Keweenaw Chain Drive and Junior MTB Camp 2014 by Maddy Frank

Keweenaw Chain Drive Mountain Bike Race

With being at a camp for five days up in the UP in Houghton with amazing and wonderful coaches who taught us so many new strategies that I never even knew about, it was nice to finish the fun trip with an aggressive race representing the under-the-bridge RWT girls!

The start was definitely neat; we had a police car that escorted us across the extravagant bridge that connects Houghton and Hancock together with a nice view of colorful houses and people cheering us on after that. I liked that we had a four mile stretch of pavement that got my muscles warmed up for the race, while on the other hand, for example, the Canonsburg Ski Area hits you with a hill right at the start. The worst part of the race, I might say, was that brutal "cemetery hill" as we got closer and closer to real, dirty fun trails that we all love as mountain bikers (especially me with the mud). The hill was definitely challenging, and it got my heart rate up, too.

Further into the race, were some nice technical parts that I absolutely love which included slick bridges that were fun to go on, though I was a little apprehensive since I experienced a slight crash and a numb knee the day before when our coaches led us through a pre-ride of the course. It was pretty much Merrell, Luton, Hanson Hills, and Canonsburg (the rocky and root-y up hills) all together through into 16 miles of fun experience. The course had pretty much everything you could ever think of when it came to mountain biking trails.

My dad rode with me the entire way and pushed me on the hills even when I felt like puking and wanting to quit.  That’s one of the things that I love about mountain biking: it’s challenging and not many people enjoy doing it, but once you’re caught into the sport, you’re pretty much obsessed with it like I am and it’s just soooooooo fun.

One of my favorite parts of the race was when we entered the forest. I mean, we were surrounded by forest for the entire race, like on two-track and all that, but going into the forest was one of my favorite moments because there were lots of mud holes, which I enjoyed getting muddy by the way, roots, LOTS of rocks, and I’m not kidding, tight bridges, swoopy turns, and fun down hills at which I was going so fast I thought I was going to crash every time there was a down hill! My arms were vibrating a lot from going down rocky down hills, also, and I was laughing a lot.

After going up and down technical trails, one of the guys told me that the finish line was just around the corner, literally! My legs at this point felt like they were Jell-O and going to fall off. The pavement was really killing my legs, I could feel the burning sensation in my calves A TON! I could see people (AND FOOD!!!), so I sprinted as fast as I could to the finish, trying to pass this one guy, but didn’t end up passing him, but I didn’t care because I was covered in mud, hungry, and really wanting some food!

In conclusion, I enjoyed the race A LOT, and was glad to go to the mountain bike camp up in Houghton, and had an awesome experience doing the Chain drive race, and learning so much from the coaches!! Looking forward to going again next year with my friend and RWT girl Ellie!!

Junior Mountain Bike Development Camp

Last week I went to Mountain Bike Camp at Michigan Tech in Houghton.  This was my first time going, but my brother Keegan had told me how cool the trails were around there.  My teammate Maddy & I roomed together in the dorms, and met lots of new people at camp.

First Day of Camp- Pic by Heather Frank

 Coaches Brian and Andrea 

A great thing about camp is that Brian, Andrea, Joe, and  the other coaches made it fun and challenging for us on the trails.  Sometimes we would stop and they would show us good lines to take, then we would get to try riding that part a few times.

There were lots of trails near camp.  We went to Copper Harbor and the bridges and hills were great.  The Tech Trails had lots of variety with pump tracks and downhills.  The trails were very fun and fast. On Friday we got to demo Trek bikes on the Tech Trails.  I tried the Remedy and had fun with it on the Flow trail. 

Group pic at Trek Demo

Start of Chain Drive- Pic by Dad

The last full day of camp we all raced the Keweenaw Chain Drive. It started in Houghton, crossed a bridge, then went on trails in Hancock. Some parts were really wet with big puddles.  The 16 mile race seemed to go by fast and I was happy with my finish. Check out more Chain Drive Pics.     

I'm looking forward to going back to camp next year.  Five days full of extravagent mountain biking on the best trails in Michigan. 

2013 Iceman- MYC Women 12-14

"One minute til go."  This was it.  I was getting ready to start my first full Iceman.  I was lined up ready to go.  I looked around and saw Summer, Hannah, and other girls that I race with, and also some people I didn't know.  I was cold and nervous. "Five seconds.......riders go!"

We took off and I decided to follow Summer since she is fast.  I stayed on her wheel the first couple of miles  so I wouldn't waste all my energy.  Another girl took off, but I didn't want to go to fast that early and use up all of my energy.

A mile or two into the two track we started catching some of the boys from the wave in front of us.  As we rode, we passed more of a variety of riders.  I wasn't cold anymore and was having fun.  I was looking forward to the singletrack, but there were lots of riders and they were going slow in those sections.  I wanted to pass but there wasn't an opportunity to get around them.  As soon as the trail opened up, I took off.

As I got closer to Williamsburg Road there were a lot of people cheering.  That was cool.  They even had an announcer.  I was happy to know I was over half way done and still felt good. The rest of the race went fast. Right after Anita's Hill I passed some teammates.  They cheered me on and I told them good job.  My favorite part was going through the campground towards the end.  There were lots of people and I knew I was almost done.

I finished in 2:47 and got third place.  After I crossed the finish line my mom came to tell me good job.  As we walked I thought I saw a box of donuts.  It turned out they were cookies, but that was okay because I was starving.  

This was a fun racing season.  I liked getting to see Claire at all of the road races and crits, and even a few off road stuff.  It was also nice seeing the Summer and other girls at mountain bike races. I'm looking forward to getting to see everyone back out at the races in the spring.

West Branch Road Race & Hanson Hills CPS Challenge

I tried something new this weekend - racing two hilly races I'd never done before back to back both on and off road.  That's what this team is all about...Real Women "Trying" new things to see how far we can grow!

Friday evening Matt and I drove up North to give the West Branch Road Race a try.  Four CAT 3 women were signed up, all wonderful women and tough competitors.  My goal was to keep the pace high and crank on the hills whenever possible to attempt to tire out the slim field.  A most excellent surprise awaited me at the starting line after my warm-up, my teammate in pink, Lori Hotchkin!  Seeing her made me smile knowing I wouldn't be the only RWT out there on the hills.  The USA Cycling officials gave us the option to reduce our race to one lap, but we all voted for the full two laps.  Lap one moved along at a healthy clip.  All five racers worked together, and we averaged a pace nearing 22mph, (much faster than our combined CAT 1/2/3 race at Frankenmuth's flat course last week).  There was a little rain halfway through, but not enough to deter our race pace.  At the end of lap one, Marie Dershem from Team Priority Health, pulled ahead of me halfway up the steep climb.  I dug deep and worked hard for two miles to chase her down.  I did not want to get sucked back into the field or lose Marie with her time-trialing skill.  Once I caught her, we decided to work together and did so at a fast pace for the remainder of the race.  The wind picked up as the temperature warmed, and we struggled against a long stretch of hilly road in a fierce headwind.  Taking shorter pulls made it a bit easier and having someone to work with helped immensely.  Once we got to the base of the ending climb, we were side by side - an appropriate position considering how we worked together in the second lap.  Marie out-climbed me in that final hill, and I ended up in second place.  It felt great, though, to know how hard I'd worked to catch her and to enjoy the feeling of a fast and competitive race!   2800 feet of climbing and 44 miles raced.

