"...In the end, people either have excuses or experiences; reasons or results; buts or
brilliance. They either have what they wanted or they have a detailed list of all the rational reasons why not."

~ Anonymous
(taken from Matt Erbele's, It Takes Time to Get Good)

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Much ado about nothing

Ok, after returning from CdA my computer promptly gave notice. As in I noticed it no longer worked. So I had to get a new one, then that one decided it would be a buggy son of a bitch. Now we are on computer number three and we will see how it goes, so obviously, I have been very behind in my blogging duties even though it is summer and I am officially

A WOMAN OF LEISURE

Ahem..., sorry to all you people that have to, umm..., work and stuff. That must suck. [insert toothy grin]

Let's see, last time we left off I had decided to do Vineman 2010. Now, what I neglected to mention is that Formulaic has also stated his intentions to be at Vineman 2010. He will tell you on his blog, like next year some time since he is all wrapped up in being a new daddy and resting on his Ironman laurels (which, believe you me, I would be doing in a MUCH louder, MUCH more obnoxious way had things worked out differently in Coeur d'Alene, but I digress...)

By the way Ms. Kelly and Form, we need new baby pictures and PRONTO!

IronJane has also indicated that she might be interested in coming to Vineman 2010 as well!! Now, she knows me well enough that I am taking her "hmmm", as a firm commitment and will bug her mercilessly.

In other "IronJane Official Bad Assery" news, she has also officially announced that she is taking on IMFL in November, because she is IronJane and that is how she rolls!

Anyone else considering Vineman 2010? (Come on, IronMisty, IronSnoopy, ShirleyPerly, IronMissy, and JohnnyTri, you know you have been missing Northern Cali! Waddler, you will be ready for IM #2 by then! Carolina John, you are ready for the big time! PunkRockTriGuy, you can run a marathon or two the week before it will be right up your alley!)

You know, there is also a SUPER woman friendly, cut off friendly half-iron at the same time called Barb's Race (hint hint, Stef, Calyx, Donna, Diana, Lisa-slow-and-steady, Penny, AKA Alice, Lindsay, and any other tri girls or burgeoning tri girls out there! I am sure Sarah will need a recovery Half-iron after CdA) Just curious...

Training

Yes, I have actually been doing that. I had a pouty, petulant week after CdA where I just ate VAST quantities of HORRENDOUSLY bad food and refused to work out, but I am over it and back in the saddle!

Literally

Saturday: Long Ride: 39 miles

I was asked by the gals that helped me with my 2.5 mile swim if I wanted to do a ride with them last Saturday. They are sweet, fun, and cool and I was very excited to be asked and replied,

Sure! I would love to!

Then they tell me they are going to climb Mt. Hamilton.

Oh.

Mt. Hamilton is a ride that I have semi-avoided during my training. It is a 20 mile climb of about 5300 ft on a narrow mountain road. It is often used as a training ride for the Death Ride, but is apparently easier than any of the passes at that one since you are not at elevation, but it was plenty tough for me, thank you.


I started Garmin a little late, but you get the picture.


It was going to be torture, so, of course, I enlisted LA Run Buddy to come with me!

RBR and LA Run Buddy at the top of Mt. Hamilton. The Lick Observatory dome is behind us. Photo courtesy of our riding buddies!

The last 7 miles of climb are a steady, 6-7% grade that often has no shade cover and is generally pretty soul crushing, but I did it. It took almost 3 hours to get up and just over an hour to get down. Sheesh. I was actually not the last one to the top. One guy came in behind about 10 minutes behind me (he only brought one bottle of water for a 20 mile climb in the sun and apparently drank about 10 beers the night before KNOWING he was climbing 20 miles in the sun. WTF? So even though I only beat him because he was stupid, I will still gloat about it. ) and one girl bailed and went back down. (She was ahead of me the entire ride, but I am still claiming her as someone I beat since she did not go all the way to the top. It take my victories where I can)

Yesterday: First open water swim since CdA: 0.75 mile

Amazingly, I did not suffer any PTSD symptoms when I donned my wetsuit and hopped into the Foster City Canals from what we affectionately refer to as Goose Poop Park

It is really called Gull Park, which, honestly, does not make it sound any more enticing to me

The downside to Goose Poop Park is that by July it has reached a crescendo of goose poop concentration and we were treated to several big rafts of our feathered friends' fecal matter. But what I always say when people are grossed out about swimming there, no one has EVER been attacked and eaten by goose poop.

