Dr. Oz's Green Drink, aka "Freshness in a Glass"

1 c Spinach leaves
1 Apple (cored)
1/2" piece of ginger (peeled)
1 Cucumber
4 stalks Celery
1 Lemon (juice only)
1 Lime (juice only)

Mix this all together in a blender...serve over ice.

I saw this on Oprah yesterday & so badly wanna try it. I'm going to get the ingredients at the store & will make it for breakfast tomorrow. WOOHOO!

Injury #1 plus last week's workout schedule

Well, hells bells! I have officially racked up injury #1 for the season. My left knee! And it came after the 50 mile bike ride this weekend. More on that in Saturday's section below. But first a recap of my workout week:

Monday - Off

Ahhhh, president's day. A day off of work & a day off from working out. It is normally a boot camp day + a run day, but today's boot camp was moved to Friday, and I decided to do today's run on Tuesday.

Tuesday - 30 min run & 35 min bike

I got up before work & ran a 30 min loop around N. Berkeley. It was the coolest run I've done so far. It started near the Marin Circle & looped down by the Safeway on Rose, back up by the North Berkeley library, up Marin & back to the Circle. Really nice, flat run. I felt strong & fast during & after the run. And I am loving my playlist on my iPod! :) It helps like you would've believe! Oh, and I ate a banana before the run. It was perfect.

Then after work, I went to the Y and put in 35 mins on the bike. I ended up riding 9.5 miles and burning 250 calories. Given that I've been riding for HOURS on my bike on the weekends, 35 mins in the gym was over before I knew it.

Wednesday - Boot camp

Boot camp today was at Seabreeze market near the Marina. I always know when we work out here, there will be more running than other locations. Today was no different. It's because the area we do our strength training is further away from where we park than the other two locations. But it was a good boot camp. Nothing special or unusual to note here. Just that I was there & did it!

Thursday - 30 min run

After work today (and after eating a bean burrito once I got home so I wasn't running on an empty stomach), I headed out for yet another 30 min run around North Berkeley. As I mentioned before, I'm trying to run every single road in N. Berkeley this season as part of my training (and to help keep things from getting monotonous!), so I mapped out yet another different run route for this run on streets I had never run on before. Right before I left work, I quickly mapped out a run I thought would take me 30 mins, then I jotted the directions on a piece of paper, and that's what I carried with me on my run. (See picture on the left.) I do this on every run to make sure I know where I'm going. It's not so I don't get lost because I know the area well ... it's so I make sure I'm not overlapping on some roads I may have ran on before. I know, I know, it may seem crazy, but it works for me.

Anyway, it had been raining on & off all day long, but when I started my run, the sky looked pretty clear, and I thought (I thought) that it would stay clear for 30 mins. Wrong-O! About 20 mins into the run, it started raining. And hard! I was soaked! I had to put my ipod in my pocket for the rest of the run so it didn't get wet, but I kept on chugging. The only time I stopped was when I was running past this house on Sonoma, and this super friendly cat came charging out into the street for me to pet him! That's all he wanted. It was adorable. And a nice little break for me. Other than the rain (and it really wasn't that big a deal), it was a good run. And as usual, I did my stretching & breathing afterwards to cool down...in the rain! :)

Friday - Off

Boot camp was today. I didn't go! I woke up at 3am & could not for the life of me go back to sleep. I stayed up for about an hour and a half, just laying in bed. Then I finally get back to sleep, and the alarm rings at 5:20! I was like, "No way am I getting up! I need more sleep!" So back in bed I went, and no boot camp for me today. Normally Fridays are my days off anyway, so I didn't feel so bad. I'm trying to have a guilt free season this year (i.e. not feeling guilty when I don't work out as planned). Sometimes it's working, sometimes it's not. Today, it was working! :)

Saturday - 50 mile bike ride

We had the BEST bike ride today!! We rode 50 miles from Benicia to the Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield and back. A fun, fairly flat ride, and except for the rain, it was awesome!!

Kassidie met me at Target in Berkeley, we put her bike on the rack, and we headed out to Benicia. I had already eaten a banana, a boiled egg, and drank some OJ & coffee, and I took with me some oatmeal to eat on the way. With me on my camelbak, I took a Luna Bar, a Gu, some Jelly Belly sports beans we got at Boot Camp, and another granola bar. If you remember from last week, Kass bonked big time on our bike ride on Sunday because she had been up most of the night before with a friend & had eaten a half a banana before the ride. Well, the girl learned her lesson!! When she got in the car, she had a bag full of food to eat on the way! I laughed when I saw it, and I was so proud of her for finally taking her workout & nutrition seriously. She had string cheese, fruit cups, yogurt, ensure drinks...the works! And she had brought lots of stuff to also eat on the ride. I was very proud of her.