Then...Matt and I drove over to Grayling where we relaxed and anticipated a mountain-biking adventure, Hanson Hills.  We awoke to cold temperatures right around 50 degrees with mist and drizzle in the air.  It felt more like November than June, so I just pretended to gear up for Iceman instead of Hanson Hills!  There was a combined Elite/Expert field of 7 women.  After a ten mile warm-up to try to loosen up my tired legs, I hit the start line.  Kati Krikke from Freewheeler was ready and raring to go, along with Rachel Decker from Hagerty and Chelsea Strate from Einstein.  Mentally I was excited to race - I loved the idea of riding this new trail and racing some tough ladies.  Katie took off on the long hill in the first lap, and though I hung on up the climb, Rachel passed me and I dropped to third.  Immediately I could feel the lethargy in my legs from racing West Branch the day before.  Chelsea sat on my wheel for the first lap.  My legs felt like dead-weights whenever I upped the power on climbs or straights, and I was questioning my choice to try racing these two events back to back.  My entire second lap was ridden alone.  During that lap I seriously thought about bailing on the race - being out of contention and out on my own created a mental challenge; it felt more like the third lap of Lumberjack 100 than the second lap of a quick 33 mile race!  Coming through the start/finish with one lap to go, I saw Jack Kunnen take a picture of me in my misery, and I told him I was ready to call it.  He looked me in the eye and said, "They aren't far ahead of you at all!  Go get 'em!  You have one more lap in you!"  So...I clipped in and took off.  Sure enough, I caught and passed one lady racer and saw Chelsea ahead of me through the woods.  My legs finally began to loosen up, and the third lap was the best yet!  I came through the finish chute and took fourth place.  I would love to do this race again when I'm not fighting leg fatigue from racing the day before.  The trail flowed smoothly and the climbs were fun!  I logged another 2400 feet of climbing.

It was a successful weekend insofar as I pushed myself to try something new by racing back to back road and MTB races.  75 miles of racing on the road and trails with 5200 feet of climbing among the company of fantastic competitors and teammates was well worth the challenge.  In the end, it's the people who make this fun - Jack's encouragement in my low moment of racing, the smile on my face upon seeing Lori at the start line, hearing teammate Laura Korienek cheering and enjoying the challenge of the race with Marie.  Real Women both DO and TRY!  

Das Tour de Frankenmuth- Juniors 10-14

 Friday evening we arrived in Frankenmuth. Me and my family drove through the new part of the course. On race day we woke up early for the race. When I was ready to go I rode my bike down to the start. I did a quick warm up then went to the start, where I met up with my sister and Claire. I watched as all of the other groups go off, while I moved closer and closer to the starting line.

Junior Start- picture courtesy of Rich Kipke

 As they started to count down I got nervous then the race was on. Everyone was rushing ahead I was trying to get in the front group but they were moving too fast for me. I started falling back it seemed like I was alone when a group of girls came up riding behind me. I got in the middle of the group. We were moving at a pretty fast rate trying to catch up to the other group. Near the middle of the race, my sister attacked off the front of the group.  Just then, the Pro/1/2 men passed us.  Our group sped up, caught Kiersen and she dropped off the back.  One girl kept attacking off the front and our group started breaking apart.  

Mid-Race picture by Cristin Robb

Near the finish, we caught up to two boys.   The closer we got to the finish, the faster we went.  Everyone was riding very close together and at times it felt chaotic.  As we turned the last corner, the Cat 3 men were starting to pass us.    I raced down the hill with the men’s group passing within inches of me.  I couldn’t tell where anyone in my group was.  When I reached the bottom of the hill I took off sprinting as fast as I could.  Claire came next to me right at the finish and we had no idea who won.  It was so close and I was exhausted! 

Proof I was exhausted by Mark Hotchkin

Claire and I talked about how crazy the race finished.  When I went to junior rollout I asked the official who won and she said it was me!!  I was filled with joy. 

Podium pic by Scott Kroske

It was a fun day of racing with the other juniors and cheering on teammates and my family.  Loved the race, Drumstick the Chicken, and the jug of root beer that we used to make root beer floats all weekend:-)

The jug of root beer I won!  Picture by Kroske

                 By: Ellie K.

Ada Time Trials (aka Ada TT)

Well I joined Real Women Tri this year to learn more about biking so that I could do a 70.3 triathlon... who would have guessed there are so many different types of events on a bike!! Gravel races, road races, mountain bike races, criteriums, triathlons and now time trials. (Sarah Mac will be putting on a clinic on cyclocross races soon, so another type of race to learn!!Watch for that!!)

Time trials are very similar to the bike racing portion of the triathlon. So if you are thinking of doing a triathlon or two, this is a good competition to do. I would suggest that the Ada Time Trials are the perfect place to learn. The organizers are laid back and excellent teachers. There are many athletes at all levels from the bike with baskets and regular pedals to those killer Tour De France guys with pointy space age helmets and solid (no spokes) noisy wheels!

Ada TT are every Monday night with registration starting at 5:30 and the racing starting at 6:30. You register and it is smart to let them know that you are new to time trialing, as they let you go out at the beginning. They give you a number and a time you will start. You warm up a bit and then go to the starting line. At the starting line you line up by number. Last week I was #2 so I was the 2nd racer to go. Tonight I was 14. (Fast racers go later, as they do not take as long and the race people do not have to wait for them as they are speedy!!)

The clock starts and the first racer lines up. At 30 seconds the 1st racer goes. Then the next biker wheels to the line. At the line you get race ready by clipping in and getting your pedals where you like. You should be in a medium gear. The time keeper gives you the 5,4,3,2,1 and go. There is a person holding you up as you are clipped in and at go, they give you a nice push. You are off and pedaling! This TT is 15 miles and is relatively flat. You pedal down Grand River Drive for 7.5 miles and you pedal back. Easy as pie!!!! Not!! You try to go at top speed the whole way. Of course fast people pass you on  your left. The only rule is you cannot draft, (similar to triathlons). When you get to the turn around you look for cars and cross the road and begin the journey back. At the finish line you yell out your number to the timer and they will adjust your time for the staggered start. (Your actual time will be a 5th graders story problem....excellent opportunities for family math!!)

Why do it?
1) The Ada Time Trials are every Monday (except Memorial Monday) throughout the summer. You pay one fee $25.00 (which is to join the Rapid Wheelman) and you get to race every Monday. So it is reasonable!

2) You get to see your improvement. The organizers keep all of your statistics on their website and you get to see how good you are getting. I hear there is even a prize at the end of the summer for most improved biker! And they do graphs on your improvements etc. Very Cool!

