2010 in Review

Wow, it has been quite a while since I have posted anything, I blame life...and pregnancy! 2010 was a great year for me though, and I am going to briefly list the highlights here.

Janurary: Began my triathlon training with the lovely Jennifer Harrison, remembered what it was like to be truly sore.

April: Completed my first triathlon

May: Another triathlon and sinus surgery (recovery was horrid but I am so glad I did it, no more sinus infections since!)

June: To Colorado for my Grandfather's 90th birthday and got to drive over the beautiful Rocky Mountains. David finished another school year and began to train with me. Triathlons are contagious!

July: Started working more shifts at the hospital, this made finding time for training a bit more challening, but I got it done. Continued to run distances I never thought I would be able to reach. Climbed Mt. Hamilton (6000 ft of total climbing) on the bike and didn't die!

August: Final big build toward my half IM....lost my training partner as school began anew.

September: Completed my first Half Ironman distance in hot, dry weather. It must have been good for me as I got pregnant the following week!

October: Celebrated our 9 year wedding anniversary, learned that "morning sickness" is a poor way to describe pregnancy induced nausea.

November: Completed my first half marathon in Santa Clarita while pregnant. Unfortunately I haven't worked out much since.....went on hiatus with my coach. Traveled to Arizona with David and Molly to spectate/volunteer at my first IM. Reconnected with some good ASU friends.

December: Had a wonderful holiday season filled with dinners, parties, and wonderful friends and family. Made it to my second trimester and found the nausea begin to fade..

Goals for 2011? The birth of a healthy baby (who thinks sleeping is a great passtime) with a heatlhy mommy in June, and then start training for a marathon, and continue to learn from job.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

December: Brought me

Race Report - TBF Hit 70.3

I did it. I completed my first 70.3. It wasn't pretty, but it got done. Here's my race report...



David (my husband) and I did our short brick on Friday morning and were on the road by 11am. The hotel we were staying at was about 2 hours from our house. About an hour into our trip I realized I had forgotten my brand new racing one-piece. I had washed it the night before (because it was new) and I neglected to put it into my suitcase. Big OOPS. Luckily, with a little help from David's Iphone and Google Maps, we found an REI in Stockton, which was on the way to our destination.

REI had a race outfit I had tried on previously, in my size, and on sale. It wasn't what I would normally choose, but the top was pink and I figured at least my coach would approve of the color scheme! In short, I lucked out. I silently hoped this was the only snafu that I would face during the trip.

The hotel we stayed at was very nicely situated. It was quite new, and behind a shopping center that had a grocery store, coffee shop, Baskin Robbins, and 3 different resturants. All were within walking distance from where we were staying.

We checked in, dropped off our stuff, had lunch, and got back into the truck to drive out to the race site and drive the bike course. The site was a decomissioned nuclear power plant called Rancho Seco. We were unable to see the swim site and run site (which was probably just as well, in retrospect), but we did see the entire bike course. It consisted of some flats and lots of rollers. Nothing to techinical or scary, I figured I could power the downhills as they did not contain any turns.

After our drive we had a dinner of pizza (cheese, ham and mushrooms without sauce) which was prefect. I made all of our water bottles and David checked the bikes. Then it was off to bed. I slept better than I have before any race, but 4:30 am still came really early.

We drove out to the site and were probably the third racers there. It was dark. You couldn't even see transition. Crazy. The lake looked glassy and calm. The nuclear chimneys had a number of red lights on them, which made the landscape even more alien. I wondered how many 3 eyed fish I was going to see on the swim.

Got a great spot in transition, then it was off the legs until go time. The women were to all swim together in the last group. I was kinda annoyed about going last, but it turned out okay.

Here we are waiting in transition...



The Swim: 36:42

I wore a sleeveless wetsuit, lined myself up at the front for the in water start. It was nice and warm, really. I went out a little fast and then dialed it back a bit. Breathing every stroke. Ever seen Harry Potter 4 where the little devils come out of the lake weeds and get him (they're called grindylows)? Well there were so many weeds, I kept thinking expecting something to come and grab me. Anyway I passed some men in the group ahead of me, and some super fast girls passed me. In all I felt good.


