Things to be thankful for: Triathlete Edition

Seeing as tomorrow is Thanksgiving and everyone is talking about what they are thankful for and I haven’t blogged in a while I figured let’s do a thankful list. Wow. Hello run on sentence.

1. I am thankful the training season is over.

Because I am spent. Phew! I will do a more reflective post when it is closer to New Year’s , but this year was kind of all over the place with events. And it is done!

2. I am thankful that I can always change my mind.

Yes, I know I said I was done for the year. And yet why did I just this week decide to sign up for the Silicon Valley Turkey Trot after vowing last year never again to do it? Um, I never really learn my lesson. Plus, it has become my Thanksgiving morning tradition!

3. I am thankful for friends and family.

Because of this crazy sport called triathlon, I have become friends with some incredible, supportive, funny people who also call me out on things (ahem, like maybe not really training…). What are friends for, right? I also am thankful for the support of my hubby to be totally cool with these events that I do. And also, he knows when to keep his mouth shut when he is a little nervous about an event I do. And I like it that he brags to his co-workers about crazy things I do and they have this image that I am hardcore. We can keep my poser-ness a secret.

4. I am thankful for my coach.

Heidi. You rock. 2012 will be my 4^th year with you. For someone like me with commitment issues, that is HUGE. Thank you for being…just being Heidi.

5. I am thankful for heroes.

This past Sunday 3 of my friends completed the Ironman Arizona. An Ironman! That is crazy! One of them joined my workout group the same year I did. And to think she completed an Ironman. It gets a girl thinking…Anyways, these three ladies are total heroes to me. They had the courage to sign up for something CRAZY, the dedication to train for it, and the strength to complete it.

6. I am thankful there are other races.

You know, I have had my fare share of turkeys out there in terms of events. Sometimes I finish a race (or DON’T finish a race…I am talking to you Barb’s and Wildflower. I will be back some day so just you wait) and the outcome was a complete bummer. Maybe I was hoping to PR. Maybe I didn’t realize there were hills on the bike. Maybe it rained during the swim and I came back to a soggy transition. Seriously though, even a bad race is still a good race. I have learned so much from events that let me down. Most importantly, I have learned that I shouldn’t be bummed too long because I may miss that awesome event just around the corner.

7. I am thankful that I did it.

The best feeling is when I sign up for an event and am not 100% sure that it is something I can do and I DO IT. There is a fear involved with triathlons and all these events. Especially if it is something I have never done before. Could I swim 3.6 miles? Could I bike 200 miles? And miraculously, most of the time I get there. And finishing something feels FANTASTIC.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Hey Lady, Take it Easy

Ok. That's it. For reals.

I am done with events for the year.

That became abundantly clear at yesterday's Golden State Triathlon. It was a sprint triathlon and was probably my slowest tri ever. And I am totally, 100% cool with that because, to quote Austin Powers, "And I'm spent!"

I foolishly thought that this would be a cakewalk (mmmm...cake) because it was JUST a sprint triathlon.

So what went wrong? Mainly, two things:

First: Don't underestimate a race's difficulty just because it is a distance you have done before.

Second:
Don't overestimate your ability just because it is a distance you have done before. Yeah, I have done plenty of sprints before, but a lot of things can come into play that can affect your race.

For example, let's take a look at the events I did in September:

9/11/11 Big Kahuna 1/2 Ironman
Got sick the day after, did nothing for a week, and ran/swam a little teeny tiny pathetic but the week after

9/23/11 Had a work event, was awesome, but crazy busy, draining

9/25/11 Ran run portion for mermaid triathlon. Good pace considering lack of training.

10/1/11 3.6 mile open water swim


The 1/2 Ironman and 3.6 mile swim were both A races for me this year. Hmmm, probably not so good to have them spaced so close together.

So, already I was going into this race with event fatigue.

