Where does the time go?

Bliksem's kennel photo

It's been a busy couple of months with lots of exciting times. The trip to Hawaii this October was amazing, and I wasn't as disappointed as I would have thought about not racing. I ended up doing the 10K trail run for fun and it was nice to not have to travel with a bike.

Now it's going on December and I'm really craving to get back out on the bike again. The one race this year was great for my budget and getting the student loans nearly paid off, but I can't wait to get back out there next year. In the pipes are a couple 70.3s, maybe IM Hawaii, and definitely Ultraman Worlds. Anyone know of a condo I can rent for the months of October and November in Kona next year?

Even bigger news is the new pup we adopted from the pound last week. She is about 11 months old and is some kind of mix with Blue Healer and pointer. Kona and her are getting along great and she has already been out on a 1.5 hr run and passed with flying colors.

Other crazy news is we should be closing on a house in the next 2 weeks! Keeping the fingers crossed for now.

LAST HARVEST

The days have gotten shorter and temperatures are below freezing each night. While I love the crisp mornings, the garden isn't loving it quite as much. The tomato plants died almost overnight. This was the first year Conrad and I planted a garden, and it was a lot of fun. Sadly it is time to wrap it up for the season. Hopefully someday we'll be in our own place and be able to have a green house. It was nice knowing where our food was coming from, and to be able to eat it right off the plant. 

Up up and away!

It was time to break out of the ordinary and go ride somewhere new. Conrad had never been to Markleeville, so we decided to make a day out of it and he would squeeze a little fishing in after the ride up and over Ebbetts Pass. 

The first 6 miles are a climbing false flat, and then the road kicks up and up and up some more. Just when you think you have to be at the top, there is a demoralizing hill starring you down.

Super fun hill riding! No centerline, almost no cars, and no guard rail over the cliff!

It's not a continuous grade on the way up with some sections reaching 23% and a couple rollers on the way up. I was super thankful for my new Specialized Ruby with compact cranks. Conrad was on a mountain bike and laughing at me.

About a mile from the top we filled our bottles up at this lake. My new favorite toy of the week is a UV light water purifier. Fits easily in the back pocket, and no need to find a rest stop.

We descended the other side and climbed up the next pass which happened to be even steeper. Too steep for Conrad to get pictures. 

It's a beautiful area and I can't wait to go back. Maybe next time we'll camp. Conrad enjoyed the fishing and caught more than 10 "monster" fish. After a big fight the first 3 incher was reeled in. Next time I'll try my luck.

Mental Recovery

After returning from Canada with a 19 hour drive to make it to work on time I needed some rest. So, my first weekend back I went on a 3 day solo (just the dog) backpacking trip into Desolation Wilderness (west of Tahoe). It was amazing and perfect to recharge the mental battery. Physically carrying a pack for 3 days probably wasn't the best, but I loved it anyway.

I found this sweet little camp spot above the lake. It was on a little ledge overlooking the lake. Kona loved her new found freedom in the day, but nights were a different story. She sat in alert the entire time growling at every bump in the night.

Just some of the amazing views.

The view from the climb up to the campsite from Lake Tahoe. 

On day 2 we did a 14 mile hike to the top of Talac for the views.

 
There was one particularly bold chipmunk that decided to torment Kona.  It kept running around Kona's legs. She'd stand perfectly still and hold her breath. After about 15 minutes of this Kona couldn't take it any more and half heartedly chased the chipmunk away.
The stare down. 

We are about 1500 feet above the lake here. We camped at the one that is further away.

The poor puppy was traumatized by the chipmunks and the dark. She stayed awake most of both nights with every bump in the dark eliciting a low growl. 

The best way to go backpacking. No tent, just a sleeping bag, food, UV light to treat the water, and a dog in case things get desperate. :)

Ultraman Day 2 & 3

The trip home was amazing, but went by far too fast. We got home just after midnight Saturday, and I had to work at 6 am the next day. I guess I'm trying to squeeze as much life as possible into 24 hours and it's not quite all fitting. 

Anyhow, day 2 of Ultraman started with stiff legs. Climbing down the stairs of the hotel I wasn't sure what would be in store for the day. 170 miles is a long way to go. Did I overcook it the day before? As soon as I hoped on my bike all my fears were gone. My legs felt great! I took it fairly conservative the first 60 miles which is a flat out and back. There was a bit of a headwind on the back part, but I tucked into my aero bars and started reeling in the men's field. 

The top 3 ladies going into day 2. Such great competitors!

