second by a second

Whelp - that goes down as a lesson learned. Went out to the Desert International Triathlon and lost in a sprint finish to the line that I didn't even realize I was entered into until it was too late. Always go hard to the line. Lessons learned every time I race in this most of the time awesome sport.

Packed and got Kermit race ready on Friday, I worked a half day on Saturday, and Kyle and I were off to the desert - Palm Springs area - and set up camp. I love this race for many reasons, but the $15 lakeside camping at the race site is definitely a reason to make this a yearly race. We ate at a little Italian restaurant in Coachella and came back to the new {already broken in by mountain men} tent for a relatively good night sleep.

Race morning brought the usual run around craziness. I left Kyle in charge of packing the food/camping stuff, as the triathlon race packing is enough for me to handle. Whelp, lesson learned. Make sure to check the fuel in the Jetboil before relying solely on hot water to cook the oatmeal for breakfast. He blamed it on {mountain man} Frank for putting an empty canister back in the pot. We had nothing else besides beer. Okay, improvise. I have 3 Gu's and some Powerbar energy blasts that I had planned on using for the race. Maybe someone will have something in transition. I need to get over there to register and get my bib and jerry-rig my bike number on. Kyle was trying to find something when I suggested the Clif tent - where he begged for an entire bar and not just a sample. They begged him not to tell anyone - and so an entire mint chocolate chip Clif bar was breakfast.

what's for breakfast?

Setup transition, ran for warmup, slammed down my pre-race vanilla GU, made my new goggles {which freaking crackled again after putting them on my face!! I've about had it with these sweedish goggles and the layer on the inside crackling upon first use!} and got in for a quick warmup before swimming right up to the beach starting line. Beautiful sunrise over the lake and luckily a bit of puffy clouds to shelter it enough to not be blinded the entire first half of the swim. 3, 2, 1 swim all out to the first buoy 15 yards out. Don't want to get caught in the mess of that. Pretty much a solo swim from there on out. Started crawling over those darn grey caps before the next buoy and through the turn and all the way back to the exit. I really should get better at running so I can toe the line with the elites in these small local races and actually draft a good line during the swim. #swimmerproblems #notarunner

Out of the water feeling pretty good considering Jake and I swam to the pier on Friday. Through transition with nothing notable. Put on the sweet new Giro Selector aerohelmet from the hubs for valentines day. Wow, I can actually say I noticed a difference. I love the visor; it puts me into this zone of aero focus. The bike was awesome. Kermit has been pulling his weight lately, since my ankle/heel have been slacking. I was a bit nervous about the drafting fest  of last year {only reason I don't like this race}, but to my surprise, it was actually clean riding around me, and I was stoked! Another girl and I were trading off {legal} leads and I'm sure we were both helping each other push the pace. Just a very basic 2 loop rectangle flat course with a couple of hairy turns due to the road surface, cone placement, bike traffic, and the handling skills of triathletes. Had 28oz of water from the aerodrink, 3/4 bottle of APX, and 1 vanilia Gu.

near the end. not looking back.

Got off the bike and I actually felt amazing and ready to dread the run. :) Nah, I didn't have any expectations but to just think about my form and only stop if the heel pain went over a 5. Surprisingly felt alright and kept chugging out 8:20s like I was going to be there for a while. Saw Kyle a couple of times and he reminded me to go hard into the finish, after looking back and telling me there wasn't anyone behind me who looked like they were on their 2nd lap. Whelp, lessons learned. Go hard to the finish even if your sherpa has no idea who the competition is.

My foot hit the timing mats before hers, but she leaned into the archway/finish line and squeaked out the win. I'm not unhappy at all with my performance. I'm not even angry about the finish. I've had my fair share of out touching going both ways in my swimming career to know when to get pissed. My swim was faster than last year and the course felt a bit longer. My bike was spot on, and it was actually legit racing. My run was slower, but it was to be expected. Last year I was coming off Panama 70.3 fitness and this year I have ankles and heels that don't agree with my hobby. And that's exactly what it is - a hobby. I graciously accepted my 2nd place by a second tile and enjoyed the 3rd transition at the pool bar.

second by a second, on the stand with a 3?

ah yes. 3rd transition back into the {much warmer} water

 Anxiously excited to see how I hold up at Oceanside - swimming, riding, and running twice the distance. It's only 2 of those. Plus a little more. It won't be that bad. It's only a half of an Ironman...eeek.