We got to our meeting place near the Benicia marina at 8:30 am for a ride start at 9 am. The Luna Chix had mini bars & some donuts before the ride for us. I chowed down on one of the bars, but no donuts for me (or Kass). Seems we're always running behind, and after the safety briefing, we finally got started on the ride at 9:30. There were probably 25 women on the ride, plus along the way, I saw 2 men who I think belonged to a couple of the women. :) When we finally got out of Benicia and along the road beside the freeway, it was a fairly easy, gently rolling ride. I was able to use my aerodynamic bars a lot on this ride. They are the best things ever ... soooo incredibly comfortable. We stopped at mile 13 for a potty break at a gas station, and then our next stop was at the Jelly Belly factory at mile 20. Kass and I took took a few pictures while we were there. She couldn't believe the people lined up inside for plant tours! It was pretty crazy. It was only about 11:15, and it was dreary weather, so it's surprising so many people were there. Of course, we were all chowing down on food and going to the bathrooms while we were there. I'm sure we were a sight!

We headed out from the Jelly Belly factory, on our way to the next stop at a bike shop at mile 28, and that's when the rain started. There is a long stretch of road that winds along some wineries (which I'm sure would've been beautiful if the weather would've been better) that was just boring as shit, and add rain on top of it, and it wasn't the best part of the ride, to say the least. We got to the bike shop, took a restroom break, add some food, and headed back out. At this point, both Kass and I just wanted to get back to the car & out of the rain. But there were still 20 miles left!

The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful, just winding back the way we came & back to Benicia, trudging along for those 20 miles back to the start. I've been having serious issues with my hands going numb on rides longer than about 25 miles, and today was the worst ever. It got to the point where I couldn't even shift my gears because I couldn't feel my fingers. It got scary because it was even hard for me to break. So I stopped once more, at about mile 40, to give my hands a break & get some feeling back into them. Kass keeps telling me that gloves will help that, but I'm not convinced. I used to wear gloves, and the same thing would happen. I think it's because of my carpal tunnel stuff going on. I mean, my hands fall asleep at night, and I've had them start to go numb at the computer sometimes. I try to pay attention and keep my wrists straight when I type, but it's hard. So I'm pretty sure it's because of being on a computer all day long at work that my hands go numb on the bike. My wrists aren't straight when I ride, so I'm sure I'm putting pressure wherever it is that makes my hands go numb. Nonetheless, it's scary, and I need to figure out something to prevent the numbness from happening. I don't know if I should ride with a wrist brace or something like that. That probably would work & it makes sense. I'll keep you updated with what happens with that.

The only thing that bugged me about the ride today, other than the fact that we started 30 mins late, was that the sweep for the ride came in with one of the ride leaders!! That's not supposed to happen! The sweep's job is to stay behind the slowest person to make sure everyone comes in safely & no one gets lost. I came in ahead of Kass (and ahead of that one ride leader), thinking that the sweep was staying behind to guide everyone else back. But around the bend came the sweep with one of the ride leaders, and I'm like, "what the hell?" And no Kass yet. So I wait for another few minutes, and no Kass. I can't remember if she has the directions & map for the ride, so I'm getting a little nervous. Finally I ask the leader if someone else is sweeping, and she says no (NO?), but that there were about 4 or 5 people together back there and were coming in together. Well, that made me feel a little better, but still after a few more minutes, no Kass. FINALLY Kass comes around the corner with a couple of other people. Sure enough, she had gotten lost and had to wait for other people to catch up to her so she could find her way back. It unnerved me about the sweep not actually being a sweep. I guess really there is no sweep on these rides.