After the out and back there was a section called the wall. I had heard about it through the competition, but I love the hills. Actually the tougher the course and conditions the more I enjoy it. The wall fell a little short of expectations after climbing the "walls" that surround Reno. It was a great chance to get out of the saddle, and I quickly flew up the hill. At the top I was surprised my support crew dressed in interesting garb. I don't know when they had the time to stop and purchase their attire, but it kept me laughing. 

I'm looking back in disbelief. I couldn't quite grasp what I was seeing. 

After the wall was a rolly section through beautiful grassland. There was another short hot climb and then we were at Yellow Lake and ready to descend the climb we had completed the day before. 

After the descent was a 40+ mile false flat with a pumping headwind. Conrad trying to be encouraging yelled from the car that it was all flat, but I had looked at the profile and knew better. I was folded as low as I could get and was still only averaging 14 mph. The wind kept on pumping, but no one from behind was catching  me. Weather is weather and we all have to deal with it.  

Near the end of this stretch the boys disappeared for about 30 minutes. I was beginning to get panicky. Did they get a flat? Run out of gas? Then I saw the river to my right and guessed that they went fishing. Conrad had snuck his fly rod into the team car that morning. That night when I was downloading photos I found a couple of them playing in the river and Conrad fishing. 

Much ado was placed on the cattle guards in the race briefing. Everyone was told to dismount and walk and that there was a hole in one of them. When I would get close all the other team crews would yell "CATTLE GUARD".   I couldn't quite wrap my head around walking my bike across (I mountain bike over scary stuff), so I rode them...... all of them. Anyhow, this is how  you ride a cattle guard. 

This is the men's winner who was just behind me on the bike demonstrating the other way to cross a cattle guard. Conrad couldn't resist snapping the photo. 

The last 40 miles of the bike were an out and back. 20 miles of rolling climbing and 20 miles of flying. This is my flying past one of the incredibly beautiful lakes that I wished I could stop at for a quick swim. I was surprised to find myself finishing the bike leg in 3rd place overall. What a day! As I tried to hobble up the stairs to the hotel room I became slightly worried about day 3.  53 miles of running...... I couldn't even imagine it at this point.

DAY 3

I stiffly rolled out of bed about 1hr 15 minutes before the day 3 start. I immediately knew I wasn't going to be taking in any solid food today.  The legs were stiff, but the stomach was not happy. I stuck with taking GU flask with me on the run and taking little hits every 10-15 minutes. Pedialyte turned out to be my beverage of choice until we ran out. 

 The start was cool and crisp which was a nice change to the 100 degree days we had been having. For the first 5 minutes I just kept thinking left, right, left, right. Then the legs loosened up and felt..... springy. Amazing what the body can do! I really enjoyed the run for the first 20-25 miles, but then I started feeling a pain in my left shin. Shin splints.... really. I had been having knee problems for the past 2 months, so knee pain I was expecting, but shin splints. Super thanks go to Mark DeJohn in Bend, OR for doing ART on our quick stop on the drive to Canada. The knee felt great. The shin had other plans in mind. Every down hill turned into a torture session.  

The course was rolling hills the entire way, and I don't really remember running on anything flat. There was a dirt road for about 25 miles which was gentler on the legs, and the scenery was incredible. 

At about 45 miles, the shin pain started getting out of control and my stomach started to revolt. I couldn't take in another sweet or sugary thing. When it got really tough I tried to focus on something inspiring. The first thought that came to my mind was Jamie Whitmore. I've been truly inspired by her courage and attitude. I kept moving forward. 

I looked down at my Suunto watch and the mileage stated that I was done, but I didn't see a finish line anywhere in sight. I asked Graham how far it was, and he drove up a little to find out. When he came back he said 4 km. Yikes! 4 km seemed like a marathon at this point. I guess I didn't calibrate my foot pod correctly. The last bit lasted an eternity, but eventually the finish line was in sight. Conrad, Graham, and I ran across the line together. 

This race was more fun and more rewarding than anything else I have finished. It was amazing to have my crew with me. Thanks so much Graham and Conrad for your support..... I couldn't have done it without you. It also meant so much more to be able to share the entire experience with them. Usually your family just gets to see you at the start, transition, and finish. They got to see me through the highs and lows. Like life there are good moments and bad, but it's the journey that is important.

Ultraman Canada Day 1

Just waiting for the ferry now to go to Olympic National Park in Washington, so just time for a quick blog.  

The drive from Reno to Canada was uneventful. Graham, my friend that was to be my 2nd crew member, met us in Bend, OR and we completed the drive to Penticton together. The boys rode together swapping stories...... 