Ever.

I am just saying...

Next up: San Francisco Marathon, July 26th

Now that Coeur d'Alene is behind me I can start to get excited about SFM. To be honest, I don't feel ready for the damn thing, but I am not going for a PR I am just going to have a good time and to celebrate my birthday! I am turning 40 in July 25th. I am not usually a birthday person, but I am kind of excited about turning 40.
We get to run over the Golden Gate Bridge. On the actual raodway! Picture by my talented hubby!

Plus I get to see Willie again! He is my brother from another mother. I swear. Over the past year and half I have seen that we share a lot of the same demons as well, as the same gifts and sometimes, we both often find them hard to tell apart. :o) He is a great friend and I am VERY excited to see him again. Even if it will only be for a second and a half before he drops me like a bad habit to go finish with one of his blazing marathon times. Whatever. Stupid fast people.

AND I get to FINALLY meet Penny!! Penny is my first Blogger buddy and she has been a source of support and inspiration to me for almost 2 years now! We share our love of animals and running and it is about damn time that we get to run together!

AND I get to meet PunkRockTriGuy! He is CRAZY and I just adore him! If you have not read about his insane marathoning, triathloning, and cycling adventures you simply must! Hilarious and inspirational!

Roadbunner and Julianne will be out there too! And I am hoping to catch a glimpse as their pace group blazes by me! (Someday, ladies, someday I will be able to keep up with your pace group, which I know is a hour slower than your PR!)
Sadly, the beautiful Jolynn was supposed to do this run with us, but she is injured and I am not positive, but I am pretty sure a road marathon is out of the question. But, she and I will be reunited on the trails again soon. I just know it! (See, I have been reading on my Blackberry I just can't comment from there)

My Run Buddy (not to be confused with LA Run Buddy. Man, I need to get better at the nickname thing) is getting married on my actual birthday, so I am celebrating with a marathon the next day! I am the matron of honor for her wedding (boy, that is a ego building title if I ever heard one) and I have been busy running around doing last minute wedding shit, throwing her shower and bachelorette party, and such.

Anyhoo... I need to get reading and commenting! I am so far behind I can see my own ass!


Side note: Holy Crap! What an epic post about nothing! I owe you for the hour of your life you will never get back if you actually read this whole damn thing. And if you followed all the links? Christ. I am pretty sure I can not pay that back.

This is what happens when I have pent up blogging energy! I will be back with other goals and future races I am planning!

22 comments:

Lindsay said...

blah blah blah i get the summer off. how lame. i love working...

riiight.

so here i am thinking barb's race is a mini-tri, something to get your feet wet. gee why would i think that?!? nope, it's a full on half. oh sure, let's watch lindsay drown! :)

glad to hear you took full advantage of some time off after cda. i can't believe there was a mountain you didn't already ride in all your previous hill attacks! you definitely beat the girl who quit the ride. la run buddy is pretty resilient to continue tagging along on your adventures. nice job getting back to the grind!

Unknown said...

great way to celebrate 40!

barb's race, eh? let me just mull that over. i do want to do something out that way, but not sure about a half-iron distance. i first need to see if my knee will hold up for a standalone half marathon.

B.o.B. said...

whew. that was a long post. i enjoyed every second of it. goose poop park sounds awesome. not.

Stef0115 said...

Swimming in crap sounds just plain nasty. Nuff said.

I'm seriously considering Barb's race for next year. I'm so NOT making the leap to Iron. Not next year anyway. But Barb's race has been on my list for awhile!

Alisa said...

Wow lots of stuff!

I have Barb's race on my radar screen as it does have very friendly cut off times =). I have a cousin who does Vineman every year and thinks I should suck it up and do Barb's next year.