So I could feel a tiny bit of pain in my left knee while we were riding, probably starting on mile 30 or so, but it wasn't a big deal. My knee's been hurting, kind of this dull ache, for a couple of weeks, but the 50 mile bike ride this weekend did me in. Even though I could feel some pain, I kept on riding anyway, pushing myself up the hills & going pretty fast on the straightaways. There are so many theories on pain ... from immediately stopping to keeping going to help it work itself out. Well, I took the latter approach, and I'm still glad I did, although I should've backed off on the intensity of the ride. But that is SOOO hard for me to do. It was the first ride where I could test my speed with the aero bars, and I really wanted to push myself. Well, I paid for it! After the ride, it was fine, but once I settled down for the evening, I could hardly move it. I put a big giant bag of ice all around my knee & took 3 ibuprofen (advil). It helped a little, but I still had a fitful night. I couldn't roll over in the bed without my knee hurting & waking me up. I iced it on Sunday, too, and by then I could at least walk without it hurting. Anyway, we'll see how the injury does. I'm laying off of it for a few days. Knee injuries scare me.

Sunday - Off

Kellie & I were slated to run a 5K couple's relay today around Lake Merritt (we would each run a 5K loop around the lake, one after the other), but my knee pain/injury prevented us from running. We contemplated going to the start to get our goody bag of stuff (I loooooove the goody bags you get at races!), but instead we slept in. I'm glad we did. My knee feels better today. I iced it in the evening, and I slept fairly well.

So it was a four day workout week this week for a variety of reasons. That's ok. Shit happens. I'm taking it easy on my knee for a while. More to come next week. :)

Workout schedule last week (w/o 2/12)

Last week was another great workout week. Another 6 day workout week! I felt strong & powerful through every single workout, except the Saturday run. Here's the log of my workouts from last week along with my quirky thoughts about each one. :)

Monday - Boot camp & 30 min run
We had boot camp today at Cesar Chavez park. That's my favorite place we work out. Afterwards, I took the most beautiful run I think I've ever done. I wound around Cesar Chavez park on this footpath that circled the park. I had programmed my ipod with some of my favorite upbeat songs, and the time just flew by. I completed the entire 30 run without walking. I felt so proud of myself that I even had an emotional moment at the end of the run. :) I wrote about it in my last post...you can read more there.

Tuesday - 30 min swim
This workout was a bit of a struggle. For one, I went to the Y after work to do my workout, and the lanes were pretty full. I started with 3 people in our lane, but it quickly dwindled down to 2. And second, I got a throbbing headache midway through the workout. I've had that problem for about a year now, and I'm not sure what to do about it, because I'm not sure what causes it. But I get these huge pounding headaches when I swim laps. They really disturb me when I swim & pull my focus away from the work out. I've asked trainers about it, but no one really knows what to tell me. The same thing happened during this workout, and it was frustrating. But aside from that, I put in 50 laps (1250 yds, 0.7 miles) during the 30 mins. That included the warm up & warm down. I didn't do anything special this time except just swim laps. I paid attention to the things I was taught during my TI class last month, and I realized I need to spend more time in the water doing drills. Each lap or two, I would concentrate on one part of my stroke (head looking down, body tilting on its side, recovery arm, archer position, single kick each stroke). It was a lot to remember in just one swim work out. But overall, I felt pretty good, aside from my throbbing headache!! Oh, and another thing is that I didn't swim continuously for 30 mins. I stopped twice to take ~2 minute breaks each time to catch my breath. I was obviously swimming too fast & not pacing myself correctly. Live & learn, right?

Wednesday - Boot camp
A Valentine's day boot camp at Frog Park! Because of it was Valentine's day, our group decided to exchange gifts "white elephant" style during our workout, meaning you could pick a new gift from the pile or steal someone else's if you liked theirs. We were supposed to make a card & then buy something small (<$5) to go with the card. So I made a giant card out of bright pink posterboard and titled it, "7 things you love about boot camp". Then I listed things that only our boot campers would appreciate. It was a huge hit. In fact, it was the only gift that was stolen during the exchange!! I felt so proud!! Oh, and I included 3 Nestle Drumstick gift certificates with it. I got a gift bag with a Godiva chocolate bar (Dark chocolate with espresso) and some Hot Tamale candy. It was a neat way to bond with the group.

Thursday - 30 min run
I headed out in the morning before work for my run around North Berkeley. I had mapped out a course I wanted to run and ran it exactly as planned! (see route map on the right.) I'm on a mission to run every single road in North Berkeley during my training. So this run included roads I had never ever even driven on before! Plus I had my ipod with my rockin' playlist, so I was all good to go. Plus I found $4 on the corner of Grant & Rose just lying on the road! A great day for a run! :)

Friday - OFF!
Feels good to take a day off!

