OK, I haven't trained for a while and I really shouldn't have expected much but... I still really wanted to beat my time from last year when I had that horrible stomach issue and I didn't. I did get through it though. So here's my advice on how to survive a Half Ironman done off the couch.
Find a good draft on the swim and use it as a warm-up
Ride at a low heart rate and focus on your pedal stroke
Expect the run to hurt. It's gonna suck. There's a reason why people train for these things you know!
The final result was 6:03 I think. 9th in my AG. 3rd out of the water for my AG, 14th or so on the bike and 8th on the run. So I guess I need to ride more. Bummer ;-)
Sure wish I could walk today, good thing I can still ride my bike.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Success at RAW.
I had no idea. The summary is that we came, we saw and we kicked... well, you know how that goes.
RAW stands for Race Across the West. It's the first 1044 miles of Race Across America. It's a killer ride with lots of hills. Thank goodness I was crewing and not riding.
Tom entered as a 2 man relay team with George Thomas. They rode 58 hours and 56 min to get them from Oceanside CA to Taos NM. I sat in the van with 2 other people for all those hours, taking care of Tom with a little drivng and navigation thrown in when Lisa and Ken needed to be spelled off. The average shift on the bike was 1 hour at a time but got as long as 3 hours if the other teammates needed a sleep and a lot less if it was hot. Some of our rotations were as short as 30 min leaving us barely enough time to get Tom off the bike, into the car, fed, massaged, driven to the next hand off, dressed again and ready for the exchange. It was a really tough job but we did great. Tom and George made it to Taos before anyone else. Granted they had the advantage of being a team but even if you only compared them to other teams they kicked azz.
For those of you that have thought about crewing for an event like this...
Crewing for a team is MUCH harder than crewing for a solo rider. It seems counter intuitive, but it is. I've done both now, trust me.
If you volunteer to crew, embrace the silliness that comes with sleep deprivation, it makes it more fun.
Finally, stock your vehicle really well with snacks, decent food can be really hard to come by, especially when you're crewing for a team and your down time is minimal.
RAW stands for Race Across the West. It's the first 1044 miles of Race Across America. It's a killer ride with lots of hills. Thank goodness I was crewing and not riding.
Tom entered as a 2 man relay team with George Thomas. They rode 58 hours and 56 min to get them from Oceanside CA to Taos NM. I sat in the van with 2 other people for all those hours, taking care of Tom with a little drivng and navigation thrown in when Lisa and Ken needed to be spelled off. The average shift on the bike was 1 hour at a time but got as long as 3 hours if the other teammates needed a sleep and a lot less if it was hot. Some of our rotations were as short as 30 min leaving us barely enough time to get Tom off the bike, into the car, fed, massaged, driven to the next hand off, dressed again and ready for the exchange. It was a really tough job but we did great. Tom and George made it to Taos before anyone else. Granted they had the advantage of being a team but even if you only compared them to other teams they kicked azz.
For those of you that have thought about crewing for an event like this...
Crewing for a team is MUCH harder than crewing for a solo rider. It seems counter intuitive, but it is. I've done both now, trust me.
If you volunteer to crew, embrace the silliness that comes with sleep deprivation, it makes it more fun.
Finally, stock your vehicle really well with snacks, decent food can be really hard to come by, especially when you're crewing for a team and your down time is minimal.
Monday, June 15, 2009
What a trip!!
Wow. To say that I was busy while I was in Europe would be a serious understatement.
Here's the Reader's digest version of the trip....
We arrived in Lisbon having survived the drive to Vancouver WA, train to Seattle, plane to Heathrow and connection to Lisbon. We were jet lagged, hungry and missing Tom's bike. Fortunately the bike turned up the next day. The Race Relations person, Louize, picked us up and took us to the Hotel Barcelona. The next day or two was spent eating, resting and more travel, this time by bus to Braganca. More prep time and the race was on.
The first 3 days were insanely hot and to a serious toll on all the racers. Tom had a very difficult first day but rallied back the second and was doing well by the third. Then the weather cooled and he just got stronger. While Tom was racing my days went something like this: get up, big buffet breakfast, go to our first checkpoint with my check point partner Patricia. We then sat for hours watching the racers go by noting times and numbers. Then off to the stage finish where I'd set up for massage. Massage would go on until about 7:30 or 8 until we had another amazing buffet style meal, then back for more massage. Often I wouldn't get back to my room before 11 PM. Then Tom would finally get his turn and off to sleep to do it all over the next day.
