Cheryl Iseberg's Pendicton Ironman Report....

I apparently have survived my daunting task of doing two Ironman's in 8 weeks. Thanks to all of you who sent me those nice (and warm) thoughts prior to the race and thought of me on Sunday. It was a very interesting and amazing week.

The week started out with an interview with the Penticton Herald. We talked about my participation in the CEO Challenge and also the donation that the CEO Challenge group has made to one of the causes that I have been passionate about, the Blazeman Foundation. The Blazeman Foundation is in honor of Jon Blais who was the first person with ALS who finished an Ironman at the World Championships in Kona in 2005. I served as the Secretary in 2008 for the foundation and I am really proud that the CEO Challenge group donated over $6000.00 to the foundation. The article appeared online and when we arrived in Penticton late Wednesday we went in search of the actual newspaper. Of course I bought 3 copies :) it included a great photo of me doing a practice swim last year. (http://www.pentictonherald.ca/stories.php?id=129430)

Thursday morning we went down for a quick warm up swim in the late and the temperature was perfect. There were others complaining about the cold. I somehow couldn’t relate. I think they said the temperature was around 64 degrees and no where near what the lake was at Ironman Coeur d' Alene which I think was 59 degrees. We went back to the hotel to find my phone and email buzzing. The local news wanted to do a story at noon and film me either biking or running. There was several moments of panic and a quick text message to my mentor Ms. Patty Swedberg who immediately called to get me in the right frame of mind for my big interview. So, for a few hours I got to worry about being on film and making sure I had the right outfit, my hair looked good, and wondering how "large" I might appear on TV. The owner of the CEO Challenge group, Ted Kennedy (no, not that Ted Kennedy), went first and talked about the 11 CEO's in the challenge but also their donation to the Blazeman Foundation. I was up next and got to answer the silly question about how I had time to train, work, sleep, eat, etc. We talked about Renaissance Resource Associates and what it was and what we did and how it was woman owned and operated. It was really quite fun. We then moved to having me ride around on my bike for a few blocks while they got video of me. That was really weird. People were looking and wondering what was going on and trying to get in the video. It was really a great moment and I enjoyed having the opportunity.

The new story aired at 5pm along with a story about a man trying do like 20 Ironmans in a year. It was funny to see myself on TV (and I am now going to loose those last 10 pounds even if it kills me). It was all good fun. We met up with the other CEO's that night for dinner followed by a swim in the morning with some of the pro's favored to win. Jasper Blake is a Canadian pro who has won the race previously and we have met before. His mom has MS and he has a goal of raising a million dollars while he is a pro for MS. Last year after Kona, Jasper and his brother took his mom who is wheelchair bound to the base camp at Mount Everest. It was a life long dream of hers and they had to slowly carry her up to base camp via a very narrow trail. When I think of great athletes I have had the privilege to meet, I think of Jasper.

Then there is the Kiwi Bryan Rhodes. What a crazy guy. He came within a few seconds of winning the race about 10 years ago and was back for more. He made me laugh and certainly had a great perspective for Ironman racing and what it means. He has this amazingly loud voice and laugh that is infectious. On Friday before the practice swim Rob and I are standing there waiting for the rest of the CEO's (its like herding cats) and here comes this car that is lowered with the funky tires and the gangster rap playing way too loud for 8am in the morning. They pull up near us and 2 young guys with their pants hanging around their ankles and hats sideways come out of the car. Rob turns to Ted (CEO Challenge owner) and says "hey Ted, those guys with you?" and Ted replies " well actually yes, that’s Bryan" and we look to see Bryan coming out of the back of this car with the music blasting and I thought I was going to pee my pants. What a way to make a entrance and something I will always remember. Gangsta Bryan won the race on Sunday with Jasper doing a nice 3rd place. Really, special guys.

Throughout the week we got a chance to see the great Paula Newby-Fraser and I spent some time talking to the owner of NA Sports who owns these events, Graham Fraser. What an interesting perspective on how to run a business and also what Ironman means to him. I really enjoyed talking with him and his wife about the business of Ironman and how each race is different. Graham's perspective is that Ironman Wisconsin is the toughest race they put on. No, I am not signing up for that.