Oh, so the tonsils are officially getting the boot, 2 days after Oceanside. And I'm "out" for 2 weeks. So look for some really boring blogs coming up about how much pain I'm in and how much I hate tapioca pudding. I'm currently accepting soft food donations {literally I hate tapioca, so don't even think about putting those "fish eggs" in my house}, good movie/TV series recommendations, and fro-yo dates {delivered to my house, naturally.}

winter blues

Is it racing season yet? Seriously sick of this winter training {and lack of training} stuff. I'm officially admitting that I'm a Californian. My thick Minnesotan {Kyle's pronunciation: min-eh-so-shun} blood has thinned to the lowest viscosity. In fact, I can't really remember having thick blood. My body has always used clothing and water to regulate temperature. With the slightest change I'm either freezing or frying and requiring a complete wardrobe change. There is just no hope for temperature regulation - so that's why I moved to California. Because it's not supposed to get cold or hot here. And us Californian's sure do know how to complain about the weather. One of those "storm of the centuries" supposedly hit Tues/Wed {of course my days off}. I went for a bike ride. I ran. Yeah it's not that bad. End rant.

The blues of winter also mean that my cute Navy husband got to wear his handsome dress blues for his re-enlistment ceremony. Not shown is my down jacket hidden for the photo-op. Thanks again to Maj. Dave for going 2 for 2 in performing {free} legal ceremonies for the Wills family!

On a random note, K-edge sent me a surprise custom made blue Garmin mount for Super Grover! Kid in a candy store excitement erupted when opening the box. Kyle has the red mounts for his Garmin and Go-Pro and I was slightly jealous that they don't make blue like their chain catcher. I casually mentioned this to the guys at K-edge when placing an order for a customer, I was truly shocked to see one in the box with the order!! Yeah, it's the little things.

Blue boots of recovery at UCPT. it's been a fun journey learning how to run {continued process for me} and learning how my "pretty ballerina feet" aren't so pretty inside.

Blue fit bike! Yeah we got the new Guru Experience fit bike. It's {almost} exactly the same as the old one...just with fancy blue lights. I'm still doing bike fits daily - making people faster and more comfortable is pretty rad. Taking the bike out of the equation and just focusing on the rider is what we do, and is what we've ALWAYS done at Moment. It's not about the fancy machine either - the fitter must have the experience and knowledge.

Sadly, today the color of the week shifted to red; Kyle had an unfortunate car incident {accident} in LA and required me to save him. Poor Baby Girl {Red Xterra}. Brought him to his race where he had another unfortunate incident. Poor Kyle's palm {bloody}. And poor me - having to miss work {and my workout} and drive 6 hours in LA. I'm ready for the blues to come back.

Soon enough my toes will be blue at the start line of the Desert Tri next weekend.

knock. drop. get up.

knock knock. what have i been up to?

Blogging falls on the back burner as training increases or injuries occur. No, not overuse, for that hasn't been possible this go-around; it's these silly swimmer limbs of mine and the lack of lateral movements.

I sprained my ankle. Big deal. moving on...

Since the holidays, I've been a sherpa at one of Kyle's cross races:

I swear this is So Cal. 

Tough life. Got new rain boots for the impending rain. It didn't rain but I did get  to run around in some mud playing camera girl.

okay, this is more So Cal-esk

And his latest crit [I had to work during what would have been the time for my race] where he went off the front with too many laps to go and eventually got caught. But it gave him some good TT'ing experience for 5ish laps. Hey, you gotta go when the feeling is right. I did miss his moment in shining glory where he won an off season crit up in LA. Huge props to the husband who took a chance and motivated the others in the break and they made it stick!