Bike: 3:51.21


So this is the official time. My Garmin has it a bit differently I don't know why. But Garmin says I averaged 15.1 mph over 56.46 mi in 3:44.58. I was a little hungry getting out of the water so took a gel at the beginning. Then had my carbopro/electrolyte 15 min in. I felt strong on the bike. The first 20 miles or so went quickly and were relatively flat. Then we got into the rollers. Lots and lots of rollers. The terrain is very similar to what I have ridden on for training rides so I was comfortable. I did my best to power on the down hills, they were all nice and straight. Even got up to 30mph at one point. A couple of down hills I stretched. Had to click out a couple of times on the flats as my feet were a little numb, but it didn’t take long to get feeling back. My hamstrings hurt, but not like they did before the bike fit and they hurt symmetrically.

This is the first mile out on the bike. It was downhill, I was thinking about how unpleasant it was going to be to bike back uphill at the end of the ride...



For the first time in a race this year, I actually passed some people on the bike! I was excited. I stayed in my planned heart rate zones, but I just didn’t want to blow out my legs and tried to spin as much as I could. My mph suffered on those rollers, but I didn’t want to redline it just so I could keep my mph high. Nutrition wise I felt like I did a good job. At the mile 35 aid station I grabbed a water bottle with water and drank about half, just to get the sweet taste of my water bottles out of my mouth. I did that again at mile 45. So I had 3.5 water bottles on the ride with the carbopro/electrolyte drink as well as 1 bottle of just water. I never felt hungry or bonky on the bike.


Run: 2:49.32


Otherwise known as the 7th circle of hell. I really had no idea the run course was this hilly. I knew it would be some single track, and some fire roads but I had no idea on the hills. Even reading the old race reports, I just didn’t get it, apparently. So off the bike I immediately took a gel. It was about 90 degrees at this point. I grabbed my water bottle with my electrolyte drink, my race belt with gels and salt tabs and hit the road. It was fine at first, my legs felt okay – just heavy – but I was trucking along.

Here I am leaving transition for the first loop. Sorry...spandex is so unforgiving...



I came to the first hill, I jogged up it, giving myself permission to walk it on the second loop if I needed to. As I crested the hill I saw a series of other hills and my heart just sank. It was so hot. I didn’t think I could run up all of them and actually make it all the way to the end. So I started to walk the uphills, actually I walked a lot more than that on that first loop. I wasn’t happy about it, but I was being conservative and safe I guess. I was, by far, not the only one walking.

I hit the first aid station and got two cups of water and poured them on my head and back. Bliss. I would jog the downhills, walk the up hills and sometimes a little more. Took my gels every 40 min. I was done with my electrolyte drink in about 50 min. At the second aid station one of the wonderful volunteers filled up my water with ice water. This was awesome. I decided to do this at every station. Then I’d drink about ¼ of the bottle and the rest went on some part of my body. Wonderful. I was so glad I had that water bottle.

Once I ran out of electrolyte drink I would have approx 8 oz of Gatorade at the aid stations, stick ice down my shirt, and refill my water bottle. GI-wise I was okay. I took salt tabs every half hour. I kept sweating. I was dirty and dusty. The loop was an out and back that you did twice. Going out was hilly, coming back was flatter and single track. I told myself on the second lap I would only walk half way up the hills, and that I would run all the single track. Which I did. I am pretty sure I came back faster on the second loop than I did the first.

I passed people (crazy), I stayed hydrated and kept my own pace. I ran non-stop on the single track, and my knees were a bit unhappy, but I did it. I was just so excited that I was going to be done, it kept me going. I knew I was going to finish one way or the other, even if it wasn’t quite as fast as I was hoping. It was 92 degrees when I finished. I could see the finish, and I could see a guy hobbling along, so I kicked and passed him. He tried to stay with me (feebly) and I still beat him. You can see him behind me in this picture:



Poor guy, I think he just bonked. Across the line, I attempted not to puke on the volunteers who had my finisher medal.


