rose Canyon, and a frozen puddle about froze the under-prepared (Jake and I).

Noko walking around the flooded area.

Yes I have a temp gage. 39 plus (or rather minus) the "wind chill" you create while riding. Awesome.

Up the coast and met up with Steve and Erin, and did the Elfin Forest, Del Dios loop. Realized I had enough food for 3.5 hours, and that this ride was going to end up at 5 hours. Coach gave Noko and I the lovely task of Via Capri at mile 70.

Via Capri. To all you non San Diegan's, this is quite a steep pitch. 650 vertical ft over only 1.4 miles. I didn't think I was going to make it. I was bonking hard. The thought of a Double Double from In and Out was the only thing that got me up that horrendous pitch. Jake's front derailleur wasn't working, so he pushed on in his big ring, taking breaks in random driveways and side streets. I can't believe he did that. I have a compact crank and a 27 in the back. I'm sure my cadence was lower than 40. I wanted to cry, but didn't have enough energy to muster pedal pushing, much less a tear. Made it somehow. With many thoughts of turning back and just f'ing going around. And much to my coach's dismay, I stopped at In and Out for that Double Double. I barely remember tasting it. 5 hours and 79.5 miles later I was home. And late for work...No time for a transition run, but I thought long and hard, and ate and drank and worked. And after work I went for a run. It was the first time I wanted to go for a run. Just to run. I didn't look at my HR or pace once. I just ran. It felt far from effortlessness, but I was running, with aggression, with passion and without limits. Good times. HR was surprisingly normal, and the pace was pretty quick considering the days prior events. I survived the storm. I laugh thinking about it.

I got an email prior to last week titled "Storm Watch" and forwarded it to my coach, to ask about the dreadmill and trainer. His response, "When scientists start using phrases like, 'barreling towards', 'slam into', and 'truly ominous', I instantly become suspicious that they've become a little too enamored with their own work. Especially when it involves weather/climate models." He couldn't have been more right. Congrats San Diego...we survived the storm of the century. Now don't ruin my plans for the Great Western tomorrow.

Changes

San Diego living is Glorious.

2009. An entire year.

To quote David Bowie:
"ch-ch-ch-changing.
turn and face the strain.
ch-ch-changes.
Time may change me.
But I can't trace time."

Here is my attempt at tracing my time over the past year through many changes in life: My 2009 year in review, a month late. :)

Family: I got to see my family a bunch this year. My parents came to visit and it just happened to be the same weekend as my first half ironman. A couple trips to Phoenix to visit Meg including our satellite christmas. I went to Minnesota for the Peacock wedding in June, but didn't make it to my home. Finally, as an entire family, after a year and a half, we were all able to get together at the same time for Thanksgiving. Took some great family fotos at the local studio. Ate some amazing mom food. Ran in the cold.

2x Half Ironman: So that'd make me a full Ironman, right? haha, far from. Yet I clicked "Pay Now" for my 2010 Ironman Utah Race Entry. 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run. May 1, 2010 here I come. The two halves went well. I was the 5th overall female at Superfrog, my first half, in March, winning the swim. October brought a lot of challenges, but I managed to PR at SOMA half, and win the swim. I even out swam the pro males. :) I can only hope for such success and effortlessness come May. Finishing St. George with a smile on my face. That's the goal.

Job: I left Wells Fargo in the pursuit of happiness. Joined the crew at Moment Cycle Sport, a local shop just down the road from me, and haven't looked back. Need a new bike? I am working on marketing and sales for the company, however, for a couple months my job title was "race director" as we presented the Inaugural San Diego Triathlon Classic. It was a ton of work, but ended up being a huge success. September 18, 2010 here we come again.

Coach: I am a coach, and I have a coach. I instruct private swimming lessons, I still volunteer coach for the Tri Club San Diego, and I was offered a coaching sponsorship for my Ironman training, and I couldn't be more grateful. 17 hour training weeks...here I come.