As the race went on, problems started to crop up. At least one third of the riders, if not half of them, had developed saddle sores from the heat, sweat and grit. I ordered dressings for the sores and spend what spare time I had distributing them to the riders, explaining in detail how to use them and even applying dressings for the ones that couldn't reach them on there own. Of course all the jokes started to come out... Cassie is covering everyone's ass... the rider's are really a pain in the ass... Cassie the queen of the butts... you get the idea.
Yes I was busy and yes I was exhausted at the end. But I wouldn't have had it any other way. I got to be part of the team, I had updated info about how Tom was doing all day long and I got to meet a bunch of really great people. I can't think of a better way to see the countryside and I would do it again... maybe even race it one day.
Tom placed 9th overall, much better than expected and he would've done better yet if he hadn't struggled so much that first day. He even had several days when he placed in the top 5 and one day when he came in 3rd after the 2 very fast racers competing for the overall win. It was amazing to watch.
We had 4 days to recover in Portugal, then 2 days checking out London with Paul, another racer from Portugal. He was a great tour guide and we had a blast.
Now we're on the last leg of the journey. We're here in Oceanside getting ready for RAW. There are a lot of details to take care of before we start the race on Wednesday. Speaking of which... it's time to go.
To be continued.
Here's the Reader's digest version of the trip....
We arrived in Lisbon having survived the drive to Vancouver WA, train to Seattle, plane to Heathrow and connection to Lisbon. We were jet lagged, hungry and missing Tom's bike. Fortunately the bike turned up the next day. The Race Relations person, Louize, picked us up and took us to the Hotel Barcelona. The next day or two was spent eating, resting and more travel, this time by bus to Braganca. More prep time and the race was on.
The first 3 days were insanely hot and to a serious toll on all the racers. Tom had a very difficult first day but rallied back the second and was doing well by the third. Then the weather cooled and he just got stronger. While Tom was racing my days went something like this: get up, big buffet breakfast, go to our first checkpoint with my check point partner Patricia. We then sat for hours watching the racers go by noting times and numbers. Then off to the stage finish where I'd set up for massage. Massage would go on until about 7:30 or 8 until we had another amazing buffet style meal, then back for more massage. Often I wouldn't get back to my room before 11 PM. Then Tom would finally get his turn and off to sleep to do it all over the next day.
As the race went on, problems started to crop up. At least one third of the riders, if not half of them, had developed saddle sores from the heat, sweat and grit. I ordered dressings for the sores and spend what spare time I had distributing them to the riders, explaining in detail how to use them and even applying dressings for the ones that couldn't reach them on there own. Of course all the jokes started to come out... Cassie is covering everyone's ass... the rider's are really a pain in the ass... Cassie the queen of the butts... you get the idea.
Yes I was busy and yes I was exhausted at the end. But I wouldn't have had it any other way. I got to be part of the team, I had updated info about how Tom was doing all day long and I got to meet a bunch of really great people. I can't think of a better way to see the countryside and I would do it again... maybe even race it one day.
Tom placed 9th overall, much better than expected and he would've done better yet if he hadn't struggled so much that first day. He even had several days when he placed in the top 5 and one day when he came in 3rd after the 2 very fast racers competing for the overall win. It was amazing to watch.
We had 4 days to recover in Portugal, then 2 days checking out London with Paul, another racer from Portugal. He was a great tour guide and we had a blast.
Now we're on the last leg of the journey. We're here in Oceanside getting ready for RAW. There are a lot of details to take care of before we start the race on Wednesday. Speaking of which... it's time to go.
To be continued.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Day One in Braganca.
We´re here. A little jet lagged still. Tom´s made it through registration and his bike is built. I have my staff ID and T-shirt.
It´s HOT. There´s a castle on the hill, blooming Jacaranda trees and lots of really nice bikes!!
