Good grief. I joke about sharks in the Bay all the time. They guard Alcatraz. They eat seals. They eat triathletes. Giggle, giggle, haha. UNTIL LAST SUNDAY! A real, live shark entered Aquatic Park and all swimmers had to evacuate. From the shore, we watched its sharky top fin slice the water like a (somewhat smaller) version of Jaws. Gulp.
As if that's not bad enough, I also recently discovered that the Hawaiian islands are NOT shark-free as I had formerly understood them to be. Nay, they are the stomping grounds (chomping grounds?) of ferocious tiger sharks. Remember the time that adorable 13-year-old surfer girl got her arm brutally bitten off? Yeah, well, it was a tiger shark off one (umm, which one, not sure) of the Hawaiian islands that did it!
Mantras are not going to work in a shark situation. I am going to have to resort to Plan-B: strap a hunting knife to my thigh from now on when swimming in saltwater any place, any time. I can only hope that's race legal.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Bike to Work Day...
...was definitely the highlight of the week. I biked all the way to work. It was an incredible and incredibly long ride to do before putting in a full day on the hottest day of the year in Palo Alto.
I left at 5:45am and rode through Glen Park to Skyline. I took Skyline to Canada to Woodside to Whiskey Hill to Sand Hill into downtown Palo Alto, and then Bryant to school. I thought it would be 35 miles, but apparently it's 43 miles. I got there the same exact minute as all my little smiling faces did. Eek. Close call. Maybe leave at 5:30 (gaa!) next time. What a satisfying way to get to work!
Wednesday was a nice hilly four miles at the Presidio Sports Basement.
Here we are conditioning our hearts and minds. No wait, we are definitely conditioning our bodies here.
This is an OYO weekend due to Bay to Breakers craziness tomorrow. Nate and I are both running, but not together. Nate and assorted Hastings friends are going cap and gown themed, and I and assorted TNT friends are going hula themed. No coconut bras, though. Way too much chafiness potential.
Ready, set, go!
I left at 5:45am and rode through Glen Park to Skyline. I took Skyline to Canada to Woodside to Whiskey Hill to Sand Hill into downtown Palo Alto, and then Bryant to school. I thought it would be 35 miles, but apparently it's 43 miles. I got there the same exact minute as all my little smiling faces did. Eek. Close call. Maybe leave at 5:30 (gaa!) next time. What a satisfying way to get to work!
Wednesday was a nice hilly four miles at the Presidio Sports Basement.
Here we are conditioning our hearts and minds. No wait, we are definitely conditioning our bodies here.
This is an OYO weekend due to Bay to Breakers craziness tomorrow. Nate and I are both running, but not together. Nate and assorted Hastings friends are going cap and gown themed, and I and assorted TNT friends are going hula themed. No coconut bras, though. Way too much chafiness potential.
Ready, set, go!
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Back in the Saddle
Last week was the most wonderful week of my life. That may be an exaggeration. I did no exercise whatsoever. Pure relaxation.
On Saturday I swam an easy mile at UCSF. Today I repeated Saturday. I'm back in the saddle and looking ahead to Maui. Future posts should get wild and crazy once more.
On Saturday I swam an easy mile at UCSF. Today I repeated Saturday. I'm back in the saddle and looking ahead to Maui. Future posts should get wild and crazy once more.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Happiness is...Finishing 70.3!
I'd like to write about the race while it's still fresh in my mind. I will post Nate's photos asap...probably later today. (UPDATE: Photos posted!)
We arrived at Lake San Antonio in the mid-afternoon Friday, after stopping at the parents' house to pick up the racing cape, which my mom had sewn all my honorees' names onto in preparation for the big day. It looked great, and to jump ahead a little, I got tons of compliments on it and support while I was wearing it! But geez, spectators sure have high expectations for how fast a person can go just because she's wearing a cape!
I took a brief swim in the lake on Friday just to "test the waters." Giggle. Perfect conditions! Except way too much algae. In my suit. Bottom and top. On the way back to camp, I stepped on a rusty staple which punctured my heel. Yes, that is correct. Apparently, wearing sandals was a great idea. Unfortunately, the nearest doctor was 50 miles away in King City, and the medical tent was not equipped to give tetanus shots. So I shelved my worries of lockjaw and helped Nate set up the tent.
The evening went by really quickly with all the race registration, pasta consumption, words of inspiration, and so forth. Before I knew it, Nate's cell phone alarm was shaking the tent on Saturday morning. 6am. Time to get the job done.
On the way down to set up my transition spot (1873, near the Mexican flag) Nate and I got separated. Easy to do when you are in a crowd of thousands. Unfortunately, I had my bike but Nate, who was not allowed in transition, had my gear bag. So I racked my bike and started freaking out because the announcer kept saying "only ten minutes until the first swim wave!" Eek! Finally Chris found Nate and thus I got my gear. I set up transition in good time and decided to make a final bathroom stop before wetsuiting up. Pardon me if the next bit of information is an over share, but in the port-o-potty I discovered that my period had started, fewer than 10 minutes before the race. Between that and the rusty staple, things were really shaping up!