I've also dove into some action myself, riding the stagecoach century with Erin for her first 100. We were troopers out there in the 45 degree weather. It was fun to suffer through together, a little over a week after that darn ankle injury.

yeah! finished!

Kyle and I headed out to Julian for the Moment Cycle Sport team training camp. We had two solid days of riding and I'm pretty sure I experienced my hardest day on the bike, ever. It wasn't the longest, nor the coldest, and not even the most elevation gain. It was just a hard day on the bike with fast dudes. I really learned how to push myself past the comfort level to see how far I could handle it before cracking. We started downhill [for 30 miles in below 40 temps, omg frozen popsicle] and entered Borrego Springs. The Montezuma climb approached. I managed to keep my HR between 183-193 for the entire climb, as I was chasing down JT. After the first 30 miles, the next 43 had 6500ft of elevation gain. Fun times getting blown around with a pretty substantial headwind back [UP] to the cabin. Did my first brick run post ankle sprain and had my fill of "recovery drink" i.e. 3 glasses of milk with a heavy pour of chocolate syrup.

pretty much sums up the aftermath

Running was put on the backburner more than the blog, but Carlsbad half marathon was still left on the "race" calendar. [as if i have such a thing.] It probably wasn't the smartest idea, as I know when I put a bib on, "training day" goes out the window and competitor mode turns on. Ouches. Legs did not like that wakeup call, nor did the remaining attached and non bruised ligaments in my ankle. Powered through and was only 9 min slower than last year. Stoked for the husband who managed a huge PR with a 1:43 off the couch. Darn skinny boys with tree trunk cycling legs. Grrr....

staying warm + dry before the race

Six days later we both raced Boulevard road race. It was more of a "hang on for as long as possible and then find some stragglers to work with so I'm not alone" race. Good times and my HR was high where I wanted it to be. I'm not in the shape I should be to tackle such an elevation filled race, but who cares? More experience and a solid training day on Super Grover. I did feel MUCH better than I remember from two years ago, so maybe my legs are getting used to this cycling thing.

lining up. dread ensues. (cool new kits, hey?)

Super Grover shimmering in his usual amazingness

Love Ocean Beach

where's the beach?  

I've been seeing Gino at UCPT for the ankle. I'm hoping we can get me running regularly with proper form soon. Oceanside is approaching quickly and I really really don't want to experience the pain of another unprepared half marathon.

After some major drama and worrying, Kyle's PTS was approved! He got capped in December and promoted to 1st Class! So proud of him. He'll be re-enlisting on Thursday for 6 more years. We'll be in San Diego for [at least] half of those. He's switching commands and will be over in Coronado starting on Friday.

Happy February!

Feeling Christmassey!

It's my 5th Christmas living in San Diego, and while each year I secretly wish for a white Christmas, I know the only white will come from the white caps in the windy Pacific Ocean. I am lucky enough to live by the beach and have the ability to ride my bike {almost} every day. The storms of yesterday have passed - and thank goodness. That hour spent on the trainer was dreadful. I pay the sunshine tax for a reason, and it's definitely paid so I don't have to ride my trainer.

I haven't always felt so "Christmassey" living in the sunshine capital of the US --> but this year has been a bit different. Kyle and I set up the fake tree we bought two years ago for our first Christmas {I'm allergic to pine pollen} and I wrapped presents early to put under the tree. I finished my Christmas shopping with very little stress, and really tried to get into the spirit of the season. I drove slower, and smiled more, and it's actually working.  And in spite of not being with family for this Christmas, I'm very much looking forward to the day with my husband. Pretty tree + presents in the morning, followed by a bike ride up the coast with Noko,  {sadly no Ian; he's getting a new hip today!} sunset on the beach, and then a delicious dinner.

Today, I rode the beach cruiser with the custom basket to the post office to mail the last of the gifts - which will be arriving on time! Unfortunately logging miles on that bike doesn't count as training as the Garmin didn't make the 4 block journey. {hey, I did a long run this morning!}

Warm wishes and Merry Christmas from San Diego!