Also, last week I started a 21 day clean eating plan. It is really to help me get a hold on what I eat, limit my portions, eat foods that aren't empty calories etc. You get one cheat day a week and this week's happened to land on race day. However, I planned poorly and did not stop for breakfast on the way from our hotel in Sacramento to the start near the American River. I was too concerned with finding the venue. We kind of get lost a lot when we drive through Sacramento, primarily because there are bridges involved. I managed to find a mini Cliff Bar that I gulped down while setting up transition. That combined with my conservative eating the day before probably did not make for great pre-race nutrition.

After setting up transition I headed to the start of the race. The swim started way far away from transition (you had to cross a bridge to get there). I muttered a little "ouch ooch ouch" from walking barefoot through a park and over a bridge. I entered the water did some strokes and got ready for my wave to start. I noticed I had a little trouble swimming to the start buoy, but didn't really think much of it.

And then we were off.

The swim was tough. It was only 1/2 a mile and I totally thought I had it in the bag. I mean, c'mon! I swam 3.6 miles last weekend! I took off and noticed my arms were sore and I wasn't going as fast as I would like. And then it dawned on me: Oh, yeah. I swam 3.6 miles last weekend. I guess it may take time to recover from that. The swim was a little annoying because there were people stopping in the middle of the swimming, or doing breaststroke or backstroke butterfly. Argg!

As it turned out, there was a reason why the swim was so hard. It's called current. After the race I heard people talking about how hard the swim was because we were going against a really strong current. Oh, and those people weren't stopped on purpose in the river. They just couldn't get past the current. Yikes.

So, I finished the swim and proceeded to exit the lake. There were volunteers there to help you out while you climbed the MUDDY SUPER SLIPPERY STAIRS to get back to the park. Thankfully there was no falling. However, when I got out of the water and took my first step on the ground I got a swirly lightheaded feeling.

I was hungry.

I remember hearing the announcer saying there would be no aid stations on the bike. Eek. I got to transition, drank a bunch of water and reluctantly headed out on my bike.

Wow. How do you spell "SLOW?" Sheesh. I was dragging on the bike. And it was 3 five mile loops which made it feel even more tedious. After the second loop I started feeling a little weird. My stomach was cramping and I had cold sweats. I think I was running out of gas. At one point I thought about stopping after the second lap, but I just kept going.

Finally I was back in transition and getting my run stuff on. A man approached me, "I LOVE YOUR PINK BIKE! IT IS SOOOOO AWESOME!" He kept blabbing on about it, which ordinarily I like, but HELLO I am in transition! Then I asked him, "Are you finished?" He said yes to which I responded, "Well, I, uh gotta go because I have this run thing to take care of."

I headed out to the run. Right at the beginning there was an aid station. Hurrah! I grabbed Gatorade and Gu and it was like nectar of the gods. At every aid station I took a cup of Gatorade. I finally finished the 5k (with a record slow pace. Um...yea?) and f ound my hubby and we took off. I needed breakfast (and so did he since there wasn't food for spectators). We drove to our fave breakfast place in Sacramento and there must have been 30 people in line. FOILED AGAIN! We headed back to our hotel, dumped the bike, and walked to a breakfast place. We had to wait 20 minutes to get seated, which was fine. However, it was about 40 minutes before we got food. Sheesh!

Finally I had an egg white omelet in my belly and was ready for a catnap and watching Legally Blonde at the hotel room. It was awesome.

So, I learned a lot at this race. I hope I actually start applying these lessons. One thing I know is I will not be doing the 1/2 marathon I signed up for in two weeks. Judging from Sunday, my body is telling me, "Hey lady, take it easy."

I hope I do not go through event withdrawal. I already heard that some of my workout buddies are flirting with the idea of the Las Vegas Rock n Roll in December.

Must.Not.Log.Into.Active.com.

Slam the Dam: A Race Recap

OK folks. Let's do this thing.