3) Each week you get points. Yes EVERYONE gets points. The slowest person (with baskets and regular pedals) who finishes with the slowest time gets 5 points. The next slowest (who removed their baskets from the previous week ;) gets 10 points, and the next slowest gets 15 etc all the way up to the fastest biker. So if you come out and give it a shot you get points. You could accumulate points while those very fast Tour de France people sit at home.... Hey you could pass them by if you pedal and they do not show!! Points collect through out the season. Prizes are given at the end of the season.

4) You can meet new biking people and support other PINK who are out there riding. You can see the speed of the pink when Sarah RAH! zooms by, and Angie with her very cool space age aero helmet zips past, and Sarah Mac in her Pink Skin Suit  pushes with an awesome time to the finish!! It is great fun.

5) You can get training miles in and have fun at the same time.

6) AND A VERY COOL THING: If you are planning to be in the GRTri (June 9th), this time trial course is on the GRTri route. So you can practice for the triathlon and race at the same time!! A Great Deal!!

Plan to get there early as the traffic in Ada is very slow. The website is: http://www.rapidwheelmen.com/time-trials.html

I really hope that many of you come out and try this! I would love to see you all there! If I can do it, you all can certainly do it even better!

Go Pink!

Respectfully Submitted:
Gail

Queens Day Crit

What a victory for PINK today at the Queens Day Criterium. It was massive PINK everywhere!

Cat 4 Ladies were very well represented:
Sara Merritt
Sarah (Mac) McIntrye
Donna Borgman
Heather Frank
Shellie Raisanen
Gail Ranville
Cheryl Havens was signed up but could not make it today... She was sorely missed!

Cat 4 ladies went off at 10:00 for an approximately 30 minute race. There were 19 in the field vieing and competing for prize money 6 places deep. Pink had one seasoned veteran, Sara Merritt, while the rest of us were entirely new to the sport of criteriuming (a new sport and a new word as well!) Yes luckily some of us had made it to the clinic the day before, but for the most part we were New Critters and learning as we went. The 8 corner course was a doozy, but we all got lots of experience and started to feel comfortable approaching the curves, getting the inner pedal up and leaning into it. We all survived marvelously well without a crash or incident to remark on. Sara Merritt finished in the lead pack, but just out of the money. We all were behind her, but no pink finished last. We all loved it and I dare say we are hooked!

Cat 1, 2, 3 ladies all raced together at 11:10. This field featured 12 competitive athletes with money going to the to the top 10 finishers. We had 6 competent, awesome, strong pink girls at the line including:
Jane VanHof (lovingly referred to as biker Jane)
Sarah Williams (familiar to many as Rah! not sure the exclamation point is attached but it should be)
Lori Hotchkin (known as the focused fighter on wheels... not really but she could be)
Heather Kubiak
Tammy Moran
Laura Korienek

This race was strategic with several in the field noting how many RWT women had entered the race!! With 6 riders we were in the majority and were called to take the lead. (After the race Lori confirmed she felt that the town had put on a great event and she wanted the Cat 1,2,3 women's race to show all of the spectators an exciting event, so she made a concerted effort to attack and pull and add excitement. If I may say so myself, it was a great race!!)  The RWT team got out and pulled and lead much of the time. Jane, Sarah and Lori pulled many of the laps. Lori was out there in the lead to win a prem as she dug down and attacked to hit the line first winning a mid-race prize. Nice job Lori! It was an exciting race and Pink had many money winners with Biker Jane on the podium winning not only money, but half of a wooden shoe trophy as well. Everyone did well and represented our Real Woman Team with awesome poise, composure, and  strength.

WE WERE FIERCE! (Thanks Brandy....)

The afternoon was spent reviewing the races, discussing strategy for the next crit and watching the Men race on. It should be noted that there were several Junior Real Women represented. Both Ellie and Kierson also won a wooden shoe! I hope that the excitement of Maddie, Kierson and Ellie's race (is that right????) will be captured by them in a separate blog. We love reading their re-caps!

Saturday Kent ISD Crit Clinic and races

Disclaimer.... I am a novice, beginner.... and you read this blog at your own risk....

Several RWT have suggested the Saturday Kent ISD Criterium Clinic and Races, and this past Saturday was the first of the series that I could make. It was the 3rd of 4 and I thought it was fabulous, so I am blogging to encourage anyone who is the slightest bit interested in EVER doing a Criterium race to get out to the last clinic next Saturday.

Why GO?
1) It is free! You only have to pay the $10.00 day license that the Biking Federation of Biking People collect. (I am not sure who they are, but they collect it and I paid it....There must be a reason...)

2) It was extremely helpful, even getting set up. We all got a number and were taught how to pin it on under our arm pit and sideways....you really need to make friends to get the thing on right....which is good. Donna Borgman and Danielle Nye were there and we all helped each other. Who would have guessed that you don't use the pin holes and you use about 8 pins... but this is just one helpful tip that you learn.

3) They had a 12-15 minute shpeel on all of the nuances of the criterium race. You could ask questions and all questions were answered. The talk included easy stuff, like how to start... as well as technical stuff, like "holding your line" which is following the person closely in front of you and not swerving around causing mass pandemonium, crashes and death. (I especially found this helpful.) On this note, they did also cover crashes: if you do end up in a crash, you take the shortest route to the pit area and the pit people help you and you get a free lap. In the pit you get to sop the blood off of you and get back in where you left off, without being far behind. (I thought this was nice, but hoped to never have to be sopping off any blood.)

4) After learning the details with the kind speech, we all went to the line and they counted off a start 4,3,2,1 go. We all went. There were 3 guys who were from a blue team who rode around with us (14 of us, guys and girls who were at the clinic.) The blue guys answered questions we had while we were criteriumming away....like how to follow, how to take a curve, when to sprint, how to put your inner foot up while taking a curve etc.They were great! We did 3 laps around the course. Nothing like hands on training.... and did I mention free...

5) Lastly why you should do it... You got a water bottle and a coupon for BW3.

I know that you fellow triathletes are out there swimming, biking and running... but you should not miss this opportunity. (I ran my 8 miles before the clinic and ended up with a nice 8 miles on the bike at the clinic!) Fit it in if you can.

Yankee Springs Time Trial- Women 11-14/Middle School

Today was the first race of the MMBA series.  When I arrived at Yankee Springs it was pretty early in the morning.  For most of the day I sat around watching the races.  Quickly the time came around for me to race.  I did a short little preride before I lined up.  When I got to the start I mingled with some of the people in my age group.  The line quickly urged forward.  When I got closer to the start I got really nervous, because I was worried my little sister would pass me.  The person in charge told me to go and I took off pedaling as fast as I could.  Early on there were many people I passed.  Every once in a while, my dad would give me helpful pointers on which part of the trail to pick.  The climbs were difficult followed by technical down hills.  Multiple times I found myself struggling on turns and bumps.  Right before the matted hill Jack caught up to me.  After the top of the matted hill he passed me, but I stayed behind him.  After a few miles I passed him again.  I knew it was getting close to the finish when I started to climb Ol' Piney.  At that point, my legs were so tired I could barely feel them.  I got into the last section and worked as hard as I could. Shortly after I sprinted out of the woods and onto the final stretch.

