Dad pinned my race number on my shirt just before the race.

We wandered down to the starting line and I asked Dad to hold my hand for the beginning of the race because there were lots of kids and parents and I wanted to make sure I didn’t lose him in the crowd.  They counted down 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…and we took off chasing everyone else.   I was doing great for about 200 yards and then all those snacks started bouncing in my stomach. I asked Dad if he would carry me for a while.   Dad seemed to be struggling carrying me all that way!   Finally I got down and started running again.  We had lot’s of people cheering along the way.  Finally with 50yds to go I took off towards the finish line. There we lots of people cheering as I crossed the finish line and then someone handed me a ribbon for finishing the race.

After a quick drink of water, I relaxed in my “chariot” admiring my ribbon.

I didn’t have long to bask in my accomplishments before Dad and I took off for his race.  I just enjoyed the scenery and snacked some more while Dad pushed me past lots of people.  At one point he seemed to be struggling and I said words of encouragement “Don’t slow down Daddy!”    Dad did pretty well, we finished 2^nd overall in the baby jogger division. 

Finally after we were done racing and Dad was done talking to all his friends we went over the the snack table and grabbed a bagel with cream cheese to take with us to the playground. Then we went over to the playground and I used up my remaining energy sliding and swinging and climbing before it was time to head home and take a nap.   Dad decided he needed a nap as well after our big morning!

My race number and ribbon are now proudly on display in my bedroom!

Kevin

A Note from Dad:  The day after the race, our triathlon club had a meeting and Kevin and I got a “father and son” award. Here is the recap from the club meeting:

“Awards:
Dave won the Peet’s Performance of the Month prize for his "father-son double" at the Jenny’s Light 5K.  Dave paced his son Kevin through the Kid’s Race, then pushed him in the stroller division of 5K race.  His time was fast enough for 4th in his age group (against guys without strollers) and earned him some free coffee!”

Here is a link to the results

Over Memorial Day weekend we flew back to Pennsylvania to visit my family.  There were a lot of family members anxious to see him.  It had been almost a year since we last visited and Kevin had changed a bit since then!! Above is a picture of Kevin in our driveway ready to head to the San Francisco airport. He hauled Mom’s suitcase most of the trip. He entertained quite a few folks at baggage claim.

When we stay in PA we stay with my sister and her family because they have a big house with plenty of extra room for all of us.  My nieces had a great time getting to know their cousin again.  They put him to work out in the big backyard helping them water the plants (below)

One of the first things on the itinerary for our trip was a little triathlon in Mt Gretna on Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. Friday I spent the day putting my bike together and then taking a drive on the bike course with my Dad and Uncle Jim.  Uncle Jim always likes to point out places where I can cheat and cut corners.   We also fit in a visit to see my Dad at work at the volunteers’ office of the Good Samaritan hospital. He loves showing his grandson off to all the ladies in the office.

Saturday was the race and the entire family made their way out to Mt. Gretna early in the morning to spectate. I think everyone had fun watching me suffer.   I had a good time and it was a well organized event.  The bike course was pretty hilly but the run was on a railroad bed trail that Heather and I had run on in the past.  I really enjoyed that part of the race.  The results of the race are on my website.

After the race we spent lots of time with family and visiting friends.  Nanny took Kevin to visit Marshall, her horse.  The picture on the left is from our 2008 visit, the one on the right is from this year.

By far Kevin’s favorite part of the visit to the farm was playing with the pitchfork in the hay…yes we’re horrible parents for letting him play with a pitchfork…but it did make for some great pictures and he had a blast as can be seen below.

Finally we packed up and started the trip home.  We were a bit worried on the 6 hour flight home as Kevin was super hyper and very loud. We were not making many friends around us.  He had learned to “sing” at my sister’s house while playing Guitar Hero and was practicing his best Adam Lambert whiny/screeching singing voice for the first hour of the flight! Finally he lost energy and fell asleep on Heather’s lap.  I  had loaded episodes of Dora the Explorer and Sesame Street on my iPhone and that helped put him to sleep. He would sit on Heather’s lap watching, fighting to stay away, but eventually his eyelids got REALLY heavy until he fell asleep.