Total: 7:17.35


David was waiting for me with a big hug at the finish. I saw him out on the run course twice. He looked toasted. I suggested we go for a post race dip in the lake. It was great. We got most of the dust off, but ended up not hearing them call his name for awards. He came in 3rd in the Clydesdale division. It was his first 70.3 as well, and I was so proud of him. Here he is at the finish:



As we were packing up, I heard my own named called. I got a 5th place finish too. There were 5 girls in my AG....there were more on the list when I checked in, but perhaps the heat scared them away. At anyrate, I was happy, and I had some hardware to go with my first half IM.

We drove back to the hotel, with a stop at the grocery store for a couple of bags of ice. My ice bath was lovely. I now love ice baths. Maybe in February I won't be so pleased, but it sure felt good on Saturday. We went to dinner and had mediocre Mexican food. For desert we went to Baskin Robbins, which was wonderful.

Sunburned, sore, and chafed, we hobbled back to the hotel. I had a hard time falling asleep (I blame the coke I had with dinner), but I didn't feel too bad, and my stomach was content. Sunday morning was a different story. Wow, my legs were angry. My whole body was angry.

Today is much better. I credit the ice bath and the minimal amounts of strectching I have done. Oh and great coaching to get me ready for this little adventure.

My next challenge is going to be a half marathon the first weekend in November. I am excited to have a better run! But for now, I am going to enjoy rest week!

I want to thank everyone who helped me get to this point, my awesome coach, my husband, my family, Molly, and all the people who were cheering for me online. You guys rock!

Where did summer go?

Actually, some people might ask if summer ever got here at all! We've had one of the coolest summers I can ever remember having here in the Bay Area this year. Not that I have really complained much, I don't have air conditioning!

We've had a couple of hot spells, which have been great to simulate some warm weather training, but other than that it's been pretty mild!

The past two weeks have marked my build up for my first HIM in September. September 11th, to be exact, which is now less than two weeks away! Wow...how did that happen?

Two weekends ago, my instructions were to do a long ride with long and steady climbs. My husband told me that Mt. Hamilton fit that bill very well. It's 19 miles of climbing with an average grade of 4-6%. You ride all the way up to the observatory. It's a mountain that I look at every day. David has ridden it before, but I have always gotten out of it. This time I figured, why not? The weather was forecast to be nice, and I knew it would be a great training ride.

Here's a good picture I found of the mountain:


You see those tiny white specks at the top? That's the observatory I made it up to! We set out about 11am from a near by park, as we didn't want to start climbing right away. About 45 min later, we got to here:


The climbing wasn't bad. I was very happy to have a triple! You gain about 1500 ft, and then you drop down into a valley, losing all that altitude which you then get to gain again. I hung in there okay until the last mile or so. The last part of the climb is full of switch backs, with the occasional teasing glimpse of the observatories. Here's what they look like as you get "closer":


I was pretty much cursing anything that moved by the time we made it to the very top of the switch backs. I.just.wanted.to.be.done.climbing.already!

Finally, we got to the top where we took this picture:



We filled up our water bottles and then got to the part I was really dreading - downhill. I am terrified of going downhill. I tend to imagine how it will feel when all the skin and muscle has come off from sliding down the side of the road. Not great for your confidence, really. David was nice enough to hang out behind me and give me some really good tips about descending. It helped immensely, I felt like I had much more control around the turns and I wasn't nearly as scared.

About 5 miles from the bottom, my back started to scream obscenities at me. David had gone ahead of me as we were over the more technical part of the descent, and I was on my own. My back and hands just hurt like you would not believe. I was so happy to get down and to a stop light where I could unclick and stretch out my back.