I signed up for this event in the beginning of the summer mainly because I wanted an excuse to go to Vegas and get out of town for a weekend. The Slam the Dam event is at Lake Mead which is the back of Hoover Dam. They have 3 different races going on: an 8k, 1.2, and 2.4 mile swim. For people wanting to up their distance they could do the Super Slam which s the 1.2 and 2.4 mile swim, or the grand slam which is the 8k plus 1.2 mile swim. I knew I had to justify this race by signing up for a distance out of my comfort zone. The 8k did not seem like a realistic goal, so I thought, let's do the 3.6. Why the heck not, right?

My two friends and I met at SFO on Friday to fly out together. Our flight was supposed to leave at 9:30 but got delayed to 12:30. That wouldn't have been that bad if we were at the cool section of SFO. Oh well. We had a short flight to Vegas, got a rental car and drove about 20 miles to Boulder City.

We stayed at the Hacienda Inn, which was...um, how shall I put this delicately. It is what you would expect for a $50 a night hotel next to a major tourist attraction. They did boast 99 cent shrimp cocktail on their marquee. I decided that probably would not be a good choice for dinner, so we drove to the town and had dinner at a brewery.

We woke up at 4am(!) and headed to the start of the race. Did I mention there was lightning the night before? It was 5:45 when we arrived at the beach and they were still setting up the race. It was so dark, I could not see the lake. Finally the sun rose and this enormous lake was in front of me.

My friend was signed up for the 8k and unfortunately hurt her ankle earlier in the week. She took a shuttle with our other friend who was her kayaker to the start for that event. She texted me they may cancel the 8k because a thunderstorm was coming. They ended up not canceling, but she decided to do the 2.4 as it would be tough to swim in choppy water with an injury.

There was a delay at the start time, so we probably started the 2.4 mile race at 8:15 instead of 8.

I don't really know how to write about swimming. The 2.4 felt long, and choppy. My mind wandered a little. The last 1/4 of the swim I was getting nervous. I didn't have a watch on and was not sure if I would make it to the cut off time to start the 1.2. Fortunately, I did! I waited around about 20 minutes to start the 1.2. At first I was thinking it would be tough to swim again after a break, but I was thankful for the break because I got to eat a banana, drink some water, and reapply sunscreen.

The 1.2 race started and I was off again. It is interesting comparing the two races. The 2.4 had less people, and felt more mellow (or at least the fast hardcore people were way ahead of me, so I dd not feel the intensity). The 1.2 had more people and had a lot of people stopping in the middle of the water, doing breaststroke, etc. At one point I was stuck behind 3 people swimming next to one another. I decided to go for it and pass them. And something funny happened. I felt stronger on the 1.2 mile swim, then the 2.4. The only issue I had was my left shoulder was acting up, but other than that I felt great. And I finished! Whoo hoo! I had never swam that far in the open water before. The thing that amazed me is that the past 3 weeks my swim training has decreased significantly, and yet I was still able to finish. Still waiting for race results to post. I seriously have NO IDEA what my time was.

My friends and I packed up and headed to the strip. It was a great weekend filled with yummy food, a massage, and Jabberwockeez--- an awesome vegas show!

Next up: The Golden State Triathlon this Sunday! A sprint tri with a 9:20 am wave start. YAY!

My Hundredth Post!

Wow. 100 blog posts. That seems like...a lot...

I am struggling with the theme of this post. Should it be:
A) Race Recap of today's mermaid tri? It was a great event, but the fact I did the relay and my portion of the race was a 2.5 mile run does not seem to justify a whole blah blah-blog post.

B) The fear of this Saturday's swim event? 3.6 miles. No wetsuit. Open water. To quote Sixteen Candles, "Lake. Big Lake." Pool time since Big Kahuna? Um, one pool workout. Mainly because work has been--

C) Crazy. In a good way though. We had a big event on Friday and I found myself on-stage speaking to an audience of over 150 people. If you told me four years ago when I got laid off from the mortgage industry that I would be in the non-profit world and on a stage asking people for pledges I would have been all, "Say what?!" Don't get me wrong--it still terrifies the heck out of me being on stage addressing a crowd, but I somehow got through it.