After a peaceful (for everyone) 2 hour nap Kevin was awake, had a snack and seemed to be enjoying himself.  20 minutes before landing in San Francisco he was sitting on my lap when all of a sudden he started vomiting like a volcano.  He was completely covered and I started feeling a wet, warm feeling soaking into my lap.  Two minutes later he was sitting in his diaper in his own seat giggling like nothing had happened. Meanwhile I’m sitting in a pile of puke and smelling wonderful.  I must officially be a Dad now because I wasn’t even phased by this…I mean, what can you do? 

Aside from the final vomit event, it was an excellent trip and Kevin was a real trooper. He adjusted well to east coast time and to the new surroundings and thoroughly entertained the family.

I finished my 2008 triathlon season almost as quickly as it started. This was Heather’s year with her first Ironman in June.   My last race was Sentinel, the week after Pacific Grove.  I’ve done Sentinel numerous times. I really like the course and since it’s local there are always a lot of friends racing.  Of course Kevin was there to cheer with Heather and his grandparents.  It was a beautiful day in Santa Cruz and the race went really well. For the second week in a row I felt great running off the bike and I finished 4th in my age group.

After I retired my swimsuit, bike and running shoes, I headed to the east coast for a 5 day trip to the Outer Banks with my high school friends. This was our 4th trip and we hope to continue the tradition. It was really nice of Heather to take care of Kevin and let me get away for a few days. For the most part we just hung out at our huge rental house on the beach. Off season rates started the day we checked in and we really got a deal on the 8 bed/7 bath house for the week.  We did take a quick trip to see Kitty Hawk and tour the museum. I had been there with Heather years ago, but it was still fun to visit again. We also rented ocean kayaks for the week and had fun taking them out from our beach several times a day.

While I was on the east coast playing,  Heather and Kevin took a trip to the Sacramento zoo with the family. Heather said they saw a lot of animals, but for the most part Kevin was too busy playing in the dirt and picking up rocks to notice the animals. The only ones that caught his eye were the bright pink flamingos.

Just two days after returning from the Outer Banks (OBX to the locals) my parents made a trip to California to visit us..mostly just to visit their grandson!   Nanny brought lots of clothes for Kevin. Below are a few pictures of Kevin modeling his new outfits.

Kevin had a great time showing his grandparents around CA. We went to the beach one day and watched Kevin play in the sand. My Dad and I drove up to the top of Mt. Hamilton and toured the Lick Observatory.  Heather, Trilbe, Kevin and my Dad went to the Tech Museum in San Jose and Dave and his parents took a day trip to Yosemite. In between all those activities we found plenty of time to just enjoy hanging out with Kevin.  We got all 4 grandparents together several times and Kevin really enjoyed that.

Fast forward two weeks and I ran the ½ marathon in the Silicon Valley Marathon/Half Marathon. Many friends also ran and Heather’s brother ran the full marathon. Thanks to “Coach Heather,” I was able to do better this year than last. Her sound advice was to keep a consistent pace throughout the whole race.  (Heather’s editorial note: Everyone knows you are supposed to do this. This was nothing new. He has always just started out too fast and tried to hang on.) I actually ran the same pace (6:15/mile) for the first 8 miles and then the group I was running with decided to pick it up to 6 min/mile pace for 2 miles. That kind of hurt me but I hung on to finish right behind 2 of my friends. Below in the center is a picture of all of us at the finish line doing the “finish line dance.” Heather’s brother Kim set a PR for the marathon in 3:21  He looked strong at the ½ way point and still had a smile on his face. The last few miles got tough but he hung in there for a great finishing time!!

The week after the marathon was our 3^rd wedding anniversary.  We decided it would be fun to get away for a night so we booked a hotel in Calistoga, CA.  Heather’s parents were nice to offer to care for Kevin during our trip.  We had a very relaxing time, wine tasting, roaming around downtown Calistoga and St. Helena and going out to a very nice dinner at the Martini House.  The best part was being able to sleep in until 8:30.  Kevin usually makes that impossible.

Now Halloween is here. Kevin had fun making a jack-o-lantern. He also had a great trip to the pumpkin patch with his grandparents while we were in Napa.

