The past couple months part 1

Part 1 of 3

The past couple months have been the hardest of my life. Big changes happened that I didn't see coming and couldn't change. My heart was shattered by the person that I trusted most with it.

For the past couple years Conrad has been asking me to quit my job and come to South Africa with him. With huge student loan and credit card debt I hadn't been able to. For the past 2 years I stopped racing to save money and worked every extra shift I could. I finally saved up enough money to quit the job and after much encouragement from Conrad I quit. He said that I had to do it this year for the relationship to work. I was told to trust him and that everything would work out for the best. A little over a month after quitting my job, I found myself all alone. The day after Xterra Worlds shortly before getting on his flight he said, "it's over and I don't want to talk about it." Asking for an explanation the only thing I got was, "you're not Afrikaans and you have bad table manners". I don't know why it took him 5 years to figure out I was American. I guess sometimes there is no explanation. Where was I supposed to go from here. I just quit my job, moved out of our house, and the biggest race of my life was coming up in 5 weeks.

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1667724450453
from this to breakup in 24 hours




For 2 weeks I didn't eat, sleep, or train. I considered dropping from the race. Riding had always been my escape and now it was just torture. Then the supportive Ultraman family started arriving in the islands. Without them I wouldn't have made it through the race. I stayed as busy as I could and joined with every group ride and swim. I figured I was here and I should make the most of the experience. About 2 weeks prior to the race I decided to go for it and race.


Pre-race practice swim.


Pre-race ride with Gary, Jason, and Marty. This was an infamous gas station bonk where you grab every item of food in sight.

Race week came along quickly with all the preparation and organizing. I think I bought out the entire supply of chicken broth and pedialyte. Then there was the selection of an ice bath bucket. I was pulling the storage bins off the shelf at Target looking for one big enough to fit when the manager asked if I needed help. I quickly jumped from the tub I was sitting in and replied that I was okay.


My support crew came together at the last moment. Thanks Darian, Siri, and Taylor for getting me through the race.

The biggest worry about the race for me was the swim. Wetsuits were legal and I was a bit worried about overheating, but knew that I had to take advantage of the extra flotation. I'd been doing a bit of open water swimming, but the sheer distance of 10K was intimidating. The swim itself went really well for the first 9K, then I hit a bit of a wall. I struggled a bit to get through the current coming out of Keauhou Bay, but once around the buoy the current seemed to let up a bit. My paddlers did a great job of keeping me straight and stopping me every 25 minutes to refuel and hydrate. My goal of the day was to get out of the water no more than 30 minutes behind Hillary Biscay and mission accomplished. I was only 22 minutes behind. :) Hillary smashed the swim record with a 2:20 swim, breaking the old record by 26 minutes.


That's me in the water beside the buoy and my paddlers Karen and Don.

Actually feeling fairly good coming out of the water with a swim PR of 2:42


The first couple miles of the bike go straight up. Not a great feeling after being horizontal for the past 2.75 hours. My legs never felt great this day, but they didn't feel bad either. Post race I think it was due to not taking enough calories in during the swim or the bike. After the initial climb it's a bit rolling to downhill, and it goes by fast. Heading up to Ocean View we hit the infamous wind. Wow! I'd pre-riden this section once before and I thought it was windy that day, but it wasn't even close to as windy as race day. The last 30 miles of the ride are the climb from sea level to 4000 ft at Volcano. Looking at my bike computer I was calculating how much longer I'd still be on the bike and the numbers weren't good. On some of the short downhill sections I'd be riding in my aero bars going 12 mph. It was going to be a long climb and my energy wasn't great. I started to take in a bit more calories and amazingly felt better during the last 10 miles of the climb. Note to self... eat more. I finished the ride portion in 5:39 for the fastest ride split of the day.

The long climb up to Volcano.


Hawaii can be cold, very cold, at the top of Volcano, but the post ride ice bath was a must for recovery. Bob Babbit is trying to distract me from realizing that I can no longer feel my feet.


Just had to throw a sunset picture in. This one was taken from the lanai of the condo.

Silly smiles and spam musubis

Wrapping up here in Maui after a big Xterra week. More photos and updates to come, but here is a quick one before I race to the airport.