So, on race day it was great because Rob had a VIP pass and got to go into transition with me. Once you go into transition here you cannot leave so you basically have 2500 people who are nervous, anxious, and have to pee. There is never enough room and never enough bathrooms. They say nervous people get quiet and I have to admit these folks were really freaking me out. It must be that most of them were Canadian - way too quiet. There were about 750 first time Ironmans in the group so you could tell the first timers with the glazed over look. I was pretty calm actually. I was more nervous about the swim then anything. We do 2 laps of 1.2 miles in CDA and this course is out 1.2 miles then come back - so you are pretty far out in the middle of the lake which was causing me to worry. That and "OgoPogo". Apparently OgoPogo is the lakes version of the Loch Ness monster. You really don’t want to put thoughts into Ironman triathletes heads before races. We just don’t have a grasp for reality…..

The cannon went off and were off to swim with OgoPogo. The first few minutes of course I always give myself the opportunity to have a panic attack and I did. I just try to slow down get my breath back and not think about the distance. I focused on one buoy at a time (there were 18 of them). At the turnaround I knew I was on a record breaking time. This swim was nothing like CDA where we are crawling over the top of each other. I actually had room to swim and it was not as horrible as the washing machine event it can be. I knew if I kicked it up a notch I could knock 8-10 minutes off my best Ironman time. I then decided this was going to be a long day and to keep it simple. I ended up coming in with my best Ironman swim time knocking over 5 minutes off the previous time. Whew hew, thank god that was over with.

It was then off to the changing tent. There are usually a lot more volunteers in the tent but I only saw a few so I had to change myself which takes much longer. I know that sounds odd but when you have someone to help it makes a big difference trying to get clothes on your wet body. Off to get my bike and power up my new Garmin bike computer. I am finally on the bike and riding up Main Street to get out to the Skaha Lake and back toward the border. The first 40 miles are supposed to be the easiest part. I found there was a good climb and very technical descend with the roads being a lot of chip seal and holes. Not the greatest of roads. We finally come out at Okanagan Falls and there is a head wind. Everyone around is commenting how there never is a wind here. Well there was all the way out and that slowed us down. I had planned on hitting it around 17 miles per hour during this section, nice easy pace to not blow up on Richter Pass. I was a bit slower then I wanted but that wind just sucked.

We are all playing nice on the bike - not a lot of "on your left" crap. The roads are not closed so we are doing our single file version of a peloton down the highway. Finally hook a right toward the pass. I hear this very large explosion every few minutes and thought "why is someone firing at us?" I later learned that the farmer was skeet shooting in his field that day. Wow, that just seems dangerous and weird to be firing toward us - perhaps we were the skeet?

Finally Richter pass. As the pro's indicated the pass is doable just a nice spin up but it is long about 6 miles. I kept my pace even and knew I would see those screaming by later (and I did). The next section is some good rolling hills with some crazy descends. I hung on for dear life on one. The wind never seemed to really go away. After a nasty out and back section we were headed toward Yellow Lake the steepest part of the climb. Again it wasn’t crazy but if you kept a nice pace you could do the 3 mile climb. FINALLY at mile 92 I am at the top of the pass about 3000 feet and it starts raining. For those of you playing the home game of Ironman, rain and a steep descend are nasty and can be dangerous. I was following an idiot who was riding the white paint line which is absolutely stupid. I was just hoping he didn’t crash cause I would be right behind him.

So, a nice 20 mile ride into town in the pouring rain. The bike computer says my max was 40 there but I think under good conditions you can get a go 50-60 mph down that hill. At the bottom I am greeting by a lovely cop. I cant really tell if we go straight or right and ask for a quick direction check, he responded with a nice "depends. you want to go to the pub or to the run'. I pondered for a moment and headed toward the run and not the pub.

Finally back into the town of Penticton and it is raining but not as bad as in the mountains. I make my way to transition. Not a great bike ride but considering my IT bands froze up a mile 65. I am lucky to finish. I had some anti-inflammatory cream with me that I had to stop and put on twice on my legs just to keep them moving. I also had this crazy knee pain at the top of Yellow Lake. My left knee just starting popping out of place which would cause a great deal of pain and of course cause me to jump a bit, which made by bike go sideways. I am not sure what that was but I am guessing my IT band just got too tight and was pulling my on my kneecap. It sucked. I prayed to the Tri Gods and asked just to get back to transition.