The night before the race we drove to the swim exit and did a little 30 minute spin together to loosen up the legs after the long drive. The boys wanted a longer ride so they carried on and I drove back to the hotel. After a good nap I woke up to find them still gone. It was 8pm the night before the race, we hadn't packed a thing in the van, and my entire crew was missing. About 30 minutes later they showed up. It turned out that they had split up while riding so that Conrad could get in some mountain biking. Graham had come back to the hotel only to get a call from Conrad to come and pick him up. Conrad's mountain biking adventure involved getting lost, running out of water, drinking lake water, running into both mama and baby bear, getting further lost, and finally having to retrace his steps back to the main road.  

We ended up getting the bike and van ready in the parking lot at 10pm by headlamp light. Typical Conrad!

The morning of day 1 arrived and I was all nerves. What had I gotten myself into? A 10 km swim!!!! I looked across the lake and couldn't even see the buoy that was 8 km away. 

Graham goofing around prior to the start. 

We swam all the way across and then around the corner that you can't quite see. My longest swim by far.
The taper apparently worked and I swam a 2:52. My goal for the day was a sub 3:30. Conrad was my super straight paddler escort. Our plan was that he would whistle every 25 minutes to signal me to stop and get fluid and nutrition in the tank. The plan seemed to work well, and I felt strong most of the day. My right hand started cramping up at about 8 km and I couldn't quite control 2 of my fingers anymore.   Weird.....  Finally the swim finish came, and I was super stoked to get out of the water 3rd.  It was amazing to find out that the two people in front of me were both women. Awesome! I fumbled through transition, but I guess that's what happens when you spend nearly 3 hours being horizontal.

Because the swim was so short, a 90 mile bike seemed appropriate. The first 30 miles were basically flat with some small rollers. I was loving it. Even better was the big climb up Richter Pass. I passed the 2nd place female about 10 miles into the ride and heard that I was about 5 minutes down on the super swimmer (also super biker) Barbi Brochu. I was chasing, but also staying in my comfort zone. The heat was starting to build, but the guys were dowsing me with water and putting ice down my jersey. I passed Barbi when she stopped for a quick refill just before the climb to Yellow Lakes. I held the lead for a short time before the first male passed and then Barbi passed me back. My head felt like it was baking. I later heard that temperatures had topped 100F that day. I was also missing my support crew for a while. We had miscalculated the amount of water and ice I would need and they had stopped at a store to refill. Unfortunately for me they were gone just as I was imploding. As Barbi passed me she gave words of encouragement and her support crew was amazing and they super soaked me! At the top of Yellow Lakes we had finished the climbing, and were in for a quick descent to the finish line. Even with my mini implosion I held it together to post a new bike day 1 record of 4:58 and managed to finish just 2 minutes behind Barbi. So happy!

Barbi and her crew with the super soakers.

Post race burger and fries. It just sounded really yummy after eating GU all day. 
Ice bath..... as if hanging out in spandex all day wasn't weird enough.

Summer in the Mountains

It's been a busy summer so far. Too many fun activities to choose from. Training for Ultraman has been good, but often leaves me exhausted. Conrad's travels and racing have kept him away for most of the summer. So, on a recent sunny day we did a fun training day without heart rate monitors or a plan at all. It was our first ride of the year at Hole in the Ground at Donner Summit. One of my favorite places of all times to ride! There was still snow in a lot of places, but it was mostly ride able. The only down side was that we were in the middle of the mosquito hatch and stopping was not allowed. 

Post ride we camped out at the Yuba River while Conrad tried to catch dinner. No luck there, but we did have some left over sandwiches from Wild Cherries.

RANDOM EVENTS

I nearly always ride with my camera for various reasons, but mostly because when I don't have it I wish I'd brought it. On a recent ride through Sierra Valley I passed this group of bees on the side of the road. I wasn't sure what was going on, but I did stop and watch for a bit.

My other random event of the week was on my intended "long ride". I had this amazing route planned out, but just before I climbed the pass to get out of town I heard a bang. I pulled over and looked at my tire..... damn. It wasn't just a simple flat, the tire decided to give up before we even began. There was a huge hole. I whipped the cell phone out and made a couple calls. All I got was voice mail. I guess people have to work sometime. Left on my own at the top of Geiger Grade was a little intimidating. I was almost to the summit (6700 ft) when the blowout happened and it was going to be a hairy descent to get back to the valley floor.

I left the cell phone sitting out just in case someone happened to call back to rescue me while I was trying to fix the tire.

With no returning phone calls I got to work on the problem. I tried putting a bar wrapper inside the tire and putting a new tube in, but at about 35 psi the tube started pushing the bar wrapper out through the hole. This wasn't going to work. Suddenly an idea struck me. About 10 minutes later I was on my way back down Geiger and to the nearest bike shop.