All in all, it was a great day. 5:30 min in total. The summit is 4200 feet, so between that and then coming back down, garmin says we did a total of 6879 total feet of climbing. Crazy. Here's what it looked like after I downloaded the ride:


This past weekend we did another longer ride, but I will post pictures of that soon. It was a great day as well and I am looking forward to that magic word "taper".

Tale of two rides

Training has been going well. The new work schedule (32 hours of night shift/week) is making it interesting to get all my workouts in, but I am doing my best. I really like sleep, and sometimes I choose sleep over a workout. I figure my patients would prefer me awake!

Last Sunday David and I had a great ride up to Canada road. We got a later start than we were planning on, but such is life. Luckily the weather got cooler the further we rode north, so that was a pleasant surprise. We also started our ride in a head wind, which meant we had a bit of a tailwind on the way back, which was fabulous.

The reason this ride is so great on a Sunday has to do with something named "Bicycle Sunday". About 4.5 mi before our turn around, the road is closed to all motor traffic. Everyone I saw on that stretch of road had the biggest smile you'd ever seen. We were all just so happy to ride on a road without any cars. It is a bit windy and downhills on parts too, so I got to practice my descents and only had to worry about falling, instead of falling and/or being hit by a car!

I had done part of this ride back in April with my brother. I felt much better on this ride, actually staying in the correct heart rate zones, whereas before, I was all over the place. The only other time I had done this ride was a year in a half ago, in February, with Molly. It was raining. So this was much better in lots of ways!

Today David and I drove over to Santa Cruz. He's doing a triathlon there in a few weeks and wanted to swim in the ocean one more time prior. I figured this would time to ride on some new and different roads, as well as have a lovely run along the sea cliffs.

I found what I thought would be a nice, flatish bike ride that fit the training plan for the day. After we did one loop of David's bike course, we were off. It didn't go well. We were unfamiliar with the area. I had found a course but didn't realize how many lights there would be along the way. There was also a bunch of traffic, for a Monday, but perhaps this is how it is in any beach town during the summer.

At any rate, I couldn't WAIT to get off my bike and go for a run. If you know anything about me, you'd know how crazy that statement is. But really, it was a beautiful run along the sea cliffs, and really it was the best part of the day. That and the fact that I got to be out riding and exercising with my husband. It was helpful that he stayed in the car watch the bikes while I went for my run.

So that's about it from around here. The weather people keep saying our recent weather has been "unseasonably cool" and I am so okay with that. If it could stay that way until we get past my tri in September, I wouldn't complain!

New Beginnings

It's been far too long since my last post! Hopefully I can get back to being a bit more prolific. Truth be told, it's been an interesting couple of weeks. Poor sleep due to night shift, sporadic training (my own bad there), a sinus infection and bronchitis, a trip to Colorado, and summer finally showed up!

I decided last week that perhaps July 31st was a little too soon for my first half ironman, after the recovery from surgery, getting sick again, traveling to Colorado to celebrate my grandfather's 90th birthday, and deciding to increase my hours at work beginning in July, it just kind of all backed up on me. I found a great half that will be held on September 11th south of Sacramento. Coach agreed with me so this is the new goal.

Things have been going well, thus far. David is out of school and I have a ready made, and willing training partner. He even signed up for an Olympic length triathlon in August that requires swimming in the ocean, which would also be why I didn't sign up for the same one. Well, that, and the fact I work on said weekend. So we're having fun together, and I feel safer on the bike and running having someone with me at all times.

He's been going to masters with me too. I was faster than him in the pool for approximately 2 practices. Humpf! Oh well, it is what it is, and I am glad he's getting the exercise, also - he's quite adept at changing flat tires =).

Today was a big day. David wanted to get in some ocean swimming before his triathlon. Molly let us know that she was planning on swimming at Cowell's beach in Santa Cruz around 7am. Woo! That is early for this night shift worker. I had told David I would go with him and watch while he swam with Molly and her aunt due to the fact I am truly terrified of swimming in the ocean. A few messages were exchanged and Molly's husband, Jeff (who was more than a few beers in at this point), said he'd swim in the water, sans wetsuit, if I got in too (I was allowed to wear the wetsuit).