  I was so happy because of everyone cheering me on.  After I finished, I was out of breath and tired. I waited around for my sister to finish and then went to see the results.  I got 2nd!!  I was so happy with my time too.  I beat my last year's time by over 20 minutes!  When I stood up on the podium, I felt like I couldn't stop smiling:-)

                                                Ellie K.

Ellie 2nd & Kiersen 4th

Mountaineer Pi Run

Race Report (Pi 5K)

Yesterday my mom, Ellie and I went to Byron Center for the Mountaineer Pi 5Krun. When we got there it was cold but the sun was coming up. We were a little late because all of the other people from my school were already there. My sister and I headed in the building to get our numbers. When we got out all of the other “Trail Dawgs” were warming up but we caught most of them. Then we stretched and headed to the start line.  My cousin and I lined up close to the front but not directly in front. When he blew the horn we sprinted down the hill and around the first corner. We caught a lot of people in the first long stretch. Our strategies were to stride down the down hills and hammer it up the up hills. When we turned into the subdivision my cousin was starting to get ahead of me and it seems like every time I caught her she would leave me. We turned onto a different street that had runners going both ways. When we caught two girls from my school and passed them. One of them wouldn’t give up easy and caught us. The three of us were together until we turned at the two mile mark. I was staying with the girl pretty well but we dropped my cousin about half way through that stretch. When we turned on to the second to last road we picked up the pace. I stuck with the girl through the downhill but she dropped me on our way back up. A little bit after she left my cousin caught me. On our way up the very last hill where the finish line was I could tell my cousin was hurting. We sprinted up the last hill and I got her by two seconds. The other girl ended up beating me by nineteen seconds. I ended up getting first place in my age group, so did my mom. .

My time was 27:55, which was faster than I ran at Gazelle Girl last weekend. In the end we all got FREE PIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!      
Kiersen K.

Lowell 50, Gravel road race: 28 mile and 50 mile course (April 6 and Oct 26, 2013)

Go PINK!

Many of you asked how the Lowell 50 went…. here is a recap. Hope it is not too wordy… but it would be a great fall race for many pink to do when we are all in GREAT shape! (This is the race that PINK dominated the overall podium last fall with biker Jane, and sisters Lori and Kathy…and they are on the podium on the home page of the race still!!!) ~ Fall race is October 26th btw.

WELL Angie and I DID  IT!!  Angie has an injury and I had written to the race director and we had permission to drop to the 28 mile race if she was still hurting. Angie had said that she was feeling ok but the weather was iffy… so we had not made up our minds on which race we would do this morning.  I got there and we had to go to our age group folder and sign a waiver. I got pretty excited to find only one other girl in my folder!! WOW I thought…. all I have to do is get out there, do it and wa la I am on the podium… Unless of course 2 other 50 plus ladies showed up for late registration which would knock me off the podium…. unless I pedaled up a storm of course. So while I was waiting for Angie and her husband Joe to get there and I looked in her age group book  40-50 …. WOW Low. Behold. she was the only one in the book! It would take 3 late registrants in that age group to knock her off the podium! I called her on her cell and said "We are SOOOO doing the 50 mile race!!!! There were all sorts of girls in the 28 mile race. Hey hardware is hardware!!

The weather report was snow and rain last night and possibly into this morning. But we really lucked out with a kinda cold 42ish day but no precipitation. The WIND was another thing. It was BEASTLY! At times we literally almost got blown over. There were a bunch of hills in the 1st half but when we were out in the farm land flats for the second half, the wind whipped us like we were kites! Luckily Angie is a very tough cookie (who I started referring to as Iron Angie) and she stayed with me. We  picked up another guy (named George ). He drafted for us for many miles. I tried to pull but could not keep the pace. At times we were only going 7-11 mph with the stinking wind.

Well with 5 miles to go, Geo dropped us, and then I fell off Angie's pace and then more hills started. I know that a 50 mile course will measure a bit longer than 50 miles, but when 51 showed up on my computer and plus a few more hills …. I was not smiling. Then I figured well I really don't have much choice but to press on. I mean I could not exactly hop off the bike and say "hey I only signed up for a 50 miler"  I guess I should have thought WOW, extra miles and all for one low price! (But no, I was not saying that!) I could see Angie in the distance and that kept me going. And all I could say was ditto when mile 52 rolled around! Needless to say the hills and the wind kept coming. (I pictured getting my permanent magic marker out when I got home and marking up the water bottles they had given us… changing the Lowell 50 to a Lowell 52 with my marker…) I am not sure if the race ended at 52 or 53 but it ended. And I was happy when I saw at least one other biker behind me!

We both made the podium for our age group… and Masters for that matter!  Merry  VanderLinnen from Flying Rino beat both Angie and I. 

We did the ride in about 3:52. With the wind this one was one tough mama…. but no snow and no rain. That was good. A special thanks to Danielle, who was out there cheering us on and taking photos. She was supporting her husband who was in the race as well. And last but not least Joe O'Brien (Angie's husband who calls himself Man of Real Women Tri) was sooooo supportive. Thanks Joe!

Overall, a good pink day! See you all out there in Oct... 

World Sprint Triathlon Championship New Zealand

Oct. 16
I'm sitting in the Grand Rapids Airport; the beginning of a really long 24 hours.  I'm headed to the ITU World Sprint Triathlon Championship in Auckland, New Zealand.  There will be over 3,000 athletes representing countries from all over the world. It is the site of the ParaTriathlon (I think I need to look that one up), Aquathon, Olympic, and Sprint Championship for age groupers (me), juniors, and the Elites. The Elite level includes two of the people from the USA that participated in the Olympics in London this summer.

I got here by qualifying at last year's US Sprint National Championship in Burlington, Vermont.  It was a really hard race for me; it didn't start until noon so I didn't have enough food units in my system and there was a gigantic hill 100 yards out of the transition.  Still, I finished well enough that I qualified for Worlds

The Sprint distance consists of a 0.5 mile swim, 12 mile bike, and 3.2 mile run.  All told it takes me about 85 minutes to finish one.  Though I do well in tri's at the local and regional level, I'm a solid middle of the pack finisher at the national level which means I'll be thrilled to finish the race, in part because I pulled a calf muscle a little over a week ago.  I've been seeing the massage and chiropractors at one of our team sponsors - Lakeshore Chiropractic.  They've done their darnedest to get me race ready.

It is really hard to stay motivated for such a late season race.  My teammates - Wendy- my perpetual swim buddy  (and Marianne who really got me started swimming and another buddy Gabrielle also kept me swimming) and Kendra (who's done the late season rides, runs and open water swims) - have really helped keep me motivated.