I give my bike to the handler and back to the changing tent for a change of shorts and ready to roll. Well sort of, my IT bands were against the whole theory. I tried to run but could tell I was in a spot of bother. I used my cream again and swallowed some Tylenol and hoped in 30 minutes things would change. I see Rob and he yells that Joe Biden sent me a text message - that of course impressed everyone around me. Ted actually said to Rob "Cheryl knows Joe Biden?". It is our little secret that Joe emailed 20 million of us on Sunday.

I found a nice man, Tim to walk through town with and he told me that the bike was the windiest he ever encountered here. We swapped Ironman stories and I finally headed out to start running at mile 3. We had plenty of spectators the first section out of town. Someone had rolled out a few of the older folks in front of a long term care facility. They were wrapped up in blankets, clapping and shouting our names. It was very cool. The rain continued and I thought what a miserable run this would be. I managed to run to each water stop until 13. There were lots of great spectators out along the lake. At one water stop they all had those EASY buttons from whatever office supply store. We were all required to hit it. It was funny and very creative. Then it was getting late and dark and my IT bands stopped playing the game. I pretty much walked the rest of the marathon.

At about mile 17 we were given the mandatory glow sticks. The vain of all Ironman. The goal is to finish before they hand them out. I usually make it to the last mile in CDA but not this time. "JUST SAY NO TO THE GLOW" is what I have heard people say. I grab my stick and then start to hallucinate (joking). I start to pretend I am in the Olympics in the relay race. "The baton has been passed to Cheryl Iseberg" kind of thing…..nuts but I was cold, wet, walking, and something was moving around in the bushes which freaked me out. I knew if whatever was there wanted me I was toast. I couldn’t out run a snail at that point.

Finally I hit the last few miles and I am excited to get back into town and be done. I then see a motorcycle and a guy on the back with a camera. I am walking at this point. I looked at him and said " I am not going to run for you" . He replied he just wanted to talk. Fine what is it? He wanted to know why as a CEO I would do this. I kept thinking you want to ask me that when I am a mile from the finish? Because I don’t have enough sense not to? Cause I am stupid? Cause I cant help it - I am a pain freak? Well my response was " we are like everyone else. We want to do something extraordinary". He left me alone and I start to make sure my hat is on straight, my belly is not hanging out of my shorts and my hair is not sticking straight out. They are playing California Dreaming and I hit the grandstands. I am thinking to myself this was the dumbest thing I have done in a long time. I am not happy with my time but I also just don’t know how I did that. I am on the carpet and have decided my finish line dance will be an airplane. I raise my arms straight and do my best interpretation of an airplane moving back and forth between the two grandstands.

DONE - finished. There is Rob with my finisher medal and Ted from the CEO Challenge. I am happy to be home. We head out and grab a few slices a pizza - yes, the first Ironman I have been to that had pizza at the finish, and head back to the hotel.

All and all, I found the day to be tough. I loved the course and would consider doing it again. Now that I have done Canada I am not sure I will ever go back to CDA. It was just that much better. I didn’t have the overall time I wanted but I guess if it was going to be EASY then something magical would have happened when I hit that damn button on the run. I know I have more work to do to reach my goals. It has been a tough year for a lot of reasons and a few times I have considered not doing this anymore. The reality is, I can't stop. Maybe I wont be a 13 hour Ironman and maybe I have to work with what I have for my body, but I don’t want to stop trying. At least not yet.

Thanks again for your support and kind thoughts. I am looking forward to next year already.

Brad William's Hood to Coast Report

Have you ever wondered what OfficeMax would call their teams if they could have 3 Hood to Coast Relay teams? Wonder no more as Brad William's fills us in on his Hood to Coast experience...