This weekend was the 26^th annual Wildflower Triathlon festival at Lake San Antonio, CA. Wildflower has three different events – a long course (Half Ironman distance), an Olympic distance, and a mountain bike Sprint race. I’ve done various events at Wildflower 6 different years. I attempted the long course distance in 2000, but failed to finish. I made it halfway through the run before falling apart from dehydration. Therefore, I had a pretty bad attitude about Wildflower. Dave (my coach) encouraged me to compete and get over my mental “demon.” It was also to be a confidence booster for my upcoming Ironman (less than 50 days away!).

Part of the Wildflower “experience” is the fact that Lake San Antonio is in the middle of nowhere and you have to camp. Now, I’m all for camping. I enjoy it, actually. But, camping the night before a grueling 6 hour race just isn’t for me. So Dave and I drove down to Paso Robles and stayed there. We drove from Paso to the race on Saturday morning and it was a cinch. We got to sleep (in a comfortable bed) until almost 6am and were able to park near the race without a problem.

The race started at 8am, but my age group wave didn’t go off until 9:20am. I was done setting up my transition area by 7:30am. So I had plenty of time to hang around and chat with people, get nervous, stand in the porta-potty lines, and rearrange my tri gear dozens of times. Should I tuck my socks into my biking shoes, or lay them on my transition towel? Should I balance my bike helmet on top of my handlebars and risk someone knocking it off (along with my sunglasses), or set it on the ground? Whatever. It really doesn’t matter (although my coach would beg to differ). It’s not like I was trying to win or anything. I chatted with a friend, Tana, and she helped the time pass quickly. She’s a total Ironman guru – she has done 18 Ironmans since 1998! – and yet she still gets nervous at these things.

Dave was in photographer mode, so I could see him lurking on the hillsides taking photos with his zoom lens. This is a great shot of the transition chaos before the race started.

We finally lined up for our swim start. I warmed up a little. Eh, I didn’t really warm up. I just get in the cold water (they said the temp was 63 degrees) and splash it on my face a bit, to get that shock over with. For some reason, I lined up right in the front. That’s me, on the far right in the grey-stomached wetsuit, next to the balloon archway. I like to swim on the edges, out of the thrash. Otherwise, I expend too much energy worrying about everyone else or getting kicked in the face. It worked out well for me. The girls in my wave really didn’t take off that quickly and I managed to stay in front through to the first buoy, and by that time, all the swimmers had spread out. My swim was average. I felt awful the first 5 minutes (as I always do) and then felt great the rest of the time. I didn’t push it that hard; I just wanted to remember how it felt to do an open water swim. My goal was to swim 1.2 miles in 30 minutes. I got out of the water in 30:16. Fine with me!

The bike ride went pretty well. The first 20 miles felt effortless – I was riding nearly 19 mph and my heartrate was too high, but it felt so good, I kept going at that rate. “Nasty Grade” starts at mile 41 and when that is over, you hit “Heartrate Hill.” But, other than those two climbs and some rollers, the ride is beautifully scenic and not devastatingly difficult. Some poor girl crashed on her bike right in front of me. She wasn’t paying attention and hit the curb with her pedal and went down pretty hard. She said she was fine. And she must have been, because during the run she passed me like I was tied to a tree. I was hoping to finish in 3 and a quarter hours and my time was 3:14. Fine with me!

Wildflower is infamous for being difficult. And really what’s difficult is the run. It is brutal. I’m not a strong runner. Heck, I barely enjoy running. But this was 13.1 miles of yuck. Hill after hill after hill. Dirt trails, which, when placed in a canyon are dusty and sweltering hot. The temperature was well above 80, but some of the canyons just store the heat better. I gave myself permission, before the race ever started, to walk the difficult hills. And I did. I don’t think I would have gained much against the effort spent running up the steep parts. I hit several “low points.” And Dave, still snapping photos, cheered me on in several locations. I went past the TRIbe Triathlon booth. Those guys were spectating, drinking beers and and cheered very loudly (bullhorn and everything). That silliness boosted my energy for a couple miles. The devil that came up with the run course had the brilliant idea to run down a road for an entire mile just to turn around at the bottom and run back up. That depressing segment started at mile 9.5. Anyway, it was all fine in the end. I was hoping to run about 2 hours and 10 minutes. I ran 2 hours and 20 minutes. That was fine with me.