Sunday I was out running in my Real Women Trisuit in Millenium Park in between downpours.  I saw a couple women walking and I said, "I know I look really stupid still training but I have one last tri to do."  They laughed.  I got a dose of riding and running in the rain doing my last brick.  Good practice for New Zealand because rain is always in the forecast this time of year.

My biggest fear is freezing to death.  The water temperature is 57 degrees.  I tried swimming in Georgetown Lake on Saturday and lasted a minute.  Ok, it was only 40 degrees outside and I'm pretty sure the water was colder than 57.  ITU rules prohibit you from wearing anything other than the race uniform - no jacket allowed.  With an air temperature the same as the water temperature, well, I'm just worried.  Teammate Jane G  loaned me her neoprene swim cap so I can try to stay warmer.  My coach, Kattie Carpenter-Rosa assures me that adrenaline will keep me warm.  I am a walking hyopthermia case so I'm just worried.

It's a huge honor to represent Team USA.  Here's me in my race uniform.  I'll post how to track the race later (it is Monday Oct. 22).

San Francisco
5 hour layover and no way to go walking because the ticket counter is closed until closer to boarding time.  Who knew?

Just saw a Facebook post from Auckland.  That caused my stomach to do a few backflips. I saw the pontoon-starting block dives for the Elite athletes and had a heart attack.  Thankfully someone posted that the Age Groupers (those 5 year groups of athletes) have an open water start which I had read earlier in the week.  The Aquathon swimmers had their pre-race swim today; they reported the water temperature is up to 60.8 degrees.  Since it is their Spring, it’ll only get warmer.  It was 57 when I last checked.  I was even more relieved when one of the swimmers posted that it wasn’t that bad – just cold hands and feet.  I’m feeling better already!

I saw my first TEAM USA person.  This woman got on the plane after me in Denver.  I saw her TEAM USA jacket and I pointed at my Real Women Tri shirt and at her and said “Me too!!” She smiled.  Once I board in San Francisco for the 12 hour flight, my guess is the entire plane will be teammates.

I got started in Tri’s 3 years ago.  Heather K. was doing the Grand Haven Duathlon and persuaded me to try the Sprint Distance.  Upon signing up various friends reported that it is hard to a Great Lakes swim; if it is too choppy they cancel the swim and you get to run twice as far (which I hadn’t trained for).  Of course everything less than “too choppy” can still be mighty unpleasant.  I survived the swim without throwing up (it didn’t occur to me that I have a bit of motion sickness and swimming in the ebbing tide was going to cause the same sort of reaction – which it did).  I remember standing at the start at looking at the finish to the swim and thinking, “Wow, that is a really, really long swim.”  I hadn’t been swimming that much and it had almost all been pool swimming.  Lesson #1 – figure out if you can swim in the waterbody.  Some of the Lake Michigan swims are protected, while others aren’t.  Once I’d signed up they mentioned you had to run 0.5 miles on the Grand Haven pier to get to the transition area.  You could either leave another pair of running shoes on the dock or run barefoot.  I had least had the good sense to take the insoles out of some old shoes so I could slip my sandy wet feet into them easier.  Lesson #2 – read those transition maps (if they’re posted  before you sign up) so you know what you’ll have to be able to do running-wise.  I was pretty worried about slowing down before the transition from the bike to the run so I slowed down way too soon.  Lesson #3 – bike or walk before the race at least the stretch coming in to the transition area so you know where to slow down.  No matter what you still have to err on slowing down too early or you’ll have a nasty crash (and probably be disqualified). The run ended on a hill which I wasn’t expecting.  Lesson #4 – see lesson #3 and apply it here – look at the last stretch coming into the finish line.  I’m “sprinting” up this hill and I can see the age on the woman’s calf in front of me and SHE’S IN MY AGE GROUP, so I sprinted even faster.  I almost puked before crossing the finish line.  It was a great motivator (I passed her), and it allowed me to know what happens when you push yourself to the edge.  After all of that I was hooked!!  

NEW ZEALAND
Better sleeping through drugs.  Yep, take one sleepy drug, combine it with a tired woman, and you 8 hours of fitful - but still 8 hours of sleep.  Bike and luggage arrived - yeah!  Tis always a worry.  Met a couple people from Team USA.   One of the women - I've seen 3 times in the last 2 years because we seem to always be on the same plane.  She is an elite athlete in the US, here she's just an Age Grouper like me.  Also met a couple - she's in my age group for the Sprint, and her husband.  Her husband has done a bunch of World's but his cancer returned so he's just watching.  Also met a woman who's doing the Olympic Distance.  I'm going to try and catch up with her for the swim and the bike.  Met a paratriathlete from Morocco.  He was helping us install our free NZ Simm cards in our phones, but alas, none of our phones seemed to work.  Got checked into my hotel and then off to registration in the cold, pouring rain and it only got worse from there.  Had brought my wetsuit to swim.  The location was TBA so I went to the Team USA headquarters and discovered they decided to move the swim to 1 and have the bike at 11.  Huge bummer.....so back to my hotel to unpack my bike.  Then I discovered that my helpful mechanic and loosened the brake, taken the headset off, and completely removed the cassette.  Shoot me!  I don't have those tools or skills to put it together.........so I carried my bike over to the Team USA mechanics who were happy as clams to fix it up.  I thought I'd have to leave it so I didn't bring a helmet.  It is illegal to ride in NZ without a helmet so I walked back to the hotel.  Time for a quick nap before the parade of nations.

Opening Ceremonies
Met up with some of the gang I'd met earlier which is amazing given there are 3000+ age groupers here.  Team USA is huge but so is New Zealand, Australia and Canada.  We lust over Team-Canada's gear and some of the past Team USA gear.  Apparently Team USA is retro this year - yep, think polyster track suits. I'm glad I didn't buy one.

The picture taking of Team USA was exciting. So many athletes.  The Parade of Nations was anti-climatic.  A fair number of people brought families so that was the biggest contingency of people.  I took pictures on my phone but that didn't work. They gave us free NZ simm cards but apparently the other simm card is the one that stores pictures. Oh well.  I'll get the Team USA picture later.

No training done yesterday except walking 6 miles back and forth.  Everyone is talking about the cold, wind, and rain.  Going out this morning for a run with Team USA on the course and later - the dreaded open water swim practice.

Team USA

Here I am just before opening ceremonies

Oct. 18 - Friday

It is weird to wake up at 5 am and find out it is Michigan's 3 pm!  Did the team USA run this morning.  Nice flat course!  Just finished the bike course.  I met a Michigan person on the bike ride- Pam Freeman.  Too funny to meet someone from Michigan.  Seriously scary course given the 25-40 mph winds.  3 hills, one of which I said "you've gotta be kidding".  It was the steepest hill I'd ever ridden a bike up but it was fine.  Later today I should be able to find the group bike shot - this time I'm right in front in my RWT jersey!  

It is sunny than rainy than sunny again which makes dressing correctly a bit of a challenge.  Wind speeds are at 35 mph which is seriously scary as a little person on a bike.  I'm relieved to have ridden the course but it is hard to imagine doing it in the wind. Some of the hills going downhill will be "exciting"....as in ya don't want to be crashing.  Keep your fingers crossed because at the moment, race day weather forecast is a bit warmer and less windy.  