I participated in the Hood-to-Coast relay this weekend and I have to say it was the most fun event I have ever done! Imagine 12,000 runners in 2000 wildly decorated vans over 36 hours without any sleep all going to the same destination via city streets, highways, through the mountains in the dark, country roads and even a few logging roads (the dynamic of 6 sweaty-stinky-tired-gassy runners stuffed into a van with all the stuff is a side story all to itself - suffice to say we finally opened a jar of Icy Hot as our air freshener). Have you ever seen the movie Rat Race? This is a running race/road rally fueled by powerbars-gatorade-peanut butter-french toast-Red Bull-Burgerville-terriyaki tube steaks-Denny's-coke-Red Robin-Power gels all chased down by LOTS of coffee (well that's how I washed it all down). The term "roadkill" now has a whole new meaning for me.

The team aspect was phenomenal. OfficeMax had 3 teams...the elite team was loaded with some ex-collegiate runners that are now working in our corporate office. There were then 2 teams (Rubberband Balls and mine was the Staple Removers) which were made up of ordinary runners of varying abilities but had been matched to finish at approximately the same time. Initially both teams were pretty friendly and supportive of each other and everyone was saying it didn't matter who finished first it was just for fun...I finally called BS on the rest of my team and said "you mean to tell me you are willing to give up bragging rights for a year and listen to the Rubber Band Ball team rub it in your face"? That seemed to fire them up and it was war...we even got to the point we were racing to see which van got to the next transistion area first and who had the best position in the port-a-potty line! There was almost a fist fight between van 1 and van 2 of my team when van 1 decided to try and get some extra sleep while we were running through the night (I discovered that running through the forest at 2am with a head lamp is something I really like). My van had built up 10 minute lead going into leg 25 which was when they were due to take over...they ended up being late by 25 minutes putting the Rubberband Ball team back in the lead. We had some tempers flying in van 2 and they were all over van 1...once things settled down, van 1 promised the extra sleep would allow them to catch back up and sure enough as they turned the baton back to us they had closed the gap and were in front by 2 minutes! The Rubberband Balls were also beginning to come unraveled with fatigue and injuries and we ultimately ended up beating them by about 40 minutes.

Our CEO has a home in Portland and he is the one that initiated the entry. It turns out that this race fills immediately every year with the teams from the previous year which are automatically grandfathered in and he wanted in...so OfficeMax is now a sponsor which got us 3 teams...Hooray! And the best part is that he signed up for a 3 year commitment so we will be going back the next 2 years. This was fun enough that I may have to get serious about run training next year to prepare for it! I ended up running 20 miles in 3 legs of the race at an average of 8:15...not stellar, but better than our 9:09 average. If you ever get a chance to get on a team...take it!

Cathy Christian's Danskin Race Report

This was my 6^th Danskin, 4th in a row. Last year was pretty darned terrific, but this year was the best. I realized I am a veteran Danskin triathlete. (Okay, so it took me 6 times!) I relished sharing with Jan Mayes where to take her wetsuit off before running up the grass for T1. I knew how to use the fence as part of my transition area. I was practiced and prepared and quite ready.

Listening to (and reading) everyone’s post race stories, I lamented that I didn’t have any stories to tell. Sure, I had to swim through pods of breast strokers (I did that stroke my first Danskin), a woman's underseat bike bag broke open and scattered its contents right in front of me and I had to dodge left and almost crashed into another bike, and I had no time to practice on my new aerobars.

Turns out that, for me, having no stories is the story! My personal plan was to accept whatever happened as 'just what it is.' Everything that occurred to me was part of my Danskin experience.

When I rode up the hill I yelled “Good for me” three times. When I went 7 mph on I-90 I figured I would make it up by going 30 on the way back (love my new aerobars!). When I tried to make my legs trot faster they wouldn’t. They were in that groove and they weren’t going to go faster. That’s just the way it was. The Universe conspired for me, and everything worked the way it is supposed to work for me – steady and consistent. And fun! I finished in the middle of my new age group, and adjusting for the swim difference (wasn't last year's swim shorter?), my time was about the same as last year. Good for me!!!

(Another example of the Universe; As I stood in the staging area with my swim cap on, I ran into a woman who, two years ago, gave me the support I needed at a crucial moment (I was crying as we stood waiting, feeling quite alone that year) - I even remembered her name! What a wonderful moment that was for me.)