I raced a hard race from start to finish. I swam fast and yes, got kicked in the head multiple times. Suffice to say I also did some head kicking myself. Back off, people! We're all going to finish, and none of us is going to win! Let's just have a good time, shall we?
I annihilated the bike ride. At practice weekend, I rode the 56 mile course in 4 hours, 45 minutes. On race day, I rode it in 3 hours, 50 minutes. It felt awesome, but I shouldn't have pushed quite so hard. I really, REALLY wanted to make the cutoff time for the run, so I went all out. I rode for 15 miles with Mika, which may have been an error in judgment, because not only is she fierce and fast, but she also was racing in a relay and hadn't swum the 1.2 miles I had just completed.
Although I got a bee up my sports bra at mile 16 of the bike, it did not sting me badly, and I was able to keep pace and get it out with one gloved hand. I rode the entirety of Nasty Grade in 10 minutes. Awesome.
Because I rocked the bike so hard, the run was grueling. Just painful. I ran hard for the first three miles (my race cape swooping gracefully behind me) and then I started to get really tired. Despite the fatigue, I powered through 8 miles of the run before I just couldn't stave it off any longer. I had to walk. Everybody knows that you always end up adjusting your expectations in any race situation, and I had wanted badly to run the whole 13 miles. But my body was not cooperating. It was over 80 degrees out, no clouds, and I was getting really hot. I couldn't stomach any liquids or solids due to the heat, (and possibly the 62 miles I had under my race belt at that point) so I made a grave error in judgment and basically stopped taking them in. After walking for about 20 minutes (I did manage to run down the pit of despair, but couldn't run back up it) I walked past Coach Bill and he encouraged me to run the last two miles to the finish. I dreaded seeing the "mile 11" marker because I was totally out of steam. But I had to run those last two miles.
What did I do? I thought about how much scarier and more painful cancer must feel than what I was feeling, and I found two TNT racers (one from the East Bay, one from LA) and together we ran the last two miles to victory. I have never felt so happy and proud in my life.
Unfortunately, my happiness and pride were acutely interrupted by intense feelings of nausea and lightheadedness. Nate found me and said "Congratulations! Let's go check out and get to the showers!" To which I replied, "I am going to puke and pass out right now." Thus, we changed our plans and headed to the medical tent.
Although they didn't have any tetanus shots, they decided I was totally dehydrated and I was promptly hooked up to the nectar of the gods: an IV filled with saline. Ahhh, sweet relief.
I felt like my normal self after the IV. Well, my hamstrings were definitely a little more tender than usual, but other than that, no real damage done.
All told, I finished in about 7.5 hours. It was an honest day's work.
P.S. I got my tetanus shot at the Kaiser emergency room at midnight that later that same night...
 |
| Wildflower 2008 |
We arrived at Lake San Antonio in the mid-afternoon Friday, after stopping at the parents' house to pick up the racing cape, which my mom had sewn all my honorees' names onto in preparation for the big day. It looked great, and to jump ahead a little, I got tons of compliments on it and support while I was wearing it! But geez, spectators sure have high expectations for how fast a person can go just because she's wearing a cape!
I took a brief swim in the lake on Friday just to "test the waters." Giggle. Perfect conditions! Except way too much algae. In my suit. Bottom and top. On the way back to camp, I stepped on a rusty staple which punctured my heel. Yes, that is correct. Apparently, wearing sandals was a great idea. Unfortunately, the nearest doctor was 50 miles away in King City, and the medical tent was not equipped to give tetanus shots. So I shelved my worries of lockjaw and helped Nate set up the tent.
The evening went by really quickly with all the race registration, pasta consumption, words of inspiration, and so forth. Before I knew it, Nate's cell phone alarm was shaking the tent on Saturday morning. 6am. Time to get the job done.
On the way down to set up my transition spot (1873, near the Mexican flag) Nate and I got separated. Easy to do when you are in a crowd of thousands. Unfortunately, I had my bike but Nate, who was not allowed in transition, had my gear bag. So I racked my bike and started freaking out because the announcer kept saying "only ten minutes until the first swim wave!" Eek! Finally Chris found Nate and thus I got my gear. I set up transition in good time and decided to make a final bathroom stop before wetsuiting up. Pardon me if the next bit of information is an over share, but in the port-o-potty I discovered that my period had started, fewer than 10 minutes before the race. Between that and the rusty staple, things were really shaping up!
I raced a hard race from start to finish. I swam fast and yes, got kicked in the head multiple times. Suffice to say I also did some head kicking myself. Back off, people! We're all going to finish, and none of us is going to win! Let's just have a good time, shall we?