THE SWIM

I did it!  I survived the swim!!!!  My very first open water in salty water with huge waves.  Things I learned today include you can survive a huge chop (see my post above about barely surviving Lake Michigan swimming).  My new buddies report that when you get to the big choppy part, swim really fast - save your energy to get out of there as quickly as you can.  Everyone is buying neoprene caps to go under their cap.  The water was back to 57 and it was doable.  It takes about 3-5 minutes to fully get the coldness on your skin.  They said you MUST get your forehead used to the cold or you'll have your entire system shut down when you couple it with adrenaline.  It was seriously the longest swim in my life.  We swam at 1 so I'm hoping there will be little to no chop at 7:30 am on race day.  For me that is on Monday but back in the states you'll see the results on Sunday.

Looks like you'll be able to see race results here: http://www.triathlon.org/results/

I'm not sure how quickly they update them.

SATURDAY

Got a nice little ride in with a local (that was by accident).  Turns out he's quite good - winning a lot of time trials.   Just back from watching some of the elite women do their laps.  NZ woman is out in front, and then a pack with Sarah Groff at the back and then another pack with american Jogenson in it.

The race briefing was an eye opening experience.

Race weather forecast is 57 water and 59 air temp with 25-30 mph winds, and rain.  Won't that be exciting.

1.  Compression calf sleeves are ok, but the socks are not (no clue why).

2.  You can put gloves on in the ride but you have to ride the entire ride with them (you can't tuck them into your uniform part way through the ride).

3.  If you put your jacket on, you can't tie it around your waist.

4.  You have less than 30 seconds to jump in the water before they start you swimming (no warm up at all).

5.  Previously they said only clear jackets and now they're saying a team jacket (it must say USA).  I just bought the most expensive jacket of my life - the last clear jacket in Auckland.  I had my name on the list and only because I was there did I get the jacket.

There are athletes everywhere and everyone is super friendly and cheering each other on.  Tons of paratriathlon athletes.  US and England always have the largest contingency of delegates.  One of the women from the US (in my age group) is the world champion from last year which is exciting.

7 of are athletes still don't have their luggage. Yep, no wetsuit or bikes.  They're freaked out.    They think stuff will arrive today.

Coach Kris for team USA really focuses on

1.  relax-  you can do this. 

2.  leave it all out there at the finish line - no happy faces at the end....run until you puke

3.  do not crash.  3 months to recover from a broken collarbone........in NZ........is not desirable.  Do NOT take those curves fast.  Scoot back on the bike seat on the huge hills and feather those brakes or they'll overheat and you'll get a flat (and crash).

They gave a pep talk where I actually felt like we were someone special.  Most everyone here is pretty nonchalant about being here but the USAT guy said remember there are people who train just as hard as you and would do anything to be where you are.  That's a sobering comment.  

Other tips they had:

1.  if it is cold - body, plastic bag, and then race suit

2.  put clear tape over your vents on your bike helmet until you warm up (then you can peel the tape back).

Things that are hard to get used to

1.  Walking on the left instead of the right when walking down the sidewalk

2.  Looking the correct direction to see incoming cars

3.  This one I didn't have to do - swimming counterclockwise and flip turning the "other" way

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SUNDAY

24 hours until race day!  WHoohoo.  Weather forecast is steady rain and 35-40 mph.......but thankfully I don't think I'll have.  The folks doing the Olympic distance will get that horrible weather.  I think I'll only have 15-20 mph winds and maybe light rain.  

Coach Chris (and Coach Kattie) said go do a shake-out run around race time.....so I'm headed out momentarily to do just that.  Not much else on the agenda for today other than bike check in later today.  With 3000 age groupers they end up checking you in BY COUNTRY which is sort of freaky but will at least reduce some of the congestion.  We have to rack our bikes today by the handlebars so they don't blow over during the night (did I mention it was windy here).  Race day we get to put them on the seatpost.  I'm anxious to see the transition - it seems like it has to be huge to accommodate that many people.  In fact, we have different run in to transition carpet colors.  There are twice as many Olympic distance athletes as Sprint Distance.  Should be fun.  

The demographics on Team USA seem heavily skewed to the over 40 crowd, in part because they can take vacation and have the money to travel. 

Run done.  I'm officially giving up jaywalking at least in NZ.  I had a narrow miss this morning.  Drivers are VERY nice here.  Kiwi - the official charity of the event - is not a fruit.  It is an endangered bird.  The most common food seems to be indian, chinese, or japanese.  Some of the racers groaned to find out the standard beverage (gatorade or heed) won't be at the aid situations.  Instead it'll be a brand I'm not familiar with at all. 

There are racers everywhere.  People are always out running or biking in whatever the weather is.  A lot of Team Canada is staying in my hotel.  We all chat each other up about the weather, if we've been to World's before, if we're going to London (next year's event - and yes, I'm going).  Rumor has it they may go to San Diego the following year.

Saw a little of the Elite men's race.  Crazy that it is the same people that raced in the Olympics. They just got sprinkles of rain.  The junior men - just coming in from the swim - were getting dumped on.

I got my bike all checked in and my uniform checked over as well.  There will huge lines of people up unitl 9 pm.  They check you in by country but I think they were behind as of the first hour of check in.  Body marking is the old fashioned way - with markers; it is so much fun to get temporary tattoos at nationals !  I managed to get all the stickers - 3 helmet, 1 bike, and 1 bag on the right places without them sticking too much to each other.  There are 3000 bikes in the transition area.  It'll be "exciting" to find it in the morning.  Forecast is looking a bit better for the race.  Water is stuck at 57 degrees.  Mostly we're all worried about the wind and the potential for rain.

And my last post.........this just in from my Training log (my Monday is your Sunday)...here is tomorrows workout.........

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Hello Carol Griffin, Your Workouts for Monday, October 22 #1:  World Sprint Championship 6:55 am Type: Race

That totally made it real!!!!!!!!!!!!

RACE DAY MONDAY OCT. 22

Whoo hoo - race day finally arrived  Up at 3:30 to cook scrambled eggs, sushi rice, and soy sauce (much less intestinal distress with this kind of breakfast).  Last night I went to the Chinese restaurant next door and ordered up some rice to go.  He looked at me blankly.  Apparently it was a Japanese Noodle house.  Luckily the Chinese restaurant.  Walked down to transition at 4:45 am which was way to early.  Walked back home, sat in my hotel room another 30 minutes and did it all over again.