I didn't do the Danskin alone. I was fortunate to be with a generous group of women who were each having their own Danskin experience, and we did it together.

Danskin is unique; it is an experience. It is not your normal triathlon. It is for women by women to celebrate women. I thought this would be my last Danskin, but now I’m not so sure. I think I needed to renew the perspective on living your life with joy that no other triathlon provides. And no other triathlon should – that privilege belongs to Danskin.

Danskin 2008 - Lighten strikes and training pays off!

by Connie Many (back far left)

This was my 3rd time doing the Danskin Triathlon Race. This time I really wanted to do my best. I started training in February and hoped I was well prepared and ready to RACE - not just participate! Here is my race report that I wrote Sunday evening after the race - I'm told you have to do one to document the experience!

The weekend was to be a HOT one. Good news since last year it was pouring during the whole race - which really made racing tricky. I was happy to have a beautiful sunny day to enjoy the experience of this amazing race. The Danskin is special in so many ways. There are cancer survivors racing and women of all ages and sizes. The motto is "You go girlfriend". Encouragement is all around. I was racing with most of my Raise the Hope team and some RTB girls too. Some of them were doing their first Danskin. It has been fun training for this day with all of them.

I woke Sunday morning @ 3:45 to thunder and lightening. What the heck?! It was supposed to be sunny! Here we go again I thought. Got up and ready to leave at 4:45 for Seattle with Jodi, Shaun, Angela & Cathy. It was pouring and still lightening on the way up but when we got to the lake it was just a little windy and warm.

There were 5000 women racing today, and we all headed out to the lake together. It is hard to explain the feeling you get when you are all gathered together like this. Some are very nervous and some are raring to go. It is the largest Danskin TriatIon in the U.S. Every 3 minutes a wave of 100 women charge out to the lake to start the swim. I was in wave 12. I was starting the same time as Angela Meeks, my next door neighbor, and Theresa Moffatt was with us too. It 's pretty cool to start together. Angela always beats me out of the water so I was hoping to stay with her. We were in the water @ 7:16 for the start of the race... The water felt good and I started swimming on the inside lane of the first turn around the bouy. That was pretty bottled necked and I had to stop and push through the group that were having a picnic there! I then stayed in the middle of the course till the next bouy. Once I got around that one I headed on in. This year I was able to swim straight through without stopping for a break! This is hugh for me. The first year I stopped at 5 swim angels ( Angels are helpers out in the lake for swimmers go to ). Last year I stopped 3 times. This year NONE! Once I realized I was doing ok I felt really good and just kept on swimming . I kept thinking about the coaching I got from my boss at work to breath every stroke and to stretch out my hands as I swam. I did the best I could but every none and then I would run into someone floating on their back for a break. I went as fast as I could till I touched the ground with my hand! All the way in! I got out and tore off my googles and started running and ripping off the top part of my wetsuit. I saw Bob (my wonderful husband) as I was running towards the transition area he had the camera and I didn't realize it was him and I ran past him and then turned around to smile for a picture. Not sure how that one will turn out!

I ran up to my bike and ripped the rest of my wetsuit off - I saw that Angela's bike was still there. I beat her in the swim! WOW!!! I sat on my towel and put on my bike shoes, no socks! That's how the fast people do it. Grabbed my helmet & bike and I was off. Ran the bike out of the transition area and then got on. Started off and there was Bob again with the camera. This time I saw him and smiled with out stopping to pose. I didn't feel tired on the bike this time. The last 2 Danskin races when I first got on the bike I was super tired. Today I could tell I was going to do better. The weather was perfect. Not too hot and not rainy! Once we got on I-90 I was able to really go fast and I was passing the slow gals and tiring to keep up with the fast ones. I did a pretty good pace - My fastest speed was 28.6 miles per hour. It didn't last for long but it was fun coming out of the tunnel crusing fast. I felt pretty good overall. Wasn't too tired and was able to keep up a good pace. I had made the turn around and had about half of the bridge left to go and then zooming by me was Angela! Dang it. She is super fast on the bike! Oh well. I'm was glad she was doing well. Finished my bike and was off to transition to the run.

