Outback Big Lick Race Report

It was TOTALLY worth the drive!! 5 hrs each way but afterward who can beat a steak and bbq chicken for post race food??

Pros: Great race support, no port-a-pots...real bathrooms and warm showers, small number of competitors (capped at 550), picturesque, rolling hills.

Cons: 5 hr drive from DC, Saturday race, recommended hotel was 45 min from race.

Stats: Oly distance (1.5 k swim, 40k bike, 10k run)
bike and run course, hilly (Smith MOUNTAIN)

Results:
swim: 37:50 T1 2:39 bike: 1:22:23 ( avg 17.78 mph) t2: 1:31 Run: 58:39 ( pace 9:45 min mi) Total: 3:03:00

Good enough to give me top Athena honors (out of a field of 7 ... I'll take it)

Went down to the race on Friday morning with Kristi, Lisa, and Dennis (Ramos)...I'll give Dennis credit for tagging along with a gaggle of women...and he's a youngster too -- caught up with Rob Sokol and Dave Mills (don't worry, you don't know them) along the way. Baring some bad directions around Lynchburg, drive was fine (but long).

Got to race site, checked in, scanned the swim (cleanest water I've been in all year), thanks to Rob's guided tour, we scoped out the transition area, learned where the tough spots were, drove the bike and run course (tricky hills) and then went off to find our hotel (45 min away...more time in the car) and then to dinner at a local Mexican restaurant (good food).

The race didn't start until 9 a.m. so we were saved the crack of dawn alarm but only slightly. Up by 6 a.m. [told everyone that I was glad they weren't Meghan...needed my extra sleep and the size of the race didn't warrent too early of a departure] to the park by 7:30 with plenty of time to set up, get timing chip and scope out the swim. By 8 a.m. the water temp was 80 degrees and not wet suit legal if you wanted points or to be eligible for awards. Made the decision that since my division was so small I might actually have a chance to place and I'd be annoyed if I'd blown it by wearing the wet suit. So I went without.

Had a Red Bull about 1/2 hr prior to getting into the water...thanks Nate for the habit I've now developed...lookin for a sponsor to get me into rehab.

There were 6 swim waves and I was in the 4th. Beach start to the swim (new for me) and the swim went well except toward the end, the shore seemed to be getting further away rather than closer...lost my concentration and started to get frustrated. But I finally made it to the beach in less time than I assumed. [37 min and change]

Would have been a faster transition (didn't have to fuss with the wet suit) but I made the grand decision to put my helmet on before I put my DC Tri Club jersey...bad mistake...finally 'dressed' and ran the bike through transition out to the 'hill' and up to where I could actually get onto the bike without falling over.

Bike course was well marked, every 5 miles, and the day was overcast and fairly cool (75 degrees??) so made for a good ride. I felt great so I just kept pushing it on the bike. I caught up to Kristi at about mile 18 and just kept hammering waiting to feel the tell tale over exertion but it never happened. I could have gone harder but I'm fine with the result.

Great bike ride and now just have to face the run. Decent transition and I felt pretty good going out so I figured I would continue to push the limit as long as I could. Ran for a while next to a very enthusiastic college competitor who just kept everyone's spirits up while she ran. Saw Dennis and Rob before they headed back into the park on the last mile (they both looked good) Ran the entire thing, walked only when drinking (its tough to to both well) and finished strong. Missed the announcer calling my name and saying I'm from Washington, North Carolina...

Hung around for the awards...no certificate or plexiglas brick...insulated lunch bag with the race logo on it...yippie!! I wanted a plack that said I'm a goddess...

Great post race food, great volunteers, great race all the way around. Couldn't have made the drive home without that Red Bull.

Kirkland Triathlon Race Report

OVL PLACE & TIME DIVPL SWIM T&PL T1 BIKE T&PL T2 RUN T&PL
280/791 1:29:39 14/62 0:12:26 55 2:22 0:46:29 491 1:26 0:26:55 487

I signed up for this race to keep myself motivated to train (at least a bit) through my transition to Seattle. This race was a sprint distance (.5 mile swim, 12 mile bike and 5k run) and I was looking forward to the shorter distances. Went to packet pickup the day before the race since I am still at the point here that I have to put everything into google maps to see where I’m going. The race took place in what they call “East Seattle” which means on the other side of Lake Washington from where I live, near Microsoft. It only took me about 15 minutes to get there with most of my driving time on two bridges crossing parts of the lake. Things looked good (even a decent t-shirt) and I walked the transition area to get a feel for the venue. It was a good-sized race with about 1200 race numbers out on the racks. Went home, organized my gear and got to sleep early.

Sunday morning came and I headed over to the race site. I was impressively on time, not even getting out of bed until two hours before the race began! I don’t know how many of you have spent time out here in the fall before, but let me explain for those of you who haven’t that it is COLD here already. Air temps were in the mid-40s overnight on Saturday and the dew was thick on the grass which made for a wet and chilly gear setup. There were no lights, but the sky was clear and we had a full moon so it was easy to see. Met a couple of fellow Carleton alums (sporting my alma mater’s name on my sweatshirt) which was cool. The sun came up about 6:30 and with it came the fog. I was in the 2nd wave (of 12) slated to go off at 7:05 a.m. so I headed down to the water about 6:45 as they were closing the transition area. At 7:00 a.m. sharp they announced that there would be a 1/2 hour delay for the fog to burn off. I headed back into transition to put some socks on my cold toes. I didn’t regret having on my full wetsuit on pre-delay as it kept me warm...