Much like triathlons. And life...

And really, the truth is, challenges make life more interesting. Getting out of your comfort zone, pushing yourself, celebrating your successes and accepting your failures, constantly looking to the future of what is next...it's pretty cool.

A couple weeks ago I was taking a walk with my 7 year-old niece. She was talking about how she wants to be a teacher when she grows up. Then she asked me:

"What did you want to be when you grew up?"

I had to think.

"Um," I said. " A fashion designer. Or a child psychologist." (Yes, even at a young age I was all over the place. Not much has changed.)

"Is that what you are now?"

"No."

She looked at me a little disappointed. Or maybe it was surprise. "Why not?"

I thought about it. How do you explain this to a 7-year-old? I barely know how to explain it to myself.

"Well," I started slowly, "I think it is because when you get older, you start to see more things in the world. You discover other things that interest you."

She was not convinced.
"Not me. I am going to be a teacher no matter what."

"That's awesome!" I told her.

I think what is interesting that for me the adult version of "What do you want to be when you grow up?" had turned more into a "What do you want to be next?" And there are so many possibilities to that. An ironman? A person who can do one measley pull-up? A member of an improv comedy troup? A writer (like, a more than an occasional blog post writer)? A better friend? A better listener? A better leader? A better follower?

When you think about it, it's pretty exciting to think that there is a different "you" right around the corner...just depends on what path you take.

ew...i know...what's with all this positive thinking stuff. ick. What can I say? It's been a bit of an emotional week...and I think I am a hugger now...plus it IS my 100th post. I can be a little sappy, right?

Stick a Fork in Me...

because Big Kahuna is DONE!

I had planned on writing my race recap on Monday when it was all fresh in my head. But then I woke up with a fever and sore throat which was a lovely combination with the ran over by a truck feeling from the race. So, I am at home now, pumped full of cough syrup, going through boxes of kleenex and finally writing this re-cap.

A couple months ago I emailed the Race Director of the event (actually, sent emails to 3 different email addresses) to change to Aquabike. My training was all over the place and I was stressing myself out. I did not hear back from them so I took it as a sign that I was supposed to do this race. In my heart, I did not want another year to go by where I didn't finish a 1/2 ironman.

So, my good friend Diane was gracious enough to attend packet pick-up with me. And of course, when they gave me my race chip and bib I saw that it said "Aquabike." I had a feeling that would happen. I kinda flipped out on the volunteer a little (not my best moment). This is basically how the conversation went:

Volunteer: Is there a problem?
Me: Uh, yeah. I e-mailed the race director to switch to aquabike-
Volunteer: So, you want to do aquabike?
Me: NO. See, I e-mailed them THREE Times (and yes, I put three fingers up) and hadn't heard back so I trained for the full (by training I mean, I swam a lot, did some bricks and posted on facebook A LOT) and now I find out they switched to aquabike.

The volunteer graciously took down my information and they said they would switch me to the full.

Fine then.

So, Saturday night I drank lots of gatorade, ate at Fresh Choice and had everything packed and ready to go in my car. I prepped the coffeemaker. I knew I had to leave the house at 4am(!) to get to transition in time and give myself plenty of time to find free parking.

Technically I was in bed by 8, but I couldn't fall asleep so I read from my Kindle. Finally around 9:30 I turned the light off. I woke up at 2 and though to myself, "I could totally get up now." but went back to sleep. Then at 3:15 I heard a ruckus and a MREOW! Our cat Lily broke into our bedroom and was going nuts. I got up and tried to steer her downstairs. She was at the foot of the stairs so I tried to pick her up. She was having none of that and strategicaly focused all of her weight to the ground making her seem like the heaviest 12 pound cat ever. And of course our kitten was going buck wild, "MWEOW MWREOW WHAT"S GOING ON? IS IT TIME TO EAT?"