It had rained last night so my side of the bike racks had giant puddles of water.  Met lots of interesting Americans (my age group was all racked together).  The world champ from the USA had gotten food poisoning here and looked pretty bad.  Plenty of time to get everything set up and then headed out to wait indoors in the big building that had our bag drop.  Hung out with the yellow-cap gang (my age group).  They had 5 waves always on deck and they want off over 3 minutes.  I worried about getting thrashed by the next wave of guys following us.  Lots of swell in the water.  Jumped in and we were off!  It didn't feel as cold as it did the other day.  It is a lot of work swimming in the ocean.  I'd definitely add some Lake Michigan swimming to my workouts just to get better at it (I imagine being a stronger swimmer wouldn't hurt either).  My goals was just stay on course and finish the swim (that's a pretty low bar).  I was 55/63 in my age group - pretty much what I expected (ok, I secretly thought I'd wake up and magically be able to do the "catch" correctly, but no go.

The transition is easily 1/4 mile run.  It is incredible to try and run past 3000 bikes; both ways.

The bike course had a lot of hills and they didn't get any easier.  The wind was probably only 15-20 so that was a lot better.  Only a few sprinkles of rain so we didn't have to be so panicked about crashing on the course.  The bike I ended up 39/63 - I was hoping for better here but  I have to do more hills in my life, both up and down.  I know I'm too tentative on the downs.   I ate 1.5 gels (that'll become important in a bit).

Same bloody 1/4 mile run in transition and 1/4 mile run back out of transition.

Off to the run.  Once I started I remembered that I had 1 empty and 0.5 full gel wrapper in my pant leg.  I got rid of one in a trash can by the water; of course it was the empty one.  By now I can feel the other half of the gel oozing down my leg.,  No gentle reader, it was not a chocolate gu - thank goodness.  I was towards the end and the coach was handing out flags, but some American said "Go catch that Australian" so I sprinted and by golly I passed her.  That was very exciting.  I ended up 37/63 which is better than I expected.  My injured calf was just fine; ended up with a hamstring strain at some point on the run but it wasn't too bad.  The course had a billion corners and some brick and railroad tracks which made it lesss than ideal for a run.

The fun part about this graph is the sprint at the end!!  I seem to instinctively be able to keep the same Heart Race but the pace changes throughout the race.  The 158 heart rate at the end is the throwing up heart rate.  My friend Will actually did puke at the grandstands.

Overall I was 49/63 (I predicted I'd be in the bottom 20%).  I'd have to lop 5 minutes off the 1:37 total time to have ended up at the 50% mark (if I learned how to swim better I'd instantly have moved up a bunch of places).

The freakiest part is having people call you by name.  "Go Griffin.,"   Lots of "Go USA" chants as well.  Everyone I've met walks up and hugs you and asks about your race which is fun.  In another hour, team USA meets in a pub for some festivities and then off to the age group awards and finally dinner at 9:30 (which seems crazy to me).

Ironman Wisconsin 2012

Ironman Wisconsin 2012

In 2009, I did my first sprint tri (Tri del Sol).  This was no easy task.  I had quite a bit of work to do in order to successfully swim ½ a mile.  I did it, and I was hooked.  The following year I did a couple more sprint triathlons and ended the summer with an Olympic Distance Tri in Chicago.  The next year I was looking for my next challenge and my friend and teammate, Jane G, talked me into doing the Half Ironman at the GR Tri.  I had a great time and signed up for another Half Ironman in Racine 6 weeks later.  Last fall, September of 2011, I did Reed’s Lake Tri and again began to ask myself, what’s next?  I got up early on that Monday morning and had made up my mind, that if I could swim 2.4 miles, then I could do the Ironman at Wisconsin.  That morning I swam at the Y Center before work, and did 4,400 yards.  That day at lunch, I signed up for IMWI 2012.

Once I committed to the feat, I knew that this would be a huge time commitment.  Between September and January I just worked out doing whatever, whenever.  Beginning in January I started following an online free training program.  Everything was going according to plan, but when I started trying to plan summer races, I realized that I needed some help.  I hired Kattie to write my training plan, incorporating the Fisk Knob Time Trial, the GR Tri HIM, Racine 70.3, Tri Allegan, among other events.

I spent many long hours training this summer, but I really did enjoy it.  I was able to do a lot of training with Carol, who was a great training partner and friend.  Marianne kept me company, and gave me great coaching on my swimming.  Jane V escorted me to Grand Haven for a beautiful 100 mile ride.  My teammates were all encouraging along the way.

The IMWI was on a Sunday, but athlete check-in was on Thursday and Friday only.  So I left GR around 7 am on Friday, picked up my parents in Holland, and off we went.  We got to Athlete check-in around noon and I got right through.  The highlight was getting the coolest backpack ever.  Also, while shopping in the IM Store, I ran into 3 people from the GR area.  I overheard one guy say that he was from GR.  Another guy I talked to because he had a Reeds Lake Tri t-shirt on and the other guy was wearing a GR Marathon jacket.  Wow- GR was well represented.  They were very thorough and even weighed you in case you ended up in the Med Tent.  After getting all checked in, we headed back to the hotel and got checked in there.  That night, we went to the Welcome Dinner hosted by the Mike Reilly.  The food was average…spaghetti, salad, breadsticks, potatoes.  But, seated at our table, we met 3 more guys all from Holland, MI.  The dinner was very inspirational, and the reality of what I was about to undertake sunk in.  They announced that this IM event had the most women, but I was surprised that it was only 27% of the field.  They said that there were athletes there from all 50 states and the youngest athlete to compete was 18 and the oldest was 73.

Saturday I had a 10 minute run, 20 minute bike and 10 minute swim on the schedule and I had to check in my bike and transition bags.  I started with a 10 minute jog and then ate a big breakfast.  Joe and I then headed to Manona Terrace for a quick bike ride and then to get the bike and bags checked in.  Next was a quick dip in the lake.  I was feeling very comfortable and just ready to go and get this done.  I was not hungry, but decided that I should eat.  We stopped at Q’dobas for lunch.  We headed back to the hotel for an hour or so, where I got a nice massage from the hubby and then we were off for our pasta dinner.  Took some Ambien and it was off to bed.

Sunday morning at 4 am, the alarm went off…show time!  My first task of the day, attempting to get in 1,000 calories at 4 am- yuck!  I didn’t quite get all my calories in.  I think I managed to get down a banana, orange juice, bagel with peanut better, and a protein drink.  When we got to the race, I had to stock up my bike with all my water and drinks and check the tire pressure.  I’m glad that I brought my own pump, because there was a long line for Trek to do it.  It was a little chilly out (maybe 50 degrees) so we hung out for a while inside the convention center.  I was able to visit the bathroom, inside, without a wait…in the world of triathlons; it doesn’t get any better than this.  It wasn’t until about 45 minutes before the start of the race, when I started freaking out.  I was so nervous about the swim.  The convention center was crowded with a ton of people, most of whom were significantly bigger than I am.  The thought of 2,800 people all swimming 2.4 miles in a mass start was daunting.  I was not nervous about the distance, I was nervous about the chaos that would ensue.  When I had done the Madison Open Water Swim just 3 weeks earlier, I had to start with about 200 swimmers, and I thought that was bad.  My husband, who is not a swimmer, actually gave me good advice that helped me in the swim.  He told me that I did not need to worry about the thousands of people who were not in my immediate area, that I only needed to worry about the 10-20 people in my personal space.  I also contemplated how/ where to line up for the swim.  Before the race, I heard conflicting advice.  Some said to just wait until most were taking off and then leave from shore and work my way in.  The theory was that although you may have to swim further, you would not get caught in as much traffic.  Others said that I should go out early and start up front.  The idea here was that I am nowhere near the slowest swimmer out there.  I did not want to get stuck behind so many people that I would have to pass and work my way around thousands of them.  I decided on the second, more aggressive option.  I got out there about 15 minutes before the cannon went off and was able to float in my wetsuit and hang on to a kayak, so as to not waste too much energy before the race even started. 