Saturday - 1 mile run
Tough, tough workout! My plan was to run 3 miles today, since that's what the 1/2 marathon training plan said to do, and I am following it pretty closely! Kass wanted to run with Kellie & me, and she didn't want to do the Locust Rd hike again (she & Kellie do that one all the time with the dog, Mary Jane). So she suggested the Rodeo Beach hike. That's where Kellie and I went on our first date, and I haven't been back since then, so I thought that was a great idea! Something new, something different. And I had mapped out (of course!) a 3 mile run on the trails near there.

Well, I didn't even make it to mile 1. It was a steep incline at the beginning, and it was way more than my calves could take. They started cramping almost right away, and I tried to move through the pain, but it wouldn't go away. Even with stretching. So I told Kass & Kellie to go ahead without me, and I walked back to the car. So a disappointing work out. But I am learning to listen to my body more in an effort to keep myself from an injury that would put me out for days or weeks or months! So better luck next week with the "long" weekend run.

Sunday - 33 mile bike
Kass and I set out for our weekend bike ride on Sunday morning. Mind you, Kass had only had about 3 hours sleep & ate half a banana before our ride, so that should tell you right there how things were going to go! :)

The ride was gorgeous! We started at the house & rode to the start of the ride at Pixley Park back through some bike paths that Kass uses to get to school. It was amazing .... riding along the beautiful bay the whole way there. Gorgeous! The hardest part of the ride was the first mile. It was a steady uphill climb for the entire first mile. We just put our bikes into the lowest gear and steadily pedaled to the top! The ride brought us into Mill Valley, along the freeway, and then to a park in Tiburon, which was, again, amazing! It was a great bike/walk path along the Tiburon peninsula (starting at Blackie's pasture), and there were tons of walkers & bikers out there. I had never been out there before, but I'd love to go back with Kellie and the puppy dog for a stroll. Anyway, as we curved up the other side of the Tiburon peninsula, the ride started climbing again. That was around mile 22 or so, and Kass was slowing WAY down. I could tell she was having a hard time. It was a lot of rolling hills and beautiful views from up there. We finally made our way back to the gorgeous bike path along the bay & headed home. I went ahead of Kass at the end because I wanted to pick up some speed & get a good workout there at the end, so I beat her home by a few minutes.

All in all, a great ride. I highly recommend the route to anyone who wants an advanced beginner/intermediate ride along a beautiful route in Marin. The route for the ride that's mapped above is only about 20 miles, but we put on the additional 13 miles since we started from home. It's a must do for any cyclist in the bay area! :)

This week's plan (w/o 2/12)

I think of my workout weeks from Monday to Sunday. I even have my training calendar printed out that way so I can manage my week effectively. I've just completed week 5 of training, and I'm feeling stronger than ever! Boot camp is going very well. My training for the Cinderella ride is going very well, too. And I've just started my training for the 1/2 marathon, and so far, so good.

Monday - Boot camp & 30 min run
Tuesday - 30 min swim
Wednesday - Boot camp
Thursday - 30 min run
Friday - OFF
Saturday - 3 mile run
Sunday - 50 mile bike ride

As I'm writing this, it's Monday around lunchtime, and I've already been to boot camp & ran my 30 minutes this morning. I had the most fabulous run today, and I credit my ipod! Last night, I created a playlist of songs that (1) I absolutely love & (2) lasted 30 mins total. I tell you, it made all the difference in the world! My favorite song right now is by Scissor Sisters called I Don't Feel Like Dancin', and I had it as my 2nd song and as my last song on the playlist. Well, when I got to that song at the end of my workout, I started tearing up. I've never thought of myself as much of a runner. I've always struggled with shin splints, and I've just never had it in me to do much running. It's by far my hardest sport of the three at triathlons. But to have completed an entire 30 mins of running was momentous for me, and a moment that I want to remember. I always seem to do just as much walking as running in my workouts, but this was different. And I felt soooo strong after the workout. I think that's why I got emotional ... that I still felt so strong & powerful after the run that I could've kept going if I wanted to. I've never felt that way with running.

And all because of my ipod! :)

Happy Monday, everyone! Hope you all have a good week

Last week's workout schedule (w/o 2/5)

Last week was a great week, workout-wise! I have a weekly workout schedule that I create at the beginning of every week. Try as I might, I'm not always able to get in the workouts I plan, either because of time constraints (more an excuse than anything!) or more often than not, I'm just not motivated.