Bike: Another new bike. This time a road bike. Parlee Z4. What a dream to ride. I think I finally found a name: Cookie Monster. "C is for Cookie, that's good enough for me. P is for Parlee, a joy he's been to me." Staying with the Sesame Street theme there. And yes I still have Kermit, my custom Guru, and am still in love, 4,000 miles later.
Health: when most people are down, the quote, "well at least I have my health" comes out. Unfortunately that hasn't been so for me. After my first half, I injured my back and was slow getting back. Through many ART sessions with Dr. Matt, was back racing and training again. Only to crash my bike and separate my shoulder. In the middle of the summer. My favorite San Diego months. I was determined to do everything I could to get back. I swam with one arm for 5 weeks in the ocean before I was even able to attempt rotating my right arm again. Surprisingly, cycling was the easiest to get back into. Running was out of the question. Healed. Finished that 2nd Half and got serious about this Ironman training thing. I think I was almost 8 weeks in and doing great, listening to my coach, increasing run volume the right way, and bam. Bad news from the doc leads to surgery to remove some scary cells. Out for a week. Back to training, with another good three week build, until bam. Colonoscopy. Hopefully surgery won't be necessary. Luckily that was during a rest week. Okay, enough bad news, this needs to end.
Swimming: Did a lot of it this year. I was really enjoying the cove and ocean swimming before the bike accident. After only a week off, I got back in the water. I became famous for my one armed long distance swimming. Thanks to all my swimmer friends who waited for me and to all my non-swimmer friends who raced me. I won a couple of swims (Superfrog, Pier to Cove, SDIT, Tuggs, SOMA, club races) and used swimming as therapy, emotional and physical. I also challenged my friends to a 10 mile swim around Point Loma, which unfortunately didn't happen due to the accident, but don't worry. I haven't forgotten. :)
Friends: Met a lot of cool people this year. Great training partners, great cooks and, great people. Weddings, parties, game nights, leg wrestling; you name it, these guys are up for a great time anytime. Oh yeah, and there a really fast group of peeps as well. Please don't de-friend me through this ironman craziness.
Rocks: Did a little bit of climbing with a certain sailor who's back in my life. :) Although that's what he'd say about it. A little. :) His climbing trips turn into my training trips. J-tree adventures usually include some sort of bike and run workouts. But that's why we workout together. Thanks Kyle, for putting up with the other K-man in my life (Kermit).

Alright, so that's it. 2009. 49 blog entries, 4000 Kermit miles, 1500 Cookie Monster miles, Jack the Jeep had a rough Christmas but is pulling through with who knows how many miles, 7000 airline miles all summed up into 1 post.

On my way to effortlessness...sleep. Time may change me, but I can't make time.

Looking back and ahead

Year end and beginning bring thoughts back to accomplishments and forward to goals. It's good to have some self assessment. To measure where you come from and where you are going. So here it is. I'm not so much for the resolutions, although if I did have one, it'd be to update the blog more regularly, so my posts don't continue on the mile long road of craziness, so to become less daunting of a task. Looks like I've already failed at that, since my last post was quite a while ago. Anyway...Onwards.

Last year my word was "Athlete" and I'll do my year end review soon.

This year I've decided on "Effortlessness." To most this would seem like I have this disbelief that I won't have to try, but really it's the opposite meaning. I want to excel in what I do and I know this will take much practice, much effort, and much thought. Then, when performance time comes I'll look and hopefully feel effortless.

With that said, finishing an Ironman is a huge goal. Having it feel effortless is even crazier. I know that it will be a long day, but with the right preparation I know most of the suffering will be mental.

Effortlessness. Wordreference.com defines it best: the quality of requiring little effort; "such effortlessness is achieved only after hours of practice"

I will put in those hours.