Zipp/Sram rep sonja brought yummy cookies,
a sram scarf and custom name tags for my bike!

tree on the beach - postal run

beach ball ornaments!

love where we live :)

make a wish!
yep, superstitions still run true with me. :)

enjoying those superstitions with our new roommate. Stone's
Vertical Epic 11-11-11 and 12-12-12. Both were unique!

oh what fun...

2012 has been a pretty unique year that has been split in two. I look back and see pre and post deployment sections, and I'm sure many military families must feel this on a regular basis. Kyle and I have survived his first deployment and I'm happy to say, it wasn't that bad. It wasn't about wishing my life away so he'd come home sooner. It was about living in the moment, here and now, and enjoying the time I had to grow as an individual, and our time to grow as a married couple, even though we were many time zones away. We continue to learn how we both communicate and to speak those languages. He's a pretty amazing husband, friend, cyclist and sailor.

On the training and racing front, I've gone through a couple of phases. I took a semi relaxed approach to training for Panama 70.3 and Carlsbad half marathon and ended up with a half marathon PR and reconfirmed that my body hates heat/humidity and the importance of course selection. I had a blast in Panama and it was a good break from work and Kyle's deployment. I took some time off after, and then put myself to a 30 day run challenge, which was semi successful in gaining some sort of run fitness {and a lot of tight muscles} but it enabled me to hold a base through San Diego International Tri, which is my yearly benchmark race, and I snagged another PR and another AG podium. Unfortunately run fitness didn't last until Carlsbad tri, where another last min race plan was good enough for AG win, but no PR.

Tri racing decided to take a back seat to summer fun and a pretty amazing sailor who was finally home. We did a couple of criterium races, me aboard my new steed, Super Grover and he on his new ride, Karen. I mourned the loss of Cookie Monster in the spring, and about the time that I got my sailor back, Cookie Monster returned as a frame to my life, in a crazy turn of events.

Fall has brought a return to semi structured training, as the year ahead brings some big racing and big changes. Kyle is switching commands and even though it's "shore duty" he'll be gone quite a bit. Things at the shop are continually changing, yet it seems sometimes nothing does. I really love bike fitting and think I'm pretty good at it too. Making people faster and more comfortable is a very rewarding part of my job. Educating a new cyclist and teaching them to clip in for the first time is a unique experience. Showing other tri-nerds how far off their position was, and how much more comfortable they can and will be {and not to mention faster} is awesome. Bike fit is near and dear to me and it's definitely become a passion. Doing what you love on a daily basis is pretty amazing.

This holiday season, we'll be home. At the beach. Work schedules and duty sections require us to stay close. It'll be nice to have Christmas morning together this year, aboard our bicycles for a fun ride up the Pacific coast...because we can! I'm happy to have my sailor home for the holidays and my thoughts are with those who cannot be with their families.

all our best :: warm wishes from San Diego this holiday season :: merry christmas

{sneak peek at the christmas card; because i'm no good at keeping surprises}

Colorful Joy Christmas Card

Shutterfly Christmas cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

anniversaries

Happy two year anniversary to my husband. Kyle, you are my sherpa, my friend and my lover. It is you who brings a smile to my face and a light to my day. Even when you are far, you are close in my heart.

We celebrated with quick trip to LA and a nice dinner at 3rd Corner in OB. Riding the tandem of course. Sad I didn't get a pick of us all dressed up but we did get one of the 2010 cabernet to celebrate. He was out to sea on our actual anniversary on the 16th; such is the life of a Navy wife. 

we chose the wine based on
1) the year {2010}
2) the label art {gears}

it was actually delicious.

After work on Saturday the 13th we drove up to LA and stayed at a campground in Bonelli Park. Had some poptarts for a bedtime snack and crashed as we were up early for a morning of racing! He dropped me off at the park entrance for the Bonelli Olympic Distance Triathlon and he was off to Dominguez Hills for 2 criterium upgrade races. Check out his video.