After the race was over, we drove to Paso Robles. My parents were kind enough to babysit Kevin on Friday afternoon through the race. Then they drove down to Paso Robles to meet us Saturday night. We stayed at a friend’s cottage called “Under the Oaks.” We had a great pasta dinner, a fancy brunch at Panolivo, and then drove home.

I’m tired, and sore, and happy I conquered my demon. I really didn’t care much how I placed, but I’ll admit I looked. I was 15^th in my age group, out of 70 something. Again, fine with me!

Here is a clip of Heather starting the swim. She is on the far right. At the end of the clip she is the one in front on the far side of the pack.

If you are unfamiliar….an Ironman consists of: 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run. In that order. And yes, all in one day. Someone asked me once if you could eat and sleep between events. It made me laugh, but it isn’t a bad idea. The fastest pros in the world can do an Ironman in 8 to 9 hours. Some of Dave’s friends can do an Ironman in under 10 hours. Dave’s fastest Ironman (and first of 5) was in Lake Placid in 2001 in 10 hours, 26 minutes, 48 seconds. (He’s pretty proud of that.) An athlete is allowed to be on the course for 17 hours. If you take longer than 2.5 hours to swim, they stick you in a boat and bring you back to the start. If you take longer than 10.5 hours to swim and bike or if you don’t make it to the finish line by midnight, you earn a DNF (did not finish). My primary goal is to cross the finish line without needing medical attention. My secondary goal is to finish in less than 14 hours.

The North America Ironman races have become very popular. In general, you have to sign up 365 days before the race (which is completely absurd, really – what will you be doing 365 from now??). They give no refunds if you decide to back out because, say, you get pregnant, break a leg, or change your mind. There are typically three ways to sign up: 1) you have to be physically present the day of the race to sign up for next year’s race, 2) you can qualify for the race by finishing in the top few places of your age group in designated races, or 3) you buy your way in. If you donate a bunch of money to the Adirondack Community Fund, they let you in the race. So, that’s what I did. I got a guaranteed spot and a tax deduction. The funds go to local charities targeting youth and sports in cities where these Ironman events are held.

Coaching is big business these days. You can spend upwards of $300/month to get personal coaching advice and plans. Multiply that by 6-10 months of training time, and it is a big investment. I’ve “hired’ my husband as my personal coach. He knows me better than anyone – knows my weaknesses, my strengths, and how much time I have to train. He can decipher my grumpiness and scale back the training volume appropriately. We developed an excel spreadsheet with my training plans through race-day in June. I also got a nifty Garmin GPS watch for Christmas that tells me everything – how fast I run/ride, my heartrate, elevation changes, cadence on the bike, calories burned, etc. It makes pretty graphs on my computer for me to sit and analyze, noting progress in areas and weaknesses in others.

A typical training week consists of 2 or 3 times in the pool, 2 times on the “Computrainer” bike in our basement , 1 long road ride outside, and 3 times running outside or on the treadmill. Thankfully, Kevin is an outstanding napper in the morning, so I can get my Computrainer sessions done in the morning weekdays. (As an aside, I catch up on all the great movies while riding on the Computrainer. I Tivo anything and everything – it makes the workouts go by faster.) We bought a super hip, sleek Ironman BOB (Baby on Board) jogging stroller and Kevin seems to enjoy that. I joined a gym with day care so I can run on the treadmill there, go to Pilates classes, and swim. Laura is my riding training partner – she is a strong rider, very consistent, and super smart on the road. She also doesn’t like to stop and socialize during training rides, which is what I need. We’ll be spending plenty of Saturdays together!

I’ll update this blog with occasional stories on my training progress, races, and epic workouts. With all the rain, this weekend consisted of a lot of indoor stuff. Yesterday, I rode 56 miles on the Computrainer in the basement (took 3 ½ hours – ugh!), followed by a rainy, chilly 15 minute run. Today I ran 7 miles on the treadmill at the gym. I’m praying for sunnier weather soon…..

Happy Training! Here’s my race plan for the season:

Wildflower Training weekend – Mar 15
Tierra Bella Century – Apr 19
The Great Race – Apr 20
Wildflower Long Course Triathlon – May 3
Memorial Day Ride from San Jose to Santa Barbara – May 22-25
Sequoia Century – Jun 1
San Jose International Triathlon – Jun 8
Ironman Coeur d’Alene – Jun 22