Week 33: Double Brick in 105 degrees

I love training for an Ironman. I sometimes complain that I'm tired or hungry (always) or that I have no time to socialize or take care of things in my personal life (like laundry), but at 8 months into my journey, I wouldn't change a thing.

Saturday's double brick workout was the hardest day of training that I've experienced so far. (A brick is when you stack a run after a bike ride). It was 30 miles on the bike, 5 miles of running, 30 miles back on the bike, and 5 more miles of running. The actual distances were hard enough, but the East Bay was experiencing a heat wave, so the 105 degree heat took the challenge to a new level. By the 2nd loop on the bike, I was nauseated and physically drained. At the mile 10 water stop, Kristie and Helen doted on me with ice, water, and anything else I needed. Coach Nancy was really encouraging and suggested that we slow the pace down. Over the next 10 miles, I bounced back enough that I wasn't thinking that I couldn't go on. By the time I returned to our starting point, Coach Doug was doing a check in with everyone. When was the last time you peed? Are you dizzy? Are you taking salt tablets? He suggested that we alter the workout for those that could continue - run out to the water stop and turn around. I ended up doing 3.5 miles instead of 5 and I walked for about half of it. By far the hardest day of training to date.

It wasn't an easy day for anyone. The Vineman athletes were scheduled to do a triple brick. I think a few actually completely the full workout, but most were physically unable to continue. 3 of my teamates crashed their bikes. Speaking from experience, nothing is more discouraging that hitting pavement. Everyone is ok, meaning no broken bones, but there will be a lot of healing wounds and bikes.

Post workout, I was presented with the "Spirit Cape" by my team's staff - completely unexpected. I think it's ironic that I received it on the day where my mental and emotional state were at its lowest. I was recognized for my perseverance aka my comeback on the bike. So now I will adorn the cape with something creative and it will be passed on to another athlete in a few weeks.

Condition: Feeling like a wilted flower

Fundraising Update

My teammate Tami and I hosted a wine tasting fundraiser at Dashe Cellars in Oakland. The night included wine tasting, tasty appetizers, and lots of awesome raffle prizes. Together, we raised almost $1,000! Thanks so much to Dashe, Sports Basement, World Ground Coffee, and all of the super generous attendees.

I am currently 78% of the way to my fundraising goal! With the help of my friends and family, I've raised $6,245! I still have another $1,755 to go.

Want to help support the cause to cure cancer? Click here!

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Week 32: Livestrong

Since Dennis and I are so busy with all of the commitments we've crammed into our lives, it's important that we sometimes find a way to intersect our interests. He can talk me into almost anything as long as I can somehow fit my training in. So it wasn't such a tough sell to get me to join him at North Star in Tahoe where he would be volunteering to assist the Race Director with course set up and volunteer management for the Tour de Nez. The little carrot Den dangled in front of me? A night's stay at North Star, which has an Olympic size pool, lots of running trails, and a spa. Awesome! I should preface this entry by letting you know that Dennis used to race bikes at the semi-pro level. The first 2 years that we dated revolved around a lot of cycling events, so spending the day watching bike races was like kickin' it old school for us. But fitting in my training was a new twist. On Saturday, we left the house at 4:30 am in order to get to Truckee by 8 am. When we arrived at the resort, we found out that we were actually staying at The Truckee Hampton Inn. OK, no big deal. But Northstar wasn't going to let me use their facilities. No pool, no shower, no massage...wah,wah,wah. But I was more than welcome to use their running trails...eh.


I reluctantly put on my running shoes and mapped out where I was going. My plan was to do 16 miles. I'd have to do some loops so that I could replenish water and fuel. I could carry one bottle of endurance mix, electrolyte pills, and 2 gels. My plan was to run 5 miles out to a bathroom, where I'd refill my bottle, take a gel, and head back to the car. I really underestimated how I'd feel running at altitude. North Star is over 6,000 feet above sea level. My heartrate was high and I was feeling more winded than usual. The trail wasn't marked all that well, so I kept having to turn around and run back to forks in the trail. When I reached the bathroom point, I found a port-a-potty with no running water. Screwed! I had to ration my water for the next hour. After 10 miles, I arrived back to the car dehydrated and discouraged. I called it a day, 6 miles short of my goal. I still had time to catch the Pro Women's and Pro Men's bike races. At the after party, we had a great time catching up wtih old friends and talking about the excitement to come....

On Sunday, we made a stop on the way back to the Bay Area. Lance Armstrong was racing at the Nevada City Bicycle Classic. This would be his last race before the Tour de France next month. He wasn't the only big name there, Levi Leipheimer and Chris Horner also showed up to ride. The course was a 1.1 mile closed circuit set in the cute little downtown. This race is actually considered one of the most technically and physically challenging in America. 130 Pro and Cat 1 riders showed up at the start and 127 of them were lapped at least once by Lance. I'm not a super fan, but I have to admit that I was in complete awe while watching him race. He looked superhuman compared to the rest of the field. Dennis took some really great shots of the race, but I asked him to get one of me with Lance in the background so that I could post it on my blog. Well, this is it. Me and the black and yellow blur in the distance.