Post Ironman training has been great fun. I wasn't nearly as sore as I'd been in the past, and I'm guessing that had something to do with my run strategy of stopping every mile to use the bathroom.

I've just been getting out on the bike and exploring the island a bit. One highlight have been a trip over the saddle road to get to Hilo. I was asking for another gear in a couple places only to find that I'd already used them all up.

One of my favorite things in Hawaii are the local fare at the gas stations. Quick refill of the bottles and a spam musubi in my bento box.


See..... it fits perfectly.



On the top of the saddle road shortly before heading down to Hilo.


Almost to the top...


Lots of road construction and dirt on the descent. Guess I should have brought my mountain bike.



Little detour onto the scenic road.


Stopping to enjoy the views.

This is amazing opportunity to spend so much time on the islands and I'm loving every second.

Ironman and such

Ironman week and race day passed by in a bit of a blur. I did a bunch of bike training leading up to Ironman week and went with a 5 day taper leading into the race. The race itself went okay, but I knew that it wasn't going to be a great day going into it. With the time off the bike with the hand injury and a big bike/run day 6 days prior to race day I knew it was going to be a tough one.

Race week felt different than every other time I've been here. I didn't hang around the venue at all and didn't attend pre or post race dinners or even the pre-race briefing. It almost felt like I wasn't racing. I never got nervous, which was a weird feeling as I stood on the pier at 6am on Saturday.

I got my training done early and hung around the condo the rest of the day. I did get up and swim every day. I am completely blown away by the swimming here, and even on days I wasn't supposed to swim I'd make up an excuse to get out there.

Race day started with a 4am breakfast and then hitchhiking to the start line. No way was I walking 1.5 miles to the start. I lined up in the center about 2 rows back for the swim, but kept getting pushed/kicked back during the 15 minutes of treading water prior to race start. I could feel the nerves coming off people. The start of the swim was insane, but I was jostled far less than I had been during prior IM swims. For 400 meters or so I went fairly hard to get into a good bunch and then settled in on someones feet. Which is where I stuck for the duration of the swim. The pace felt moderate hard and I didn't feel like I was pushing myself very much. I was super excited post race to discover that I swam a 1:03. Sweet!!

The bike was a draft fest from start to finish. I felt slightly tired on the bike, so I didn't push the effort and just enjoyed the experience. The winds were insane this year..... the windiest I've ever seen it on race day. The descent from Hawi was a white knuckled experience.

The run was a death march. My legs felt okay, but about 2 miles into the run my hands started cramping really bad and were super swollen. I drank some of the Ironman drink to get some electrolytes in at the next aide station...... big mistake. About a mile later the stomach cramps started and I proceeded to stop at every mile to hit the bathrooms. I figured to just keep it as a training day and not do too much damage to myself, so I got in a rhythm of bathroom, walk the aide station, and then run about 1 mile to next bathroom/aide station.

The finish was amazing as always and so was the post race party. Sorry about no race pics.


View from the condo of the IM turnaround buoy and cruise ship. The best is when the cruise ship disembarks it's passengers at the pier among all the athletes. We all look at each other like the other is crazy.


Racing the sunrise on the Queen K. I lost....



I had the beach all to myself.



Conrad playing around


Still wondering why we make such silly faces when holding our breath.


Coffee is this way!


Treading water at the coffee boat.


Coffee served about 1k into the swim!! Wish they were here all year.

A new chapter

It's been a whirl wind of a couple weeks. Big life changes ahead. I'll be in Hawaii from now until December 8. Then I fly straight to South Africa until April 5th. So during the last couple weeks I quit the job, packed up an entire house, painted said house, fit everything I need for the next 8 months into 2 bags, and said goodbye to the dogs. Fortunately my dad came up to Reno to help paint. In a little over 24 hours and between the 3, okay 4 if you count Bliksem, we got it done.


See mom, I can help paint all the yellow bits.

.....and I miss you guys when I'm on the ground, so I learned how to climb the ladder.


Dad is in full mask while spraying, I got the super fun job of operating the staple gun to cover all the windows in plastic. The day was a success as I managed to not staple myself to the house.

I miss them already


Please come home soon....

Chasing Baboons

I'm back home and in the thick of work. There were lots of changes at the hospital I work at while I was gone, and I'm lucky to still have a job.