The cannon went off and the pack of anxious swimmers did too.  I would be lying if I said that it was not a mad house.  People were jockeying for position and there was a lot of contact.  Instead of spotting every 4-6 strokes, I was spotting (polo swimming) almost constantly at the beginning.  It seemed as if every time you thought that you were about to get into a groove you were running into someone.  If people grab my feet, it doesn’t freak me out nearly as much as if they are on my head, arms or back.  For the most part, there was a lot of grabbing and hitting of my feet, which only encouraged me to kick harder.  When we got to the first corner buoy, which required a 90 degree left turn, there was a traffic jam.  The people in front of me were all slowed or stopped and the people behind me were all still trying to swim…over me.  I let out a scream of panic and then took a deep breath and rode it out.  You only need to stay on the outside of the corner buoys, not the markers between, so I did find myself on the inside of some these buoys so that I could find some calm waters.  After about ½ through the swim, I realized that I had this.  The congestion had cleared to a tolerable level and I was able to actually “swim”.  I came out of the water in 1:11 and saw Joe there cheering for me.

To get from the swim to T1 you have a long run, but it was awesome.  First of all, I felt so relieved that the swim was over and that I was still alive.  I thought to myself, the hard and scary part is over, now it’s just for the long part of the day.  I had no doubts that I couldn’t ride 112 miles and at least walk 26.2.  The transition area was inside the convention area, which was cool.  We had to run up the parking structure, several levels, which lead us round and round.  The structure was lined with cheering fans and for the first time I got teary-eyed as I thought, “Holy Crap, I’m really doing this”.  Everyone was running into one room where all the T1 bags are placed.  As you are running down the hall, volunteers are already shouting your number out.  When I got to the room, someone handed me my bag and then I ran to the changing room.  In the changing room, there were even more volunteers to help you.  I felt really well taken care of.  You run out of the building and have quite a long run from one end of the parking structure to the next in order to get to your bike.  Because it was a long run, I carried by bike shoes until I got closer to my bike.  Again, as you were running through, people were calling out your number and they were handing me my bike.

The bike started off down the opposite side of the ramp, going down and around the helix.  I tired to take it easy on the bike.  I knew it was a hard course and I needed to save some energy for the run.  I had to stop to pee a couple of times while on the bike and this was taking just too much time.  So I decided that it was time to be a real Ironman and just start peeing while riding.  This was a huge time saver as I ended up going about 3 more times during the course of the ride.  My parents drove out and met me at a couple of different spots on the course and Joe took the shuttle bus out to Verona.  It was a 2 loop course, so I got to see my family quite a bit.  I pre-rode the course a few weeks before the race, and I was a little worried about the big hill on Old Sauk Pass.  As it turned out, there were lots and lots of crazy fans in this area, which made it fun!  I was actually looking forward to tackling this for the second loop.  Some of the fans were running up with hill next to the cyclist.  Several had megaphone and awesome signs.  Some of the signs that I read in this area were. “Smile if you’ve peed on yourself today”, “Your bike is your toilet”, “Embrace the Suck”, and my favorite was a bunch of young rowdy teenage-20-something guys that had a sign saying, “Tri girls have the best butts…and this is why”..  The ride was fairly uneventful and I suddenly realized that this was the furthest distance I have ever ridden.  But, it went well.  I did feel like I had enough left for just a little marathon to round out the day. 

The bike ended by riding up the parking structure.  When you get to the top, there were volunteers that take your bike for you and re-rack it.  That was so cool.  I felt like a VIP.  Again, there were lots of crowds cheering when you dismount and run into the building to grab your T2 bag.  Again, off to the changing room.  I decided to just stay in my tri clothes.  I took off my helmet and bike shoes, put on my visor, sunglasses and running shoes and off I went…again!  My right hip was a little sore, but it didn’t last long.  My running plan (that I decided upon pre-race) was to take the first 5-6 miles extra slow, like a 10 minute pace.  My first mile was an 8:40, so I really had to reel it in, but I just could not believe how good I was feeling.  I did the next 3 miles around a 9:15 pace and it felt pretty comfortable.  This really was my dayJ.   Unfortunately, things went from good to bad in a hurry.  All of a sudden, around mile 4, I started having stomach cramps and diarrhea.  The cramps and diarrhea continued for the remaining 22 miles- actually getting to the point where I could not take anything in, not even water.  Between visiting the porta-pottys and the woods, I was able to maintain a decent pace.  The course was a double loop again, so I was able to see my mom, my dad, or my husband about every 2 miles.  The course was beautiful, including running through Randall Stadium (where I yelled “Go Blue” at the top of my lungs) and a nice trail along Lake Mendota.  I was surprised that I was still able to run, considering that nothing was staying in and I was surely dehydrated by this time.  About mile 20 I really just wanted to be done.  I had decided that I would not be stubborn and that I would visit to Med Tent as soon as I crossed the finish line.  It was only about 6 pm and I had until midnight to finish.  I was definitely going to make it.  I walked for just a short bit, but noticed that my stomach didn’t really feel any different whether I was walking or running.  And since I really wanted to be done, I ran it in.  I was able to talk to a few people out on the course, and again the fans were great.  Coming into the home stretch, running around the capital building and into the finisher chute was surreal.  I heard what I had been waiting to hear for a whole year, ”Angie O’Brien.  You.  Are.  An.  Ironman!”.  Hell ya!  Now which way to the Med tent?

I visited the tent and I can’t say enough good things about the staff there as well.  They were all amazing!  After briefly passing out, coming to with the sounds of someone saying “80/40” I knew that we had some more work to do.  They checked my electrolytes and I received 5 bags of IV fluids.  They were not going let me leave until I was able to keep something down.  They had the nerve to ask me if I wanted Gatorade- oh hell no!  I managed to get down a small amount of chicken broth and a couple of pretzels, before having to visit the bathroom yet again.  I left there after about 3 hours.  I really felt okay, except my stomach was still very angry with me.  I guess that was from all the calories and sugary crap that I ingested while on the bike.  Learning Opportunity!

It took a couple of days for my stomach to act normal again and about 3 days for my quads to like me again.  Oh, and after about a year of losing toenails after all of my long runs, I will be getting those taken care of later this week.  All things considered, it really was an amazing experience.  I am trying to decide where/ when my next Ironman will be and I’m having my tattoo designed.