Last week was different. I completed my entire workout schedule ... 6 days of workouts.

Monday - Boot camp & 20 min run
My 1/2 marathon training schedule says I need to run twice during the week, with my long endurance run on the weekend. I've decided to use the time after boot camp on Mondays to put in my 1st run of the week. I'm already warmed up, and it's good training after I've done boot camp for an hour and 15 minutes! So after boot camp, which was at Frog Park, I took off down the residential streets of Rockridge and put in 20 mins of running. It was good, but it got kinda boring because I didn't bring my ipod!

Tuesday - 60 mins on the bike at the gym
My 1/2 marathon training schedule says I only need to cross train 30 mins, but since I'm training for the Cinderella Ride at the end of March, I put in more time on the bike today. I burned 300 calories & rode 15.5 miles.

Wednesday - Boot camp
Wednesday marked the end of Week #5 of boot camp. We trained at Seabreeze Market near the Berkeley Marina, and when we train there, we always seem to run more!!

Thursday - Off
Every gal needs a day off every once in a while! :)

Friday - 20 min run
Actually, it was a 20 min walk. Kellie and I decided to put in our time by parking the car at the North Berkeley BART and walking to REI. I had to pick up a package there (I'm an REI outlet nut!), so it seemed a good thing to do. Only thing that wasn't planned was that REI was having an amazing sale, and we ended up spending another $200 on workout clothes & shoes between the two of us. All worth it, I say! :)

Saturday - 33 mile bike ride at the gym
Our 40 mile Cinderella training ride got cancelled because of the rain, so I put in 2 1/2 hours at the gym, rode 33 miles, and burned 675 calories. My plan was to ride the same 40 miles we were supposed to do on the ride, but it just got boring at the gym. Despite having plenty of things to read, and lots of Texas Hold 'Em to watch on the TV screen attached to the bike, I still got bored and could only make it through 2 1/2 hours on a stationery bike.

Sunday - 2 mile run
After a very restful night's sleep & waking up at 10:30, Kellie and I headed out the door and ran our 1st week's 1/2 marathon training endurance run of 2 miles. It was an easy run ... from the Marin Circle down Marin to Carmel, and then back again. A great way to start a Sunday.

So there you go. I worked out 6 days last week, virtually unheard of for me. I'm feeling so good today, although my quads hurt a little bit. But that's all par for the course, I think. :)

Have a good week, my marathon, triathlon, cycling, and training friends!

It's a new season! And I feel great!

And to start it off, I feel great! I've been in training now for about 4 weeks, and I'm really excited about the upcoming season. I've got lots of things I want to do during the season, and the hardest part is deciding what I want to train for! There are lots of exciting races & events, and I want to do them all! But I've got a better idea of things I want to do this season vs. prior seasons.

This is my 4th season as a triathlete, and I've definitely learned in the last 3 years the things in training and events that work for me, and the things that don't. I look back at last season's events I had lined up, and I didn't do any of them except the Auburn Sprint Triathlon, which I blogged about quite a bit. That tri really kicked my ass (sprint tri, my ass! only in distance, because it was a bitch of a race!), and I got extremely demotivated about the season after that, so I didn't make training or events a priority. And nothing else was done.

For the weekend of the Lake Chabot 5K, I guess we had other plans. (I don't remember exactly!)

For the weekend of the Tiburon Triathlon, I went on a business trip to Mexico City.

For the weekends of the See Jane Tri Triathlon & the San Jose 1/2 Marathon, we went on vacation to New York City.

Can you tell I wasn't motivated? :)

This season, I feel differently. I made it a priority to start my training earlier this year. So right after the new year, I signed up for plenty of things to get my training in gear. First off is boot camp. I'm in my 5th week of boot camp, and I LOVE IT!! 6 am start, Mondays & Wednesdays, mostly strengthening with some cardio. Absolutely awesome way to start my day, and an even awesome way to start my training. I can tell my body is shaping up already, and I don't suffer the next day anymore with sore muscles. The group I boot camp with is really great, and there's a lot comraderie amongst us. And I love our trainer, Cheryl. If you live in the Bay Area, check out PacWest Athletics for the boot camp schedule, locations, and further information.