Well I couldn't quite pass up such an offer, and I knew, deep down, that I should really get over this fear and get in the damn water. David and I were at Sports Basement and rented wetsuits. To this point, I had only ever worn the 2XU sleeveless suit. This time, I tried on a long-sleeved orca. It had pink writing on it, and it fit really well. Between the deal with Jeff and the pink writing on the wetsuit, I figured I had to rent the wetsuit and deal with the ocean.

Fast forward to this morning. We got up, I had some oatmeal, made some french-press coffee, put on my big girl pants, and we were out the door. Traffic was really light, which was great. The parking at the beach is free before 10am and we were there well before that. Jeff was there too, ready to hold up his end of the bet. I am watching him enter thinking how great it is to have a wetsuit on right about now...see exhibit A:


What a guy. I think I owe him a six pack.

The plan was to swim out to the buoy. My plan was to swim out, see how I felt and possibly swim back to shore and be done. The water was COLD. 53 degrees actually. But my wetsuit kept me quite warm and loved the buoyancy of the salt water and the suit. I hardly kicked!

It was really tough to put my face in. I have gotten over the claustrophobia of the dark water for the most part, but it was the coldness that was keeping me doing heads up freestyle. David and I made it to the first buoy and Molly had her camera so we'd have proof:


It wasn't so bad out there, so we swam to the next buoy, which was probably 150m to 200m away. I kept watch for the occasional sea lion. There were two of them out this morning, playing around in the water and popping up when you'd least expect them. David swears one went past him. We went between the buoys 3 times and then decided to head in. It was nice swimming with the current back to the shore.

Then we were out and happy to be finished:


So I really need to thank Molly and Jeff for pushing me to do this. It was a big hurdle and I am glad that I did it. Even if I whine and moan about sharks and jellyfish and other creatures that might want to eat me =)

I go back to work tomorrow. I have increased my hours; going from 24 hours (3 shifts a week) to 32 hours (4 shifts) still on night shift. The new shift begins on Monday so the next week and a half is going to be pretty busy with work and training as I transition to the new schedule.

On a completely random note, I have started drinking GT's Kombucha. Yes this is what Lindsey Lohan says set off her ankle alcohol sensor, which then turned into Whole Foods pulling them from their shelves. Luckily another local grocery store is currently carrying it. For the record, I feel no buzz whatsoever, but it really does help with the soda cravings and appetite control.

Apparently you can make kombucha at home, but seeing as how I will spend just as much money for a venti latte, I figure I am justified in buying these instead.

So that's where things are now. Summer is here in full swing. We had a couple of 90+ degree heat days, but today looks to be in the low 80s, which is just about perfect in this un-airconditioned house.

Recovery....

I wrote this blog post about a week ago regarding my lovely sinus surgery, but I never put it up. I have edited it a bit and figured now would be a good time to post something!

I have to give a shout out to Marit for answering a ton of my questions once I got back home from my surgery. She was extremely informative and helpful, and I really appreciated it! She even let me whine a bit =).

Basically I had splints in my nose to keep my repaired deviated septum in place, an unknown amount of gauze in my sinuses from the endoscopic surgery to make my sinuses drain better, and a ton of pain. I had instructions not to blow my nose, and if I were to sneeze, to do so through my mouth (not a problem as I don't do much with my nose to begin with).

I have had one trip to the ER for a pain control issue. I had my husband take me to the ER where I work, which was fabulous. They were great and sent me home after a pain shot, and with a new prescription for percocet (which I asked for initially but my surgeon didn't want to give me). I was lucky it was not busy when I went in.

After I started the percocet, my day was been split into 4 hour intervals. I didn't really like being this dependent on a drug, but I am a wuss when it comes to this type of pain and hoped against hope I could stop the narcotic once the dreaded splints were out (a week after the initial surgery).