I'm missing all the endless free time I had in South Africa to catch up on sleep and ride my bike whenever I wanted. It's a fantastic feeling to just ride and have no real training objective. Being off the trainer was also a bonus.

On every previous trip I'd seen baboons, but by the end of the second week all I'd seen was this headline about them. I'd also passed a couple of signs while on a road ride instructing me not to feed the baboons, but still no luck.



When I least expected it, there they were. I was on a mountain bike ride in Jonkershoek and I kept riding up and up to this saddle in the mountain. I'd ridden this route previously and remembered the stunning view from the top.

The view was as spectacular as I remembered. As a bonus the baboons were hanging out near the top.

They ran off the trail a short bit, but then turned around. I stood there watching them as they watched me.




The view looking down towards the saddle.





My favorite road ride was from Stellenbosch to Rooiels. Coming from the mountains in winter it was a real treat to ride in the heat on the ocean. Such a treat! I'd tell Conrad that I'd be gone from 2-6 hours depending on how I felt. It was nice to ride by feel and not have to turn around when I'm having fun. Sometimes I just want to see what is around the next bend in the road. This has gotten me into trouble a couple of times.

Another rough day in South Africa.



The hardest thing about riding was remembering to stay on the left side of the road. Approaching each intersection or round about I'd look both directions what felt like 10 times and still not really know if it was safe to cross.

Stopping to Smell the Flowers

What a busy couple of weeks, but they've been packed full of all the things I like to do. The flight over here went smoothly, and it's great to be here with Conrad. Time seems to pass by so quickly at times.

I think I've done more cycling in the past 2 weeks than in the past 2 months. Actually I know I have. I did a handful of trainer rides in the weeks leading up to my trip, but in the winter I'd rather run. The dogs also prefer the runs, so the cycling has fallen a bit by the wayside.

I've made up for it though. Yesterday was a brilliant solo 6 hour "coffee shop" ride along the coast. Conrad had some crazy session and I heard he say something about 300 Watts and I said no thanks. My actual riding time ended up being about 5 hours and I stopped to watch seals play, stopped to just look at the stunning view, and stop to watch and chat with the surfers. Incredible views and weather!

It's fantastic to just enjoy life. Often we get so busy with work and waiting for all the fun things in life to happen. It's also a blessing to not be training and just riding for the sheer joy of riding. It makes me wonder if all the work is worth it, or if I could work less and live with less. What brings happiness at the end of the day? Unfortunately I have a fondness for shiny carbon fiber objects on 2 wheels. The rest of the rat race I can pass on, but I really enjoy being able to travel and have a nice bike or 2 or 3.

I see and work with so many people on the work treadmill. Needing bigger cars or bigger houses. Stepping back really makes me think what is my priority and why.



BBQ at Conrad's house.


The yummiest coffee ever!


The best swimming place (and napping place). 50 meter salt water pool next to the ocean.

Random Ramblings

First off. I did that 50K trail run last week and the only problem I had after the race was a little poison oak. Damn.... so itchy... and it's the smallest area. I was wearing full tights, longs sleeves, hat, didn't even stop to pee in the bushes (thankfully). Apparently there was a tiny area peaking out between my socks and my tights that was exposed. So very itchy this week! Forget knee or quad pain this is way worse.


Currently I'm sharpening my nails so I can get a good scratch in while I wait for my flight to South Africa. I'm feeling descent after a red-eye from SFO last night. The bike fee was $250, thanks United. The ticket counter lady snarkily said, "How do you intend to pay for that?" Seriously, like it's an option at this point. I'm standing at the counter with one bag, one bike box, and myself weighing a grand total of 230 pounds. Whatever, "credit card" I reply. I've gotten used to paying rediculous bike fees at this point, and it's not like I can just leave it behind. However, I am leaving the bikes and case in South Africa this time. Delta charges $300 for a bike, so I guess I'm getting a deal. I remember when they were free on international flights.

Only 24 more hours of travel to go! Definitely not looking forward to the next 20 hours wedged into the same seat. My recipe of choice for this flight is 1 ambien, 2 benadryl, and maybe a drink. Hopefully when I wake up I'll be at my destination.