I annihilated the bike ride. At practice weekend, I rode the 56 mile course in 4 hours, 45 minutes. On race day, I rode it in 3 hours, 50 minutes. It felt awesome, but I shouldn't have pushed quite so hard. I really, REALLY wanted to make the cutoff time for the run, so I went all out. I rode for 15 miles with Mika, which may have been an error in judgment, because not only is she fierce and fast, but she also was racing in a relay and hadn't swum the 1.2 miles I had just completed.
Although I got a bee up my sports bra at mile 16 of the bike, it did not sting me badly, and I was able to keep pace and get it out with one gloved hand. I rode the entirety of Nasty Grade in 10 minutes. Awesome.
Because I rocked the bike so hard, the run was grueling. Just painful. I ran hard for the first three miles (my race cape swooping gracefully behind me) and then I started to get really tired. Despite the fatigue, I powered through 8 miles of the run before I just couldn't stave it off any longer. I had to walk. Everybody knows that you always end up adjusting your expectations in any race situation, and I had wanted badly to run the whole 13 miles. But my body was not cooperating. It was over 80 degrees out, no clouds, and I was getting really hot. I couldn't stomach any liquids or solids due to the heat, (and possibly the 62 miles I had under my race belt at that point) so I made a grave error in judgment and basically stopped taking them in. After walking for about 20 minutes (I did manage to run down the pit of despair, but couldn't run back up it) I walked past Coach Bill and he encouraged me to run the last two miles to the finish. I dreaded seeing the "mile 11" marker because I was totally out of steam. But I had to run those last two miles.
What did I do? I thought about how much scarier and more painful cancer must feel than what I was feeling, and I found two TNT racers (one from the East Bay, one from LA) and together we ran the last two miles to victory. I have never felt so happy and proud in my life.
Unfortunately, my happiness and pride were acutely interrupted by intense feelings of nausea and lightheadedness. Nate found me and said "Congratulations! Let's go check out and get to the showers!" To which I replied, "I am going to puke and pass out right now." Thus, we changed our plans and headed to the medical tent.
Although they didn't have any tetanus shots, they decided I was totally dehydrated and I was promptly hooked up to the nectar of the gods: an IV filled with saline. Ahhh, sweet relief.
I felt like my normal self after the IV. Well, my hamstrings were definitely a little more tender than usual, but other than that, no real damage done.
All told, I finished in about 7.5 hours. It was an honest day's work.
P.S. I got my tetanus shot at the Kaiser emergency room at midnight that later that same night...
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Water noodles are for exercise classes only!
That's my fancy way of saying the outdoor pool was closed, and I had received no prior notification via listserv, when I arrived for at the gym Tuesday for my final pre-Wildflower swim. What did I do? I swam indoors, in Chlorine Town, right next to the toddlers and parents who reside across the lane lines in Urineville, the land of many swim lessons. Good grief, that pool must have been 85 degrees. Definitely not wetsuit legal.
Other than that, I am ready to rock. Over the course of this season, I have had some doubts about my preparedness, but Todd and Tom have brought me to a place of inner peace. Todd has reassured me that I have put in the miles on my bike and I am ready. And at the risk of sounding emotional (I usually avoid that, and therefore when I try to do it, I come off sounding either sarcastic or corny) I will be thinking of Todd the whole race. Yes, I will think of Jessica and JP. I race for them. They inspire me with their will, spirit, and unending courage. But Todd has gotten my through a lot of hard practices and I am so happy, so happy for his remission. So many conversations on long runs and long car rides over to Marin. All that Saturday afternoon traffic on Divisadero is extra time to talk.
Tom and I have created the "chocolate cake zone," a special place in your mind you can go when the race gets tough at the end.
He has also reminded me time and time again that I TOAST him at sprints on the track. Even though I think I hate running, I know I have the ability to power past multiple racers at the finish. I did it in Honolulu. I did it in Santa Cruz. I will do it Saturday.
Bring on the water noodles. I am prepared for all types of exercise.
Other than that, I am ready to rock. Over the course of this season, I have had some doubts about my preparedness, but Todd and Tom have brought me to a place of inner peace. Todd has reassured me that I have put in the miles on my bike and I am ready. And at the risk of sounding emotional (I usually avoid that, and therefore when I try to do it, I come off sounding either sarcastic or corny) I will be thinking of Todd the whole race. Yes, I will think of Jessica and JP. I race for them. They inspire me with their will, spirit, and unending courage. But Todd has gotten my through a lot of hard practices and I am so happy, so happy for his remission. So many conversations on long runs and long car rides over to Marin. All that Saturday afternoon traffic on Divisadero is extra time to talk.
Tom and I have created the "chocolate cake zone," a special place in your mind you can go when the race gets tough at the end.
He has also reminded me time and time again that I TOAST him at sprints on the track. Even though I think I hate running, I know I have the ability to power past multiple racers at the finish. I did it in Honolulu. I did it in Santa Cruz. I will do it Saturday.
Bring on the water noodles. I am prepared for all types of exercise.
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