I also celebrated my 4 year anniversary of my first Olympic distance race. Pumpkinman was an interesting journey and it's fun to look back. Bonelli is a very grassroots triathlon, no frills and no porta potties...not kidding. I don't think they were prepared for the increase in participants this year, but for once it paid off to be a girl, as all the bathrooms had 3 stalls for the women and only 1 for the men. :) No assigned racks left me finding a sweet spot at the edge of the bike in/out area {less time running with the bike = better} and laid out my sioux girl towel, shoes and helmet and I was off to the start.

Not surprising, the race started late. They didn't allow anyone in the water after the first wave went off, so my warmup was nil. 10 min later and the 1 and only ladies wave was off. 200 yards out and I was alone. 400 yards out and I started passing men from the wave that started 5 min ahead. And that's the story of the swim. The lake was "dirty" but not disgusting. It actually tasted like plain water. Just a bit muddy.

Got out in 22ish min, not happy with the swim but not disappointed. Ran up a hill to transition and took my sweet time to get my shoes on and onto my bike, and a girl passed me. I never saw her again.

The bike course is 3 loops around the park. After heading out of transition you climb a short hill, head over an interstate and turn right for a very long and fast descent. The rest was short climbs and turns and some flat areas and a final climb back into the park and back up towards transition. Albeit unsafe at parts due to the partially open roads and lack of volunteers {I saw 1 volunteer on the entire course, and the rest were traffic controllers/state patrolmen} the course was a blast. Loop two had a bit of a crazy start as there was a car on the course and bikes were going on all sides of it and the traffic controllers had lost control. No frills = no aid stations. I had 1 aero bottle 28oz of water and one 24oz bottle with 250 calories of gatorade and 1 vanilla gu.  2:16, which I felt was pretty respectable with the lack of training and the significant amount of climbing on the course.

aero dork

Heading into transition the temp was starting to get brutal. Luckily a good portion of the run course was on trail that was shaded. Plenty of aid stations along the course {I think 6 within the 6.2 miles} with just water. Felt alright on the run. Flats and downs were good and any type of incline had me almost walking. I have ZERO strength right now and am working on this base, but after only 2 weeks of training I had ZERO expectations. And I was pleasantly surprised.

yeah finished. why do i do this again?

Struggled through but managed a 52, and I'll take it. Finished and saw Kyle waiting for me so we could book it out of there and get me back to San Diego for work. :( We went back to the campsite to teardown and actually headed back to the race site for the podium shot and got on the road.

Won my AG and the results say 3rd OA, but I'm pretty sure I was 4th. Congrats to the husband for a top 10 finish and more racing experience.

superfast san diego peeps. 

Another year married. Another race under my belt. keep on keeping on.

{happy birthday to a faithful reader - my father! - excited to see you soon!!}

ready, set.

So here I am. Week 1. I had a little head start last week [well, skipping the running bit] with a couple bikes and a swim at the Superfrog Triathlon on Sunday. You may have heard, Lance was there. I got asked to be on a relay a day before, and sure, why not?! Oh yeah, remember last year, when I had that near drowning experience and came up laughing. It can't be that bad, right?

Nah, it was fun. After barely finding my relay members in time to gather the swim cap and timing chip I was off to the beach. A friendly hi to the Eternal Timing dudes who work at the Tri Classic and a bit of a warmup [potty stop] and back to the start line. 3, 2, 1 off with the elite/relay wave. Nothing like 6' waves to greet you! Love Coronado. I was dolphin diving right behind super swimmer Erin, and after that first wave she was no where to be found. As I was swimming I looked over and saw Keith walking and adjusting his orange goggles. It was rather comical, as he was keeping up. After that, I was alone. Not sure how this happens on a .6 mile, two loop course, but I can never seem to find feet that are my speed. A couple more crashing waves, some darker than others and I was out to the turn buoy. Started back in and I saw coach Scott from the Mission Valley Y Masters swimming without goggles - that sucks! Tried unsuccessfully to catch a wave, but at least I didn't get pummeled like Frank [who got tossed so hard into the ocean floor that the impact broke his toe - epic.] Sun was shining and I was wearing non tinted, clear goggles. Awesome sauce. Got out of the water and ran the beach to start the 2nd lap. I was also made [in]famous by slowtwitch.com

Red caps were positioned and ready, and after some heckling from Steve, Frank and Jake I "ran" back into the water as 3, 2, 1 go - their wave started. Double awesome sauce - young boys running me down as I enter the water for my 2nd loop much slower.

beautiful waves.