I finally got everyone situated downstairs and put the coffee on. Dennis came stumbling down (did I mention it was 3:30 am) because the commotion woke him up. I got dressed, filled up my coffee maker and headed out.

I got to transition, set up my stuff and met up with my friend Molly. Around 6:15 we headed to the beach for the race talk. It was a little overcast, but the water was calm. My coach was the announcer so she gave me a pre-race pep talk. Molly and I went into the water for a warm up swim. Then we headed to the line to start. There were a bunch of people taking photographs and Molly joked that it was like the paparazzi, to which I responded, "What are you wearing? Neoprene." Yes, I use humor as a defense mechanism when I am nervous.


Our age group was the 4th to start. Finally it was our turn and we ran to the water. It took me awhile to find my stride in the water. It got a little crowded and I could feel my breath getting out of control. I remembered my talk with coach heidi earlier this week. She said that at some of the workouts she had noticed something new in me, an aggression that she hadn't see in her 3 years working with me. She wanted me to channel that aggression at this race and she called it my Big K face. So something happened within me that made me determined to school this ocean. I put power in my stroke, I knew I wanted to do this swim STRONG. It felt strong as well. In retrospect, I should have worn a watch during the swim because I really had no idea if I was going fast. In the open water I have a hard time gauging speed. I was out of the water and greeted by people cheeirng us on. I ran the couple blocks barefoot to the transition, high fived my fellow teammate who was volunteering at the event and yelled at Heidi who was announcing, "Heidi! I am here!" Before I knew it, I was on the bike. I looked at my watch and it was 10 minutes earlier than I anticipated. I MUST have had a good swim.

The bike was my biggest mental block for the event. I knew I had to get off the bike by 1pm or they would pull me. I had calculated what my MPH should be. The first half off the bike was amazing. I felt like I was at a strong pace, and the sun was starting to poke out and the view of the Pacific Ocean was incredible. Finally there was the turn around and then BAM the wind hit me. It was brutal. There were points of the ride where I was at 5 mph. My feet were starting to hurt, and sitting on the bike seat was getting more and more painful. I looked down at my garmin and it read 53 miles. I wanted to get in before noon. So, I pushed myself and broke free from the pack I was riding in. Finally I reached the bike dismount and was cheered on by my friends Wilma and Diane. I had a speedy transition and was on the run by 11:55.

THE RUN. It was bad. It was really really bad. I made sure to keep hydrated. My legs felt like bricks and it became pretty apparent I couldn't BS my way into a good run. I just wanted to finish. The run was my longest half marathon ever. At mile 12 I said to myself, "you are almost there. You can do this." The last part of the run is in the sand. When my tired feet hit the beach I knew that it was happening. I was going to finish something. I can't explain the significance of this. These past few years I have noticed my confidence in myself was declining. Not just as a triathlete, but as a person. I totally needed some Stewart Smalley in my life because I didn't feel good enough, smart enough and doggone it liked by people. As I crossed the finish line at a strong pace it was a reminder that yes, I am strong. I may not be the fastest out there or the fittest, but I am brave. I am brave enough to sign up for events that scare the crap out of me and brave enough to put on a sparkle skirt and show the world you can have fun with this too.

And you know what? I improved my time by 9 minutes from 2008's race. My swim time was 41 minutes! This is a PR for me and makes me want to break 40 minutes in the future. I maintained a 15 mph pace on my bike. Not too shabby. The run, well the run was just "meh."

But, I finished it and felt great. I was surrounded by friends and returned home to my amazing hubby who eventually support my crazy hairbrained ideas.

So there it is. The curse of the half ironman is broken. And you know what? Completing my 2nd half ironman was wayyyy better than my first.

6 Days...

Until Big Kahuna Triathlon. The nerves are definitely starting to bubble to the surface. In fact, I baked two nights in a row to deal with my nervous energy. Fortunately, my husband's co-workers are more than happy to help me deal with my neurosis by taking one for the team and eating home baked goods.