I've set some goals for this year and I'm reminded of them every time I open my weekly training plan from my coach.
1. Remain injury free
2. Increase run speed and run endurance (This one should just say "become a runner")
3. Finish Ironman St. George with a smile on my face

First off, staying injury free is not effortlessness at it's finest. Balancing "getting it done" with "being able to get it done" isn't quite as easy as scheduling out my weekly workouts...which ain't easy either. Staying on top of stretching, core work, and yoga, along with some (okay, a lot of) help from Dr. Matt at Crac with his ART loving hands has been essential in keeping me ready for training.

Goal 2. Becoming a runner? Far from effortless. This has been my hardest, yet "proudest" part of my training. Every week, and every month, I'm at my "All-time personal record" for run distance. This week is 11 mile long run, 23 mile weekly total, 71 miles in the last 30 days! Which for some, is a part of their life, but for me it's crazy. I've never ran over 40 miles in a month, which included a 13 mile run in a half Ironman race. Yet, with such little training I was able to fake my way through the run of two half Ironmans. I said it out loud. Times are changing. There is no faking the run of an Ironman. I respect the distance because I have a little fear in it. All this running for a non-runner seems crazy, and a contradiction of goal 1. How can I remain injury free, beating myself up? Enter coach Brian. Can't thank him enough for figuring it out for me. Doing the right training, and the right volume at the right pace is the way to become an effortlessness looking runner. I almost laughed at the thought. It'll come, he tells me. I'm waiting for the day.

Finally, goal 3. Finishing with a smile. That's effortlessness. Thinking back on all these "hours of practice" I'm putting in now will accumulate up to the second before I cross that line.

Then, just past that line, according to my coach...my season begins.

guest posting!

Warning. If you don't like blood and "guts" don't scroll down.

Mixing it up a bit, I figured I'd let someone else tell the tale of the weekend. What better person than the man who decked himself? If you haven't seen the pictures on facebook, or you have and want the whole account of the situation, here is Kyle's narrative of what went down this weekend in Joshua Tree...while I was out gallivanting on a 4 hour ride with no cell service. I returned to this:
January 1st, Two thousand Ten, first day of a new year, the sixth year of my love affair with rock climbing. A long run, especially for me, of going accident free in fairly accident intense sport. The weekend had just begun, a weekend that was supposed to be a bar-lifting, record setting, motivated, no brakes climbing extravaganza, when it all came crashing down around me.

I was going to be climbing with a new partner, one with similar goals in mind for the weekend, someone who was trying to break into slighter harder grades like myself and one I was hoping to climb with in the future as well. After a quick meet and greet we saw Rachel pedal off into the sunset, grab the gear and headed over to what would be my first of hopefully many 5.10 rated climbs. For non-climbers out there, 5.10 could be considered the first of the 'harder' grades. 5.7-5.9 being 'moderates' and I was getting tired of knocking off moderates and was looking to up the ante.

So recap, First day of the New year, first climb of the day, first climb with new partner I had just met 30 minutes ago, first 5.10.... and about 50 feet up, 25 feet from a large ledge, I sloughed off the route, rope began to grow taut on my last piece of protection, piece pops out of the crack, and I fall very un-elegantly into a Kyle-sized heap on the ledge. I fell in a 'standing up'-esque position with my feet hitting the deck first, but moving extremely quickly with my knees and head quickly following my feet onto the deck.

The knees.

My knees probably absorbed about 92% of the impact and the frontal lobe of my skull the remaining 8%. I had always believed helmets were only necessary in areas with a lot of loose rock and multipitch climbs with parties above you and therefore not common in Jtree due to the lack of falling rock and the well 'broken in' routes. However, I am really lucky I didnt hit my head any harder, and will wear it in the future.

The crash brought a lot of groups to come help and I managed to down climb to the ground under my own power. Many insisted I go to the hospital immediately, and "not fall asleep or you may not wake up" however I knew I had only dinged my head slightly and was far more worried about the very wrecked knees. In order to appease the masses Richard, my brand new partner and possible accomplice in my decking, and I set off in his truck, in order to 'drive to the hospital' but in fact only to a pull out down the road and put that snazzy Xterra first aid kit of mine into action. Fully wrapped and feeling a little less shocked/nervy/tweaked out we returned to my car and parted ways, wishing him luck for the rest of the weekend.