My wave went off as scheduled at 7:35 a.m. with an obvious dearth of pushing and shoving and I started thinking that maybe there are some benefits to the laid-back west coast attitude... I felt great in the water probably because I’ve swum more in the past couple of weeks here than I did the whole rest of the summer! Got out of the water and headed into transition. Hit my first technical snafu here- could not for the life of me disentangle my right leg from my wetsuit. Think I sat down too soon and therefore could not make it work! Finally got out and onto the bike course with a SLOW transition time.

Almost ran over a squirrel right out of the gates (I mean, like I closed my eyes and waited for the clunk kind of close) which amused a guy passing me but freaked me out a bit. The course was listed on the race’s website as “moderately hilly.” Now, it’s not that I don’t believe them, but it’s just that I think that I define that term differently than a native Seattlite who is used to constant hills. It was a tough ride for me, although only 12 miles long. The worst part was coming around a corner to the biggest hill of the race, shifting down into my granny gear and having the chain fall off- dooh! I had to stop, clip out entirely, get my hands all greasy putting the chain back on and then tackle the hill from a dead-stop. Fun times. I’m looking forward to improving my climbing and descending skills as I train more around here. Came into transition feeling good after a long descent although I was almost taken out in a crazy domino game of falling cyclists as we dismounted to go into T2.

Grabbed my race belt and headed off for the run. After trying to clip it for several minutes I realized that one end of the clip had fallen off so I ended up tying it around my waist. Funny how sometimes the stuff that’s supposed to save you time ends up biting you in the butt- isn’t it? The run was great. They had a mat to run over a couple hundred yards from the finish so they could announce each competitor’s name as he/she finished. I ended up running my fastest 5k time ever which bodes well for my 1st 1/2 marathon adventure next month!

Since the racers were so spread out with the multiple waves, there were plenty of folks coming in after me as well as heading out on the run as I picked up my gear. I wanted to stick around and try to meet some people, but the cold was getting to me and I ended up forgoing the social event to get home for a hot shower and some tea.

Except for the string of strange technical difficulties, encounters with wildlife and the body marking that still lingers on Wednesday (is this stuff permanent? will the 31 turn to 32 next August or will I be frozen here forever? and yes, I have tried to scrub it off) it was a great race. Full results here: http://results.racecenter.com/2005/kt05.htm Will post a link to the photos once I’ve got it so you can see me representin’ with the DC Tri Club jersey all the way out here on the left coast.

CCCCCCChanges

OK. Meagan has a baby growing inside her, Meghan lives 3000 miles away, Chris is trying the BMore thing, and Cory is just starting rumors so I felt I needed to do something.

1. I now live in Arlington. I have left DC and moved into a small apartment within walking distance of work. Right now it consists of my bed, a table, two chairs, my clothes and the schwinn. Over the next few days, hopefully more will move over with me. Phone number will be my cell as I felt no need for a landline. I won't post the address for fear of stalkers....

2. The powers that be in the new company I work for announced that the offices I now live near will be closing in March and I will be jobless. Since I last looked for a job in 1995, this will be fun. They are going to come around and interview us all for possible positions in other locations. OOO boy..

3. I am not dropping this triathlon thing but I am going to concentrate this winter on becoming a runner again. Just so I put it out there somewhere, I am training to run under 33 minutes for 10K before Eagleman. I will still be riding 2-3 days a week and swimming 1 day a week (starting the swimming in November) but it will all be about running. I still think this will help me do a much faster Eagleman if for any reason that I will hopefully be about 15 pounds lighter....

Nate

Baby Jancy!

Thought you all might be interested in seeing the progress of Baby J. I had my 20-week ultrasound this morning and they took a couple of pictures. All is going well so far and the baby appears to be healthy.

"Hey, check me out, I'm sucking my thumb"

Note the amazing length of the fingers. We are considering naming the baby ET (j/k).

In this photo you can really see the facial profile- eyes, nose, lips and chin.

Hope everyone is doing well and had a great weekend.

Eagleman, Part II

So the registration for Columbia and Eagleman have opened...the check's in the mail for me (I'm anti-credit card over the internet for the moment).... so here we go again. This time, I will be on the course in full race gear rather than in cheer leader mode...no chalk...only endless packets of GU and gatorade... Oddly, Meghan wanted to know if all the smack talk about registering for and doing Ironman Wisconsin 2006 was for real or just that...smack. I balked and said, eventually, I might do a 3/4 Ironman but they'd have to invent it first...maybe this winter, we could figure out a way to do an indoor 1/2 Ironman...need a pool, a bike, and a treadmill...we'll start working on that now...

Life goes on without Meghan, Meagan and sometimes Chris (he still surfaces on occasion) ... Just me and Nate and we're doing a rousing job of starting viscous rumors...being seen together in public...not riding bikes...all sorts of things to whisper about. My last race (maybe) will be the Smith Mountain, Outback Big Lick Olympic distance race on the 24th of Sept...should be fun...who can pass up a lake swim with a steak or chicken dinner for post race food...and just to sport a t-shirt that says Outback Big Lick...will be fun. What's new with y'all??