So, it is what it is. I have had quite a few solid weeks of training under my belt. I did have some paranoia about the bike cut off, as I had flashbacks of being pulled from the race at last year's Wildflower. But, I will have to do the number crunching to figure out my sweet spot for mph on the bike and pay attention to that. The run...well, as my coach said, "The run will be the run."

In other news, something amazing happened this weekend. In addition to swimming, biking, running, celebrating my 5th wedding anniversary, and getting in some much needed family and friend time, I did something I NEVER had done before.

(wait for it)

I poached an egg.

Seriously, this is like an amazing feat for me. This past year I have mastered the creamiest scrambled eggs (the trick: melt butter in pan over low heat, while it melts whisk your eggs about a minute, and a tablespoon of milk and then whisk the eggs like crazy, to the point of your bicep hurting, then add to melted butter, let is sit 30 seconds, and every once in a while scrape the eggs around in the pan. slow. low heat. perfection!). For some reason I could not figure out how to poach eggs. The whites would separate and float all over the pan, or I would overcook the yolk. I even watched a Good Eats episode for guidance. One day I went through a whole carton of eggs with no success.

But something got into me Sunday morning. I wanted to make breakfast for hubby and didn't want to go to the store. I made mixed berry muffins from scratch, but used up the rest of the milk, so couldn't make scrambled eggs. I eyed the carton of eggs and grabbed my America's Test Kitchen cookbook with authority. You better watch out eggs, because today you are getting poached.

I analyzed the recipe and the accompanying picture for submerging the eggs in the water. I took a deep breath and got all the utensils ready. My skillet was filled to the brim with water and some vinegar. I set the temp high to get the water to boiling point. I took out two ramekins and cracked two eggs in both. I could feel beads of sweat forming at my forehead. Hubby came into the kitchen and asked in a cheerful voice, "What are you making?"

"I am poaching eggs."

"Whoa," he said and gradually inched backwards to make an escape. See, he was there through a majority of the poaching attempts and may still be a little traumatized by all the swearing.

The water was boiling, now time to reduce the heat. I gradually tipped the eggs into the water, put a lid on the skillet removed from the heat and set the timer for 5 minutes.

Longest. Five. Minutes. Ever.

Finally the "beep beep" came and I removed the lid, scared at what I was going to see. I carefully took rhe eggs out with a slotted spoon and placed two on a plate with a muffin and presented to hubby.

"So," I told him, "I think I did it. I think those are poached."

He cut into the egg with his fork and the right amount of yolk oozed out. He took a bite.

"Yup! Those are poached!"

Yay!

So, you are probably thinking what the heck do poached eggs have to do with a half ironman?

Well, I guess what I realized was that I poached the egg succesfully because I focused on all the steps. There is no room for error. My plan for Sunday: stay focused and in the NOW of the event. Every stroke of my swim will be deliberate.If I find myself slacking on the bike, I will evaluate my posture, ensure I am pushing through pedal strokes. On the run I will just keep my legs going and remind myself I have done 13 miles plenty of times. And that even though it feels like a long time, it's really about the same amount of time as a Transformers movie with previews in a theater (and I will repeat to myself that sitting through Transformes would prbably be more painful than the run). I will ensure that I drink water and eat enough on the bike. I have a couple friends who are making the trip to santa cruz just to cheer me on. How awesome is that?

My plan for Sunday? It really boils down to one thing: I plan to cross that finish line.

Tour of Napa Valley Ride Report

I think I realized something key about my personality. I am in a state of perpetual New Year's Resolutions. Or rather, I have high aspirations for my future self. What does this mean? It means, I think that my future self will be this amazing together person, without taking into consideration the limitations of my present self.

Confused? Let me give you an example of something that happened just this morning.