Condition: Not the best training weekend, but certainly an entertaining one

Week 31: 108 miles...This time in Napa

Whew! This was my third 100 + mile bike ride in 3 weeks. The route in Napa was rolling to flat, so it felt like a really fast 100 miles, but the last 8 miles were really tough, both mentally and physically. I rode with Nick, LuLu, and sometimes, Becky and Mike D. We averaged 18 mph! We followed our epic ride up with a 2 mile run.

On Sunday, we had a coached swim and run. The focus for both was to improve our technique. For the swim, I need my hand entry to extend later in thestroke and to pull all the way through. For the run, I need to relax my shoulders, breath in through the nose and out through the mouth, and maintain 90 rpm. Easier said than done.

Condition: 3 centuries in 3 weeks = money in the bank!

Week 30: America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride in Lake Tahoe

This was Dennis' TNT Cycle Team's big event weekend, "America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride," which is a 100 mile bike ride around Lake Tahoe. I was able to buy a race entry at the last minute, so I hopped in the ride as a training day. My teammates Les and Wendi also registered for the event with some friends from Napa, so I was in great company. The race had 3,500 riders, 2,700 of which were with Team in Training. The vast majority of people were from outside of California. It's a TNT tradition to wear something on your helmet that represents where you're from. So we saw capitol buildings, dice, voodoo dolls, plastic wine glasses, beer cans, etc. We started at Harrah's casino in Nevada and rode up along the California side of the lake. The ride was breathtakingly beautiful. The ride had some climbing, just under 3,000 feet, so the riders from flat states (like Florida) tended to hit the wall on the inclines. It was a little tricky menuevering around people who were walking their bikes uphill or just stopped in the midde of the road. The altitude also made the climbs feel a litte more rigorous. Les and I noticed that our heart rates were higher than usual. Nonetheless, we had a great day.

I have to give a shout out to Team Wrong Way. The group of 11 had a roll time of 5:55, amazing!

Condition: 2 centuries in 2 weeks...getting tired, but still holding on

Week 29: Clear Lake Training Weekend

My teammates and I met at Clear Lake to mark our 3/4 of the way to Ironman. A former Ironteamer, Jeff Shaw, opened up his family's vacation home on the lake to be our home base. It was a perfect spot to host a big group for meals and a perfect place to hold a swim, bike, and run workout. As you may have read previously, I've been on the mend from a bike accident over Memorial Day weekend. My plan was to take a few days off from training to give the muscles in my neck and upper back a chance to heal and relax. I was coming into the biggest training weekend yet, and I knew I wouldn't be able to do everything without hurting myself even further.

So on Saturday morning when my team stepped into Clear Lake for a 2 mile swim at 6:30 AM, I sat on the beach and watched. Swimming for an hour and a half would only strain my neck and make it uncomfortable to do the next part of the workout, a 100 mile bike ride. At 9:30 AM, we all hopped on our bikes and set out on the course. I was wearing my new helmet that I'd bought the night before. Unfortunately, it wasn't until I went to put it on that I realized that the store clerk had left the security sensor attached. I looked like such a dork!

Initially my neck and upper back were really tight. I hadn't been on my bike since I crashed it so this was somewhat expected. Eventually, my back eased up enough that I didn't notice it much. I was too busy trying to keep up with Tony, Les, Sedonia, and Dave. At mile 95, I thought I was almost done, but when you start thinking that way, it just drags on. It was the longest 5 miles ever! I only had 100 miles in me that day, not one more mile. The idea of Ironman kind of scared me. Race day is 112 miles. If I had to do another 12 miles I think I would have cried. Good thing my race isn't until August. Once I returned to the Shaw's house I made a bee-line to the cooler as I was searching for the one thing that I had been craving for the last hour, an ice cold Coca-Cola! It was heavenly. Once everyone from the team returned, Coach Dave fired up the grills for our Ironteam BBQ. Our entertainment for the night was this fantastic Honoree video produced by Honoree, Matt Rhodes.

It was so awesome to be able to laugh with my teammates after such a hard day. We then took some time to go around the group and share personal connections to the cause. There were lots of really sad stories and a few uplifting ones. It was both overwhelming and inspiring to hear others talk about why joining the fight against cancer was so important to them. Everyone was in tears. We needed that though, we needed to connect with something bigger then ourselves. We're here to train for an Ironman, but in doing that, we're trying to bring awareness to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. After all of the laughter and tears, we headed back to our hotel to hit the sack. The training weekend was not over yet.

Sunday morning, we got to sleep in an extra 30 minutes. Alarm went off at 5:50 am. Our coach had mapped out our 16 mile run for us, a simple 8 mile out and back. Until this point, the furthest distance I'd run, was 13 miles. But this is what training is all about, one step at a time. Kristie and I did our run 9 minutes/walk 1 minute and it worked out really well for us. Talking helped pass the time. At mile 13, my body was letting me know that it was done running, but I kept putting one foot in front of the other. On mile 15, I felt a little strain in my right foot and prayed that a major cramp didn't come on. It held off and I was able to make it back to the Shaw's house in one piece. Another training weekend down!

Condition: Amazed at my ability to heal and push on

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