Victory Lap

Well, the race was outstanding. The day before the race, Nate and I got up early and drove around the whole island, like a mini-vacation. Then we got Kim and the two of us (with Nate as our trusty driver) scoped out the whole bike course. After we finished, we swam a little out from the race swim start to see what it would feel like. After a few inspirational words and big plates of pasta, we turned in for the night so that we would be fresh to catch the 4:30am shuttle the next morning.

We arrived early and got body marked. As I was hydrating and trying to get focused, I realized that my race packet didn't include my race number. Yikes! Panic just before the race! Fortunately, I found out that the race numbers are mostly just for the "photo finish," and because I was properly registered and had my smart-chipped ankle band on, I was just fine to race so long as I was comfortable knowing that I wouldn't be offered an overpriced package of professional photos of myself offered to me after finishing. Indeed, I was just fine.

The swim began at Waikiki Beach. It was a half mile out, and half mile back. The water was ridiculously warm. It was at least 80 degrees. I wish I had gone faster during the swim--I know I could have...well, okay, it was my first triathlon and I really wanted to make sure I had enough energy to do the whole thing--but after training in the freezing Bay, I felt like I was on vacation in that darn island water!

The transition to the bike was fast. I just crammed some shot bloks in my mouth and threw on my shoes, socks, and helmet. We biked from Waikiki Beach to Pearl Harbor. The road was closed to cars, so it was totally safe. It was also totally flat. Again, training in San Francisco was to my advantage. There were a bunch of TNTers from Florida in the race, and I passed just about all of them both on the up and the down sides of the only "hill" in the race (it was a freeway overpass). Go TNT SF!

I was more tired than I expected transitioning to the dreaded final piece: the run. By this time, it was past 9:00am and the sun was out in full force. The run was an out-and-back 1.5 miles in each direction; hence, we did the loop twice to reach 6 miles. We just beat this flat track back and forth in the sun. Gaaa. I was tired. I didn't have any negative thoughts whatsoever until the final half mile, when I was getting really tired and hot and the negativity started creeping into my brain. To counter it, I thought about how proud I was of myself, of everyone who supported my throughout my training and fundraising, and mostly, how proud I am of Jessica for being a great mom to Jaden no matter what obstacles life hands her. I also thought of how proud I was of Kim, as I kept passing her and seeing her smiling the whole way. She looked so happy and healthy. What a terrific experience!

Here is a link to the photos Nate took all weekend.


Thanks, Nate!

Au Revoir, ma Biciclette!

I dropped by bike off for shipping. I am officially tapering my workdout. I have my mantras. I have my tri suit. I have my race day nutrition. I have my fundraising completed. I have one week until the big day. I am ready to rock.

Global Climate Change Attacks San Francisco!

It was in the 80s all weekend...how apocalyptic is that? Nate says it's just May. Maybe he's right. Most of my team was racing this weekend at Wildflower. Go Team! I know you all rocked that course! You are superstars! I, however, have a couple more weeks until showtime.

I trained on my own this week and weekend. In the middle of the week I fell while running for the first time, well, ever! It did not feel very good (no surprises there...) I cut and bruised my hand and knee in several places. Oops. I won't go into the "how" and "why" details.

On sunnier fronts, I took an amazing ride all over the city on Saturday. Starting from home, I rode out Cesar Chavez down to the water and then along the Embarcadero all the way to Crissy Field and the GG Bridge. I went up through Fort Mason and Seacliff to the Palace of the Legion of Honor. Then I cut in toward GG Park and paralled the park up past USF and Alamo Square. I came down through the Western Addition and Hayes Valley, through the Castro, into the Mission and then took Valencia back home. It rocked! So today, I did it again (I think it was abot 22 miles) but this time I packed my wetsuit and swam at Aquatic Park. I still have both my legs and the water was actually a little warmer today than last time.

Tomorrow is the day of rest. Sweet, sweet rest.