I found myself way right of the turn buoy as there was a bit more current. I didn't over correct, but made it to the turn, again alone. Turned back towards shore, and what do you know, I see coach Scott again. This time I managed to catch a wave. And I caught this wave like I've never caught one before. I was in the perfect spot and caught it at the right time. Wow. So. Much. Fun. I was dolphining through, in, and on top of that wave - smiling with a bit of a fear, and actually breathing with my head out of the water. The wave took me into shore saving quite a bit of time. Ran into transition and passed off my chip to my relay biker.

The rest of the day I hung out with friends cheering for other friends racing. Kyle had duty on Saturday, so he rode over when he got off in the morning on Sunday. Was super impressed with everyone's performances. Frank managed to bike pretty hard, but withdrew from running cause he knew something was up with his toe. Karen finished her first half, Erin killed it as a super swimmer _ runner for 2 different relays. Jake won his AG even after a hilarious bike handling incident involving a cone and obnoxious friends screaming. Funny pics, but I wish we had that on video, for Erin Merz's viewing pleasure. Lots of awesome times posted by TCSD folks, and Beth's stellar win. Oh yeah, and that Lance guy too.

kyle photo bombing Lance Armstrong @ Superfrog Tri

Monday was a masters swim. Today was a horrible GWL that I don't want to talk about, and I have to back that up with a run this evening. Kyle is gone for a bit; up to San Fran for Fleet Week. I hate it when he's gone, but it probably was good timing, as I attempt to find structure in my new training schedule.

Oh yeah, holy #indiansummer! Temps are crazy out here, and I hate to say this, but I'm actually looking forward to putting on arm/leg warmers this winter. All in all, I feel lucky to call San Diego home.

baselines

Laying down the baselines this week to give myself something to reflect upon in 6 months and a year. Last week was crazy with the two day trip to Vegas for Interbike and then catching back up at work; Friday was insanity. I came home late Friday night and the boys had been enjoying the brew a little too much. I knew Kyle would be super crabby in the morning when we woke up to the alarm for the impending doom of Palomar for Jo's birthday. [awesome cycling chica]. Let's just say my thoughts were quite accurate when we woke up at 5:45am. After 15 min of complaining and indecisiveness, I made him say yes or no, because if it was no, I was going to Fiesta Island for the TCSD triathlon.

road trip to vegas - back of the van. horrible shot cause
i lost my iphone, so i have the old 3G no front camera.

Workin' - Felt founder Jim Felt talking Felt Bikes history.

probably not safe for public view. but hilarious.

Back to the club race: Packed rather quickly, skipped breakfast and had to get Kermit ready. I hadn't ridden him in quite a while and I had a bunch of stuff to do for him to be okay to ride. Left my house at 6:21am for Fiesta, with a 7am start time. Had quite the warmup and made it in time to score a sweet [yet unfair] transition spot in the bushes, register, and get the wetsuit on.

Swim went well; stayed on Kosuke's feet for maybe 250 yards. Turned the buoys alone, and swam back next to a dude and Mr. Prez [S. Banister] and apparently some dolphins. Yes dolphins deep in Mission Bay - they must have been very lost, and quite disgusted - if dolphins can feel disgust.

Bike was alright. 5 loops of blah, and getting passed by some road bikers with aerobars, which is so not awesome; can't wait to put some work in on the bike and start crushing souls again. There were the usual cheater drafting groups ["we've been switching the entire time!"]  = not cool buddy, way to set an awesome example for all the new peeps and I can't believe you are actually admitting to cheating! I do have to poke fun at one of my swim students, Mo. He passed me and asked me in his awesome foreign accent if I was "on my turd lap or fourth?" I had to crack up a bit internally, as yes, I felt like I was on my turd poo feeling lap, but as the case was I was on my fourth. Thankfully.