My friends and family have been great. David stayed with me on Wednesday after our midnight trip to the ER. My friend Jen came over on Thursday armed with Jamba Juice and we watched a movie (okay fine, we watched New Moon =>). Friday I was on my own but my dad made a trip to get me enough pain meds and gauze to last me through the weekend. I feel like I should buy stock in Odawalla and Jamba Juice. I have had numerous offers from others to go and run errands for me, etc., and I appreciate them all.

My splints came out the Tuesday after my surgery. I was very scared that their removal was going to hurt, a lot. We got to the doctor early, and he actually saw me early (?!). I asked him to numb my nose, but he responded that it is a pretty hard thing to do. He cut the suture that was holding them in and pulled them out, one at a time, with some medical tweezers. It was painful, but not horrible. I felt immediate relief. It was wonderful. Here is a picture of what the splints look like before they're inserted this is almost to scale, I couldn't believe how ginormous they were when I got a good look at them:


Things have been much better since the splints have come out. I continued to sleep in fits though, last night was the first night I actually slept an entire night without waking up, so it took about 2 weeks in total to get back to a normal sleep schedule. I lost my taste for a little over a week, but it's back now so that made me happy. It's so weird when you can't taste.

Advil has been good enough for the pain. I haven't had any more narcotics since the day my splints were removed, that's good enough for me. I don't know how all of these people get hooked on narcotics. All I have to say about that is they must eat a TON of fiber in their diets.

May marked an exciting anniversary for me as well. It has been exactly one year since I graduated from Nursing School. That is just, well, crazy! I cannot believe it has been a year. I am looking forward to a summer of not studying and worrying about taking my boards, and whether or not I am going to find a job. The time since graduation seems to have just flown by. I have been in my current job in the ER for 6 months now. I still LOVE my job. I work with incredible people and I still have much, much, much to learn.

Here's a picture of David and me at graduation:


I have started training again, albeit slowly. Which is fine with me. I could feel the pressure in my nose yesterday with some of the TRX moves, but it wasn't too bad. Running and biking don't seem to bother it at all. I am going to try swimming tonight. I have chosen to attend the late night practice, because I am not really sure what I might be adding to the pool. I know, gross, but hopefully no one will see it, and I will be in my own lane!

In the meantime, I need to convince my husband/mechanic to put my new road pedals on my bike so I can figure out how to clip in and out with my new road shoes. I have ridden with mountain bike pedals and shoes for ten years, so it should be interesting. It was definitely time for new shoes!

The weather is supposed to be beautiful for a few more days, and then it will be summer. This seems to be the year of the "one week of Spring". Oh well. At least it's not raining!

Uvas Tri Race Report

Pre-pre race:

Decided the best way to rest on Saturday would be a pedicure with my mom. My reasoning was three fold: 1) I needed new teal toes to cheer on my Sharks, 2) I knew the tech would massage my feet, and since my feet had been bothering me, I figured this woudl be a good thing and 3) Mom had had a tough week and needed to be pampered!

Pre-race:

I woke up at 4:30am. I slept like crap. Have I mentioned I work night shift? 4:30 am in the morning is really early for someone who works nights, unless you're already awake! Anyway I got up, made my coffee, grabbed the oatmeal I had made the night before and was out the door.

Once I got my truck parked, I decided to have my oatmeal. Oh wow, that did not taste good. I was not hungry by any measure of the term, but I choked it down because I knew I would appreciate it later. Which I did. But ugh, that was gross. I drank about half of my coffee, which was just enough.

Swim: .75 mi = 20:29.8 min

Swim was a water start, which I liked. I warmed up my wetsuit (=>), swam around a bit to get used to having my face immersed in darkness with every stroke, then lined up right at the front. At the horn, we were off. There was a little contact, but nothing horrible. I was certainly not in front, but I could sight well and just got going. I turned the corner around this peninsula thing, I could NOT see the buoy. Seriously! Where was it?? Luckily, I knew the general location where we'd turn again, but maybe an extra buoy would be nice for next time! After the race, another racer agreed with me, he turned and couldn't see the buoy either. I tried to save my legs for the most part, took a breath every stroke and would sight every 4th or 5th stroke.