Now with Rachel gone on a 4 hour bike ride, I began to make plans to lay down in the back of my car and read my book until she returned. However, with the onset of major swelling I decided a determined trip back into town to buy ice and some beer was definitely in order. Returning after a painful trip I quickly pumped up Rachel's sleeping pad, and organized the rear compartment for maximum comfort and knee elevation whilst icing.
I almost couldn't wait to see Rachel's face when she returned, although I knew in my head that it was a major bonus that she wasn't around when it all went down ( pun intended) I also was aching for some TLC that only Rachel could provide. I managed to hobble around the rest of the weekend and even climbed two easy pitches the next day, because there was NO WAY I was going to waste an entire three day weekend in Jtree and not climb.

The knees still ache but I think the swelling is going down and can only hope they continue to heal quickly with my Half marathon on the 25th now looming ever closer. And while I did not in any way meet my goals for this weekend, I did gain a lot in the experience side of life.

The morning after

Afterward, while laid back in my car waiting for Rachel, multiple climbers who had seen/heard of the incident approached me and offered their sympathy and, unsurprisingly some 'herbal relief' and while I of course turned it down every time I did find one sympathetic anecdote interesting; "There are two types of climbers in the world, those that have, and those that will" and although its always nice to feel like you've achieved some kinda landmark in any sport I can't help but worry about a third possible category... "those that will again."The route: Purple star is where he fell from. Red star is where his last placement pulled, and the green oval is the general area/ledge that he came crashing down onto.

So that's it. I don't want to freak people out. What he did was dangerous and isn't what will happen to you if you are getting introduced to the sport. Kyle is an experienced leader, but like the random climber said, you either have, or you will. But that's if you are leading. Top rope climbing is relatively safe and fun. Don't let his accident scare you away from one of the greatest sports I've tried.

My account of the weekend is up next. :) I promise it's much less gruesome.

happy birthday to me.

i love skating.
i "love" running.

Sunday the 27th was my 26th birthday. For some reason (USAT) I thought I was 24, turning 25 this year for the last couple of months. I actually had to count it out on my fingers how old I actually am. Sillyness yes. So this year I am 26, but by USAT rules I'm 27. I'll be racing Ironman in the middle of my age group (because of 4 freaking days). Anyway, what better way to celebrate your birthday than with a brick on Fiesta Island? I mean come on, it is the "party" island, right? Wrong, I wish I was out in east county with some special cupcakes and a birthday ride with my friends. But it was good to get out and get that workout in with Kyle. I even had one of my favorite Christmas cookies instead of a Gu as some mid-ride fuel. I really have to start working on this nutrition plan (and sticking to it!). These hot chocolate/doughnut/cookie rides aren't going to cut it at Ironman, or any race.I got a nice comment on Kermit, "Was that a Christmas present?" which was cool, since he's over a year old now. He does need a good cleaning (with rubber ducky) however. Off to work for a couple of hours. Yes, work on my birthday, how horrible I know. That's what happens when you get old (and work in retail.) Then I made Kyle drive me to Dairy Queen like 25 min away from my house for Ice Cream Cake...my favorite. We met my friends in Coronado for some ice skating at the Hotel Del's outdoor, on the beach, rink. Yet again, more fun. Nikee (from Chicago) had never skated before! Being midwestern, that is truly a sin. I took lessons for a while, and showed off some of my moves.

Back home to enjoy the big cake to ourselves! Kyle brought it to work on Tuesday which was Physical Inventory day...counting stuff for 15 hours at the shop. The ice cream cake was a very nice break in the day!

Thanks to everyone for making my day so special. My roommates were all still on their respective vacations, but had surprises waiting for me on the table when I got home from Arizona. My parents sent my present to Meg's house and I got to use it early! (pots/dishes for camping!) Thanks to the college roommates for the presents mailed way on time...they totally kick my butt at being great friends. Here's to a new year, one more closer to 30. hehe.