Second thing I did was sign up for a Total Immersion swimming class on Tuesday nights. I read up on the Total Immersion swim technique last year, and I really wanted to get one-on-one instruction this year as part of my training. My See Jane Tri swim instructor the last few years is a certified TI trainer, and she was offering once/week classes in Berkeley during the month of January. So I signed up! Awesome, awesome experience. Never until the last 30 mins of the very last class did we even do a complete lap. It was all drills! All drills! But I know that I am a more efficient swimmer as a result of the classes.

Third thing I did was sign up for the Cinderella Classic, an all women's metric century bike ride at the end of March. I'll blog more on that specifically later, but Kassidie (Kellie's daughter) and I have been training for that bike ride for a month now.

As I said before, the biggest challenge right now is figuring out what events I want to do this year. I've decided on the Cinderella Classic in March, the See Jane Run 1/2 Marathon in May, and the Dipsea in June. As part of my training for the 1/2 marathon, I will most likely sign up for a couple of 5Ks and a 10K on those weekends when that length of run is part of my training. Also, I plan on doing a triathlon in April, probably a sprint distance, and I have my eye on one in Sacramento. Also, I want to swim again from Alcatraz to SF, so I need to find an event for that. And I want to do at least two more triathlons during the season.

Whew, that's a lot to think about! And a lot to train for! But I'm super excited about the season and all the possibilities. I'm excited about pushing myself more than I've ever pushed myself before, particularly in running. I'm eager to see the limits of my body, while trying to stay far away from injury. That concern really does plagues me often. I just hope I'm doing everything right and in moderation to prevent any injury this season. I'm open to hiring personal trainers to help me this season, which I haven't done in the past.

A right attitude is most of the battle, and I've got that for sure! So on to the 2007 season! What fun lies ahead is still to be seen... ;)

Thoughts about my Auburn tri results

So I've had a couple of days to digest my results from the Auburn Tri this past weekend. Overall, I feel disappointed in the results. Yes, I finished, and yes, I finished safely, and yes, it's awesome that I even do triathlons (these are all things that Kellie continually tells me). However, I definitely came nowhere near placing within my age group - in fact, I was in the bottom 1/3 of the pack. There were 23 women in my age group, and I finished at #20. It does make me feel better that the fastest woman in the whole tri was in my age group, and she finished in 1:02. There is NO way I'm competing in that ball park!

Results (men & women combined)
Overall: 141 out of 174
Swim: 124 out of 174
Bike: 137 out of 174
Run: 161 out of 174

Within my age group:
Overall: 20 out of 23
Swim: 12 out of 23
Bike: 18 out of 23
Run: 19 out of 23

My paces:
Swim: 51:34 min/mile
Bike: 7:52 mph
Run: 13:30 min/mile

In every tri I've ever done, the pattern of results are the same. This tri is no different. The swim is my best category. I always come out finishing ahead of my overall place (for example, in this tri, I finished 124th in the swim vs 141st overall). That means I lose ground somewhere along the way. Inevitably, it's most apparent in the run. I definitely lose some ground in the bike (again, this tri is no different - my bike place is usually around where I end up in the end - 137th in this tri vs an overall of 141st). But I lose soooo much ground in the run every single time. I mean, 93% of people who did the tri ran the course faster than me! What kind of shit is that?? Running has always been my weakest sport, but I've really been concentrating on the running this season, and I really felt good about my progress, but the results weren't there. Apparently I'm not training the right way, or often enough, or something. This is an area where I feel a personal trainer can help me the most.

So there's my take on my results from the Auburn Tri. I have 2 whole months to improve my performance for my next tri, and I certainly hope I can see some progress.

Race results:
Overall: 1:44:41.2
Swim (1/3 mile): 15:59.0
Bike (8.5 miles): 1:03:36.0
Run (2 miles): 25:06.2

Auburn Tri - Race Report!

The night before
Kellie and I had driven up to Auburn the night before. Our goal was to be at the race site by 6:30 so we could hear the pre-race talk. You'd think leaving Berkeley by 3:50 would get us there, right? WRONG! When it rains, California folks don't know how to drive anymore. It was stop and go almost the whole way up. So it took us almost 2 hours & 50 minutes to go 110 miles.
When we got there, the race talk was already going on, so I listened while I checked in for the race. I got my race number & the bag of goodies & then set up T2. Running shoes, hat, a bottle of water, and a towel all got wrapped in two bags (it was still raining!) and ready to go. Kellie's job the next day was to come to T2 after she dropped me off at T1 in the morning and set up my shoes and stuff for me.