You're a July baby too! My bday is 7/23 and I'll be running the SF 1st half with RoadBunner and Julianne before we part ways and they continue slogging through the SF Hills. Tara, another blogger, is also a July baby her bday is 7/26 say day as the marathon, I think she may be in costume =).

Hope I get to see ya there!

Aron said...

UM IIIIII will also be at SFM along with all the other ROHOs... its Taras bday that day!!!

AND get all those people out there for your tri and I will come cheeeeeer!!! :) :)

Aka Alice said...

You know I'm an English teacher, thus I read REALLY fast, thus, I read the whole thing in less than an hour...

What took me awhile was glancing through the Vineman website...hmmmmmmm. At least I wouldn't have to swim with the sharks. That's a good thing, right? But swim a 1/2 mile...hmmmm (can you tell I'm seriously pondering this? Scary)

PS...you're right, teaching summer school is so very, very, very wrong. It's a little better at the CC since it's only two nights a week, but only a little better...

ShirleyPerly said...

I loved turning 40! For some reason, that magic nbr took away 10-20 years and made me feel young again.

And talk about peer pressure! Hmm, I will see when that Vine-thingy is and what else I've got going on. Believe it or not, I had been considering a visit to family in the Davis area sometime. But, we will have to see how the two iron things this year go first. So that's a definite maybe :-P

Way to take the hill!!

Kolla said...

Ohhhh they have aquabike, them Vineman people! Very, very interesting.

Katie said...

Awesome post! That hill seems like a mothertrucker! I wouldn't survive it, thats for sure! Good work!

IronWaddler said...

I ran SF 3 years ago and I loved it. It is awesome running across the bridge.

As far as my second IM, Hmmmm?

Diana said...

I have Barb's race bookmarked.....I did say I wanted to do a 1/2IM....maybe, will keep on back burner!
40's ROCK!!!!

Tri Mommy said...

I'm new to your blog and love it! I'm glad you're "back in the saddle" You definitely can do it!

Regina said...

40 rocks big time. I've actually celebrated turning 40 two more times after.

So basically your Goose Poop Park is much like our Hudson River with a few exceptions. We have all forms of fecal matter, medical waste, garbage, PCB's, not to mention the occasional dead body. Yeah, I get to swim in all that while you run a marathon on dry land. It somehow seems to unfair.

At least I have the current in my favor; I'll beat that Cheetos bag to the finish line!

The choices we make. lol.

Klassenator said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Klassenator said...

Awww, I was going to do SF but I don't think I am ready for the hills. I have decided to train more so I might actually attain my goal of under four hours for Nike Women's in October...

P.S. You still owe me a trail run... since you have such a workless summer lets get together!

Jo Lynn said...

One day at a time my dear. One day at a time.

Even if I don't run the 1/2 marathon, I will be going up to SF Saturday night to meet up with Penny and whoever else for dinner.

No fear, I'll be there. ;)

SWTrigal said...

WOW on that picture!!!

Jane said...

yeah, i'm gonna do it, unless I get preggers or develop an allergy to California, or qualify for Kona (ha!)
remind me in a couple of months to sign up.

the Dread Pirate Rackham said...

hey chickadee - happy Leo Birthday! You turn 40 on the 25th, I turn 40 on the 27th!

it's like we're twins.

Formulaic said...

Lady of leisure? Is that something you want to advertise on the Internet?

I mean people go to jail for that sort of thing right?



You lay down some serious peer pressure out there. It's a good thing we already agreed on Vineman or I might feel even more pressure to go out there with you.



And...I have't touched the bike since CDA. In fact it's still boxed up as are my swim goggles. The best thing I can do now is run and even then it's not very much!

I've talked to the other people from LV who did CDA (enough intials for you?). Everyone else is pretty much doing nothing too.

I would say you are way ahead of the curve. Now keep it up!

Calyx Meredith said...

What a perfect way to celebrate 40! I wish we could be out there with you. Running across the GG bridge is still my favorite running experience ever. I think we are seriously going to have to consider Barb's race! Oh - and tell Run Buddy congratulations from us.