The racing starts tomorrow. I have today to relax a bit then the work begins. While Tom is racing, I´ll be helping with check in during the day. Massage starts at 5 PM and goes until 10 ish. They are going to be Looooooooong days!!
Off for some paella and wine. Yum.
Ciao.
We´re here. A little jet lagged still. Tom´s made it through registration and his bike is built. I have my staff ID and T-shirt.
It´s HOT. There´s a castle on the hill, blooming Jacaranda trees and lots of really nice bikes!!
The racing starts tomorrow. I have today to relax a bit then the work begins. While Tom is racing, I´ll be helping with check in during the day. Massage starts at 5 PM and goes until 10 ish. They are going to be Looooooooong days!!
Off for some paella and wine. Yum.
Ciao.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Class 5 in the living room
My room mate is a paddler and travels a lot. Before every big trip the living room turns into a class 5 rapid of packing. Well, I'm not a paddler but I can say I've achieved class 5 in the packing department.
Everything is out in piles to make sure I don't forget something. A pile for running gear, a pile for "working" gear, a pile of beach gear, a pile of crewing gear... on and on and on.
My advice:
Lists are good and I do mine by category of activity. When I make my lists I start from my feet and work my way up the body to make sure I don't forget things like socks or goggles. Then I make up other categories like "paperwork", "electronics" and "toiletries."
That usually gets me pretty well set for my trips. It leaves the house looking like a disaster zone for a bit as everything gets pulled out and set in piles but if I can't see it, I stress about it. Once I'm satisfied, it gets packed away and I let go of any worry about what I forgot. Not that I don't forget things. I do. I just remind myself that's why we have credit cards. :)
I'm starting to get excited!!
Monday, May 18, 2009
Another great training camp!!
What makes for a great training camp?
6 strong riders, dedicated volunteers, great camp organizers, 500 plus miles of remote Oregon roads with spectacular views... in 4 days!!
This was my second year crewing for George and Terri in their Race Across Oregon training camp. It was even better than last year. I had lots of fun with my crew mates. Thank you Ken and Hugh, you were so helpful!! We had a great group of cyclists, Martha Walsh is my new hero. She rode 500 miles total and was right in there with the boys. Best of all Tom was there and we got to ride together a fair bit. I managed to squeeze in about 130 pretty high intensity miles over the 4 days between driving a SAG van, serving lunch and doing massage in the evening. Tom rode strongly all weekend. In the end he managed 463 miles in some heat with a high average pace for the terrain and defended his reputation as a climber.
The highlights where a night in an interesting hotel that including every issue of every hunting and fishing mag you can imagine and a sitting room full of taxidermied animals... even a Kodiak bear. OK, maybe that wasn't a highlight. But I have to say that the B&B in Fossil was excellent and the breakfast amazing!! I got up in the morning and rode up the Fossil climb with Tom, flew back down to the B&B, hopped in the van and drove to the top of another spectacular climb, rode down to Tom, turned and came back up. The scenery was stunning. The company great.
I'm looking forward to doing it again.
6 strong riders, dedicated volunteers, great camp organizers, 500 plus miles of remote Oregon roads with spectacular views... in 4 days!!
This was my second year crewing for George and Terri in their Race Across Oregon training camp. It was even better than last year. I had lots of fun with my crew mates. Thank you Ken and Hugh, you were so helpful!! We had a great group of cyclists, Martha Walsh is my new hero. She rode 500 miles total and was right in there with the boys. Best of all Tom was there and we got to ride together a fair bit. I managed to squeeze in about 130 pretty high intensity miles over the 4 days between driving a SAG van, serving lunch and doing massage in the evening. Tom rode strongly all weekend. In the end he managed 463 miles in some heat with a high average pace for the terrain and defended his reputation as a climber.
The highlights where a night in an interesting hotel that including every issue of every hunting and fishing mag you can imagine and a sitting room full of taxidermied animals... even a Kodiak bear. OK, maybe that wasn't a highlight. But I have to say that the B&B in Fossil was excellent and the breakfast amazing!! I got up in the morning and rode up the Fossil climb with Tom, flew back down to the B&B, hopped in the van and drove to the top of another spectacular climb, rode down to Tom, turned and came back up. The scenery was stunning. The company great.
I'm looking forward to doing it again.
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