Waking up
4:35 a.m. - my alarm starts ringing. My mind is completely foggy, and it takes me a moment to remember (1) why my alarm is ringing so early on a Saturday, and (2) why I'm in a hotel. All those things come together within 2 seconds, and I remember it's the day of my first tri of the season!!!

After snoozing a couple of times, I'm finally out of bed & getting ready. I munched on a bagel and orange juice while I got dressed. I had already laid out my clothes the night before and gotten my bag ready for T1, so there really wasn't much to do. We loaded up the bike & all of our stuff and headed out to Rattlesnake Bar.

Pre-Race, at T1
We got there about 5:45, and the race volunteers were just setting up the bike racks. There were several other Janes there, so we staked our claim on the 3 front bike racks, put up the yellow tape & "Janes" signs, and settled in.

The time always goes by so quickly from getting there to when the gun goes off. Today was no exception. Kellie was there with me at T1 until about 6:30, then she headed over to T2. Until that time, she tried desperately to find safety pins so I could pin my number to my jersey. But there was never any to be found, despite the volunteers continually telling her that "they are coming!" Which just brings me to another point - this race was the most poorly organized of any that I have ever raced. They had no idea who was supposed to be marking (the folks finally came around 6:30 with magic markers), they didn't have the buoys set up on the swim course yet, the bike racks were still being set up, the race was 20 minutes late to start. It was so disorganized, and I was pretty disappointed. But at that point, you gotta tell yourself, "It is what it is" and keep going. :) I never got pins, so I didn't wear my race number.

The Swim
The first wave of swimmers were the Sprint Men, which set off around 7:20. We, the Sprint Women, were the 2nd wave, which went 5 minutes later. The countdown started at 2 mins, then 1 min, then 30 secs, then 10 secs, then 5-4-3-2-1! At the 10 second mark, I started to get butterflies, but I calmed myself down, and when it was go time, I was ready.

The swim overall was great. It's my strongest sport, so I came out feeling really good. (That's me in the pic below, 2nd woman in the pic already out of the water.) The only problem was near the turnaround at the buoy, where guys who were already heading back were crossing through the women going towards the buoy!! I was thinking "look up and spot, dude! you're going the wrong way!" But two of them just barreled through the women like they had the right of way. Again, you gotta say to yourself, "It is what it is" and keep going.

At about 3/4 of the way through, I popped my head up to see how far I had left to go, and this other woman triathlete said to me, "Keep going - we're almost there!" That felt so amazing. I love the comraderie of a triathlon, and I didn't know this woman at all, but that was a boost I needed to finish the swim strong.

T1
T1 was uneventful - got my wetsuit off no problem (I love cooking spray!), dried off, got my jersey, socks, bike shoes, sunglasses, and helmet on, unracked the bike, and headed off for the part I dreaded the most - the 8.5 mile uphill bike ride!!

The Bike
I don't know why I had a fear of the bike ride, but I did. I had read on the tri website that it was all uphill, mostly gentle uphills, but between miles 3 and 4 were some pretty steep switchbacks. So I was just dreading the ride.

And guess what - it was harder than I even imagined!!!! Up until Mile 3, I was doing great. But it was the 90 degree right turn onto what I think was Shirland Tract road with the immediate steep uphill where I completely fell apart. I made it up a ways, but there was a slight turn left and more uphill that it kicked my butt! I stopped to regain my compusure (and my breath) and take a drink of water. This woman passed me walking her bike up the hill, and I said "what a great idea" and she said "that's the only way I'm getting up this hill!" I contemplated walking my bike at that point, but I wanted to try again. So I hopped back on my bike, attempted the rest of the climb, but couldn't make it. So I walked my bike up that treacherous hill, along with that other woman. I can only imagine there were several people who walked up that hill. I'll be interested to hear other Janes race reports to see.

Between mile 3 and mile 7 were the hardest. I got off my bike one more time between those miles to walk up another hill. I was not ready mentally for those hills. Every time I could get to the top of one, I would think "ok, that has to be the last one", and then there would be another steep one staring me right in the face! I thought I was going to die out there. It was the hardest bike ride I've ever done. I'd rather have gone 25 miles on flat land than 8.5 on that course!!