While rushing out of the house to get to work, I only have my car key in my purse. The reason it is not on my regular key chain is because I took it off to keep with me during yesterday's Tour of Napa Bike Ride (more on that later). I couldn't for the life of me remember where my key chain with all my keys is. I searched my car, searched my purse, searched my triathlon bag---nothing. Just as I was about to lose it, the little light bulb went off-"Oh yeah!" I unzipped the front (mind you, rarely used) pocket of my tri bag and there they are. I distinctly remember thinking yesterday as I put them in that --rarely used--pocket, "I will DEFINITELY remember where I put these keys."

In my head, future self is much smarter than present self.

Another example would be the Tour of Napa ride which I registered back in June. I registered for the 100 mile option, thinking I would be nice and ready for it, because future self must be a bike training machine, right?

Not quite. Though I have biked pretty regularly in the last month, this year I have not topped over 30 miles. So, I decided to switch to the 65 mile option. I mean, I did 200 miles in one day last year, surely this will be cake for future self.

Um. Yeah. It was NOT cake. It was a big old slice of humble pie.

I woke up at 4:45 to drive to Napa yesterday. I met my friend at the start in Yountville and we were on the road by 7:30. We felt good. Our average mph was my goal mph and I was feeling strong the first 10 miles. And then she said, "What's that noise?"

"Oh yeah," I said acknowledging the rhythmic rrrrrring noise, "I hear that too. I don't know."

"Do you have a flat?"

"Nah, doesn't sound like a flat. I would know---uh oh, yeah we gotta pull over. I have a flat."

Twenties minutes and lots of grease everywhere, the flat was changed and we were back on the road.

And my spirit was slightly dampened.

We rode more. It was beautiful, taking us through wine country. The temperature was perfect, overcast but not super cold. One stretch of road was pretty tore up and a challenge to ride because of bumps and cracks. At mile 20 we had a slight climb. I read that there were two climbs on this ride.

We stopped at the rest stop at mile 34. I ate half a turkey sandwich and a fig newton. I was pretty beat already. My friend (whom I did Seattle to Portland with) and I were tripping over the fact that this was our first Century bike ride of the year. Last year, we were at this distance by March. And why was it so hard? So far, my theory on muscle memory is starting to lose its credibility.

We took off. It was hill time. At this point in the ride we got separated (she is faster than me). This hill was a bit of a beast. I would say it was about 4-5 miles of climbing. It was called Howell's hill and I thought it was an appropriate name considering some parts of my body were howling. The people on the ride were very friendly. Everyone LOVED pink bike. However, one guy passed me. On. the. Right. Um, hello? Oh, and another guy was riding slowly up the hill. As I passed him I looked over and saw him on his cell phone. Seriously?

Finally the hill was over and we went downhill a little. I stopped at the water stop to fill my bottle. My legs were thrashed. I got back on my bike and realized I was still in the easy granny gear and my wheels were spinning. I couldn't get a hold of my bike and gradually started to tip over almost falling into a group of hardcore cyclist who were standing around.

Smooth move.

I headed back out on the road. Now was time for the downhill. It was crazy. At one point to the right of me I could see the whole Napa Valley ( I tried to take a picture but my cell phone camera skills leave a lot to be desired). It was a long downhill, and I took it as easy as possible but at some points I was at 30 mph (for me that is fast!). There were some sharp turns and towards the end a really gnarly hairpin. There was a stop sign at the bottom of the hill and one guy looked to his buddy and said, "That was INTENSE."

Yup. It was.

The last 20 miles of the ride was pure torture. Every part of me was in pain from my shoulders to my feet. I hit some wind. Would this ride ever end? Never again, I thought to myself, will I wait until August to bike this far. Oh, and perhaps gradually I will get to this mileage. My future self will train much better.

I was at the finish and met up with my friend. We ate some food, and then headed on our separate way.

It was a great event in terms of scenery, support, and a minimal number of cars on the road. Not so great in terms of the reality of where I am at right now with my bike fitness. Next year will be a different story.

Right, future self?