I ended up wrapping the tube as tightly as I could around the wheel while keeping it as thin as possible. Then I loosened the brake (actually I had no rear brake). Front brake only, I crossed my fingers and toes as I slowly descended the pass. Fortunately there is a bike shop near the bottom and I made it there with no further incident. I got a look of disbelief when I told them this happened at the top of Geiger. New tire in place I continued on with my ride.

170 miles of crazyness

I signed up for a 200 mile ride with 20,000 feet of climbing a couple months ago. I'm not sure why. The ride would have been much more fun if it hadn't rained, then snowed, then rained, then snowed, then rained, and then poured. The temperature above 7,000 feet was never more than 40. After 170 miles of this I called it a day. I'd been cold and wet for about 12 hours and nearly shivered off my bike on a couple of sketchy descents. About halfway through the ride I changed kit and added a couple layers, and I was almost warm for a while. By the end of the ride I was wearing every layer I had carried including undershirt, jersey, arm warmers, winter jersey, vest, and rain jacket. I was never warm during the race but I never got too cold until I got to Ebbetts pass at the end of my day. Ebbetts pass was passes # 5 & 6 of the day. It is about 13 miles long in total with the first 7 being an easy lead up and the last 6 crazy (European) steep. Sections of the route kick up to 24% grade. I didn't know about the crazy steep part until I was there.  We rode up and over and down the other side of the mountain and then came back down the scary steep side. Steep + technical + pouring rain + no guardrail +carbon wheels =  not so much fun.  I couldn't feel my fingers, and my arms were shaking really bad as I crept down the hillside. Finally I made it to the bottom and arrived at the next checkpoint. There I talked with the bike support motorbike that had just come down from the last mountain of the ride. As soon as I heard rainy and windy I decided to call it a day. It wasn't worth another 3 hours of freezing for, and I'd already put in 12 hours. It turned out to be a good decision as the winning men's time was around 13 hours. All in all it was an amazing training day, and I can't wait to come back when winter has finally decided to move somewhere else. 

Me at the start......... still smiling. Actually I was smiling until the violent shivering began.

Nothing like being at 8700 feet in the rain on a 40 degree day.

Ugly storm clouds as we approached Carson pass. I had a sneaking suspicion it was snowing up there...... it was. 

Post race I was too tired to drive home, and I camped at Blue Lakes (one of the places we biked) at over 8500 feet. Conrad may never get his car back after this trip. The three sleeping bags were key to surviving the night. 

Getting it done

Reno on average gets 7" of rain in a total year. It's a desert. This year it feels like we've had nearly that in the first week of June. It has rained every day so far this month and the forecast doesn't look much better for the coming week. Along with the rain there has been a 30-40 degree temperature drop. 3 weeks ago we were in the 90's and Saturday for my long ride we hit a high of 48. Yeah! So, after swimming in the rain and the two hours it took me to re-warm after that I decided to ride indoors today..... in June. My cold weather clothes and neoprene booties have long ago been packed away along with the trainer. 6 hours on the trainer has absolutely no appeal, but neither did freezing in the rain. So I popped in the movies and got it done. 

Bad Blogger

Okay, so I've been in a bit of a funk. When I'm busy sulking I don't blog, in fact I don't tend to do much of anything, which makes it worse. It's not been a great spring, but maybe it's how I'm looking at it. I've been sulking a bit due to injuries and also because I'm staying home while Conrad goes racing. The staying home would be easier if I could just stay healthy. About 2 weeks ago during a fun easy trail run Kona ran straight into me while chasing a rabbit and knocked me over. It would have been okay if my left knee and elbow hadn't landed on rocks. I tried to finish the run, but the knee just wasn't having any part of it. A week later the knee was starting to feel a bit better, when Conrad decided that kissing the pavement would feel good. He has the full story on his website. Somehow I managed to break my fall with my head (cracked my new helmet), my left hip (Conrad is calling it my 2nd butt), and my left knee and elbow. I opened the almost healed skin from the prior weeks fall. 

Yep we stuck to the sheets for the next week....

The week got better when I returned from work one night to find a shiny new toy in the driveway that was just for me. :)

Putting my nursing scrubs to good use I raced around the front yard trying to find any and all bumps. 

I'm now too fast to capture on film..... 

Kona pretending to be the saddest dog in the entire world.

 Another week has gone by and I'm still hurting. I tried swimming today, and the neck still hurts to bad to flip turn. Then I tried a run. At first it felt like it was going to be okay, but about 15 minutes in the pain started up again. I turned around and walked back.... sulking the entire way. I got home and crawled under the blankets about to start a full blown pity party. Before the party could be started I remembered my shiny new toy in the garage. The knee seems to be good when riding, and there is nothing like sweet single track to put a smile back on my face. No more funk... I just need to go ride my bike. 

Racing the storm home. I won, but just barely.