After the 7 mile point, I felt better. The last mile and a half were pretty easy, except for one last hill right near the end of the bike. But I got out of my seat and forced my way up that hill without stopping, knowing Kellie was waiting for me at T2. What a blessing that was & did wonders for my motivation on the tail end of my bike ride.

T2
Sure enough, there was Kellie waiting for me at T2. What I haven't mentioned until now is that Kellie was planning on running with me. She was going to wait for me at T2, then run along side me for the balance of the race. When I got close to T2, it was soooo good to see her there. She directed me to where my stuff was, I racked my bike, changed shoes, took off my helmet and put on my running hat (I've used the same hat at every single triathlon I've ever done), took a swig of water, kissed her, and then she and I headed out on the course.

The Run
What a cool course it was! I loved the single track trail running! Kellie and I ran for about a 1/2 mile before I needed to stop and walk. I had just come off a pretty tough bike ride, and I needed a bit of a break. We ran and walked off and on the whole way. I couldn't believe that there was a HUGE HILL at the end of the run!! There were several other people who walked that part, us included. I looked at my heart rate monitor and saw that I could finish the race before the time I wanted to, so I kicked it into high gear. Once I knew I was close, I ran like gangbusters to the end. Kellie veered off right before the red finish arch, and I finished in just less than 1 hour and 45 minutes, which was my target.

Post Race
The food spread was awesome. I immediately went for a Cytomax, and it was sooo refreshing. I had a bagel, a 2nd cytomax, and that was it. I looked at my heart rate monitor, and I had averaged a 172 heart rate, with a max of 185 bpm. I knew I was way above my target HR the whole time, but I didn't pay attention to it (nor did I want to). I had my HRM set so it was showing the time elapsed instead of my HR. I burned something like 1300 calories.

Kellie and I headed back to the hotel for a quick shower & then headed home. The best part was lunch! I had been craving Popeye's fried chicken for weeks, but I wouldn't let myself have it until I finished this tri! We had already staked out a Popeye's at the Dixon exit on the way up to Auburn, and sure enough, we stopped and ate some goooood food. All I can say is that it was good carb and protein replenishment - that's how I justified it. :)

All in all, the race was great. I felt challenged & strong at the end, and that's what mattered to me. I loved the support of the other Janes, and I especially loved having Kellie with me in the last 2 miles of the run. This week will be an off week for me (no training) but next week, I will continue training for my next tri and start my training for the HM at the end of the season!

(More pics coming in the blog once they are posted from the event!)

I bit the dust on the Mock Tri

2 weeks ago, we had a Mock Tri with the See Jane Tri training group. It was a 7am start (UGH!!!), but Kellie and I got our butts out of bed & drove from Berkeley to Aquatic Park to participate. The swim went well, and the bike went well ... until the last few hundred yards. I turned the corner from Van Ness onto the paved sidewalk heading back to transition when my bike wheel caught in one of the train tracks, and before I knew it, I was on the ground! I knew I was going down as soon as my tire hit the tracks, and I tried like crazy to get my feet out of the clips, but I panicked too much and landed straight on my right hip with my feet still clipped. As soon as my body hit the ground, my feet did unclip, but it was pretty scary for a moment there. More than anything, it knocked the wind out of me. One of my fellow triathletes (I don't know her name, but she had the pink ribbons tied to her bike helmet) thankfully stopped to make sure I was ok. I told her I was and sort of waved her on to finish up her tri. Once I got my wind back, I got back on my bike and coasted to the transition area.

When Kellie saw me, she said, "why is there grass all over you?" and she started brushing the grass off of me while I told her what happened. What was spooky is that she started pulling grass chunks out of my helmet! I didn't even know I had hit my head when I fell! But once I gained my composure back (I was pretty shaken up by how quickly it happened), I got into my running shoes and finished the run portion of the Mock Tri.

All was well in the next couple of hours, but it was sort of like what you hear from people in car accidents - the pain didn't come until later! Saturday evening, my back started to ache. And by Sunday morning, I could hardly move!! I had no idea I had hit the ground so hard! My neck wouldn't move, my back was out of whack, and all I was doing was taking handful after handful of ibuprofen to lessen the swelling. I was also putting ice packs on my back & neck every few hours.

It took 4 more days to feel normal again. The only thing lingering today is the pain in my right hip. I still can't sleep on that side or I'll feel pain in the morning. Given it's been 2 weeks, I probably should go see a doctor! :)

Stay safe - and wear your helmet NO MATTER WHAT!!