Headed into T2 and took a while to put on my [non] running shoes. I think a chica passed me there, and then 2 more passed me on the run. Ended up 4th and ran 8:22s.  Got an awesome blister on the side of my foot from the [non] running shoes, even with socks. Found my actual shoes in my car later that day. Running those almost 4 miles got me thinking; holy hell, I have 1 year to get ready for Tahoe, and I will be running 22.2 more miles. Daunting.

Ended up 1:16 something. There's the base, although the swim times can change, I'll be looking to improve upon my 34 min bike and 31 min run. But really what matters is in exactly 1 year from this race, I will be toeing the line at Ironman Lake Tahoe. 7:00am Pacific Time.

After the race I went for a 30 mile easy coffee stop ride with Chris and Kyle, who yes got out of bed to ride his bike, leaving at a relaxed 9:20am. We headed to Stone Brewery for dinner with Jo, since we missed her b-day ride that am, and then went out in PB and finished off the evening with a 10 mile ride on the tandem. Fun.

Parlee Love at the coffee [tea] stop

Yesterday I rode with Noko and new friend Maureen [who has ridden on the Moment ride before] in east county. They dragged me around the loop for a 2:41:21 ride time [and no breaks for this lady, since I was back of the pack as evident by the 2:43 elapsed time, waiting at a construction stop.] Those two ladies are fresh off their Vegas performance and fitness...boy was it a struggle for me; but it gave me the motivation to bounce back into it.

Since I often do TCSD club races, and ride the Great Western Loop, doing these two this week while "out of shape" has given be the base upon which I will grow and get speedy.

Ready or not, next week is approaching. 

Oh, and a quick Happy Birthday to my amazing husband. I vowed to you that I'd never slow down; so this year you better keep up!

Open cans of...

With Ironman Tahoe just over a year away, I'm not exactly chomping at the bit to get back at it again. I do have a renewed focus and excitement towards 2013 since I'm going into it with a plan, but the plan doesn't start till October 1...so I'm trying to enjoy the here and now, and not get too freaked out about the impending structure.

Structure is something I had grown accustomed to with swimming. The structure grew from the 3 months for the high school season, to adding in summer sessions in Minneapolis, extending the season to 5 months, and then college, where the 8 month season with a double taper was my life for 4 years. When the season was over, it was over. Lazy person mode set in. Exercise was a joke, and if I put my toes in the pool, it better have been after laying in the sun, tanning.

Swimming was such an on and off thing for me. I was either fully in it, or fully out. Yet knowing the season would eventually start again, it didn't matter how far I let myself go, because we always had dryland training to kick our butts back into shape. Some of my sorest moments were hobbling around the UND campus, dreading that track and football field each afternoon, and well, the days and weeks after Ironman St. George...but we'll put those memories aside for a while.

senior sioux girls on training trip in FL

In Southern California, and in the world of Pro athletes, [since don't you know, we're all pro's down here...lol] there really isn't an off season for triathlon. You can find a race every month...and if it isn't a tri, there's some half marathon that everyone's doing, or in my case, the road racing season will start back up again. So, starting Oct 1, I'll be busting my butt for 24 weeks until race day at Oceanside 70.3 - then a week [and hopefully more] to recover, and then another 24 week block until Ironman Tahoe.

Structure training for 12 months...this is new.

Where will I find the motivation to keep going? To make the training worth it? All for two out of 365 days? That sounds like craziness.

So in the next two weeks I'm working on finding the motivation. And enjoying the unstructured training while it lasts. Today was a quick ride up the coast with the Moment ride - which turned into Noko, Judd and me. A great chatty ride. This week I'm heading to Vegas on Tuesday and flying back on Wednesday night for a brief look at Interbike. And next weekend is wide open - TCSD club race, ladies ride with Moment, or a birthday party on Mt. Palomar - yeah fun! [puke my guts out!] Hey at least I get to pick my fun.

Ready to open a can of Whoop Ass on the 2013 season. Oh yeah, in the 30-34 AG - YIKES!

yes, an actual can of Whoop Ass

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.