Thanks to David, Molly, Jeff, Melissa and Nigel who cheered for me.

Transition 1: 3:39 min

Was slow...I am so befuddled as I get out of the water. I wasn't as dizzy as my ocean swim, but definitely not all brain cells were firing. I fought to get my wetsuit off, got my shoes on, decided against the arm warmers and cycling gloves, put my helmet on and stumbled out of transition. David said I didn't look to happy coming out of transition. He took this picture, he'd gotten a great spectator spot!



Bike: Total time (via Garmin): 1:05.6, 15.96 mi, avg 14.7 mph/hr

My legs did not feel great for the first 5 mi or so. LOTS of lactic acid and my hamstrings were kinda tight. So I tried to spin as much as possible. My goal was to finish the bike in less than an hour, but there were lots of little hills here and there, I tried to push the downhills as much as I could safely (30mph max - HA!). The big hill hurt like a mother, I was out of the saddle a bit, but just tried to spin my way up. I felt much better on the bike than I did at Showdown, and I am happy to report that I didn't get passed by any mountain bikes =). I didn't do any passing of my own, but that's okay we can be sure I didn't draft, LOL. People were pretty courteous about signaling when they were going to pass me, so I appreciated that.

The weather was gorgeous, overcast and almost no wind. Ahh...makes it worth getting up so early. I loved hearing the disc wheels come up behind me, they sounded really cool.

Miles 13 - 15 were a bit up hill. I was hoping for down hill toward the finish, and even though I have ridden the course before, I had conveniently forgotten the uphill. Since I knew I had a run coming up, I just spun up the hills and tried not to redline. My goal was to finish the bike in under and hour. It didn't happen, but I am okay with that, I didn't blow out my legs so it worked out just fine.

Coming into transition, again David's tallness pays off!



Molly was doing the race as a relay. They began 20 minutes behind me. I fully expected her husband to pass me on the bike, but I never heard him. I saw Molly when I came into transition and realized I would probably be seeing her on the run.

Transition 2: Not sure, but certainly faster than T1!

Run: 52:37.8, 5 mi, avg 10:31 mi.

By far, I am most proud of this leg of my race.

Let's see, I felt like the tin man running starting out. My legs were just so stiff. It was incredible! Oh and my feet were numb. Nice. They finally showed up around mile 2. Happily, my heel didn't hurt one bit, and my breathing was labored, but not over the top. It was nice and even. I just picked my own pace and went with it. I really didn't look at Garmin other to see what the mileage was. I did see the total time so I had an idea of what was going on. I really wanted to complete the run in under an hour, so I am quite happy I did that, and ran FASTER than at Showdown even though it was a longer distance by almost 2 miles. Good things happen when you don't have to run a 1/2 mi in and out of transition =).

My legs didn't feel fabulous (and I guess that's normal), but I didn't have any side cramps, all though I could tell I would get them quickly if I picked up the pace, which is why I stayed where I was. I got passed, a lot, but it was nice to get passed by people in my age group in the fact it had taken them that long to catch me.

Molly made an appearance right after I turned around. She caught up to me around mile 4 I think. I wasn't surprised that she caught me. I knew it meant she was having a good run, and again was glad I didn't get caught on the bike!

Total Time = 2:23.12

Thanks to David, Molly, Jeff, Melissa and Nigel who cheered for me. I liked the cheering section, and the cookies that came along with it (he he Melissa, those were yummy!).

Now I am home, watching hockey.

Next up is the dreaded sinus surgery on Tuesday. I know having the surgery is the right decision, however I am more than a little bummed that I am really starting to get in shape only to have to take a week or two off from training. Ugh. In the pool, I finally started making intervals I haven't seen since I was in my early 20s. Oh well, everything will be okay, and I will be able to breathe better!