The sun started to come out and it was getting really warm. I put on my socks and running shoes and grabbed my race belt and a swig of water and off I went. I was getting pretty tired and had to walk out of the transition area. I started to run a bit and there was Bob again with his camera. (he was doing a great job trying to keep up with my every move.) I ran past him and turned around and he yelled that the picture was bury.... like I was going too fast or something!? I turned around so that he could try to get another picture of me. I smiled at him for another shot at a picture. Boy it was hot - I have been training alot on my run lately and I just couldn't get moving. I grabbed 2 waters at the water station - one to drink and the other one went over my head. I was running at a slow pace but at least I wasn't walking. Big improvement for me! I passed mile 1 and saw the turn around point up ahead! Yeah almost done! Then I saw Angela coming towards me - she had just past the turn around and wasn't too far ahead of me! We gave each other a high five and she said to come catch her! I told her I was trying! I never could catch her. I was running alittle too slow. I probably could have kicked it up a notch - but I was just too hot and tired. At mile 2.5 we have a pretty steep hill and I kept my running pace up it and then there are about 5 more blocks and we turn into the park! Almost there! Once I turned into the park and ran along the path to the finish line I saw Bob again camera to his face! One more smile and I'll be done! Made the turn into the straight away and only 50 yards to go. I couldn't run fast - but then I heard my friends yelling my name and I saw them there all cheering me in. I got a burst of energy from them and kicked it up as much as I could and ran right toward Sally Edwards and I gave her a big high 5 before crossing the finish line. It is such a great feeling to cross that line. The best part of the race is doing it with your friends. We had about 15 of us that raced today from RTH and it was such a special day to be together and share the experience. Some did the Danskin for the very first time and you could see the sense of accomplishment on their faces once they finished. How cool it is! We have trained together and seen each other go through tough times and good times - Today was a good time!

My times - 2008

swim - 20:06 (1/2 mile)

T1 - 4:36

Bike - 39:36 (12 miles)

T2 - 2:39

Run - 36:57 (3 miles)

Total 1:43:55 (Angela's time: 1:43:18 - I could have beat her!)

Last year - 2007

swim - 20:34 (swim wasn't as long last year - was less tha 1/2 mile)

T1 - 6:34

bike - 57:53

T2 - 3:07

run - 40:51

Total 2:09:01

Year before that - 2006

total was 2:14:03

Troika 1/2 Ironman Race Report

Troika 1/2 Ironman Results:

Caitlin Norton:
Total Time: 5:33:53
Swim: 39:27
Bike: 2:54:14
Run: 1:57:34
Age Group Finish: 6/15

Wendy Graves
Total Time: 5:53:26
Swim: 42:30
Bike: 2:59:07
Run: 2:07:52
Age Group Finish: 6/16

Let me start off with – yes, broken bones are involved in this race report!!! But we’ll get to that later.



We are ½ Ironmen!!!! Together do we make a single Ironman? Anyways, here is the race report for Caitlin and I (because of course, we can’t do anything athletic without each other) for the Troika ½ Ironman. I am pleased to say that both Caitlin and I beat our goal time of 6 hours (Caitlin BLEW hers away) and also achieved our goal of beating over half of the people in our age groups. The only goal I didn’t achieve was beating Caitlin . . . but I had pretty much realized I wasn’t going to hit this goal a couple of weeks back. Caitlin and I have been training since February for the Troika ½ Ironman in Spokane. This was our first ½ Ironman event. Randy Wooden, the third member of our trio, was supposed to do Troika with us . . . but after we broke him during the Rock ‘n Roll Marathon in Arizona, he adjusted his goals for the year.



In case you haven’t met Caitlin and I . . . we’re pretty competitive. Not that we’re great athletes, but we’re competitive. Especially with one another. For example, By some fluke, I won the mini-Tri at Lake Meridian when the thunder prevented us from doing the swim portion of the race. Caitlin, displeased with this result, decided to pull a Tonya Harding on me. She stopped her bike directly in front of mine AFTER the race was over on our ride home. I hit my brakes and did an endo over my handlebars. Pretty road rash and a split helmet with a slight concussion resulted. Mean girl! Yeah, yeah. It was probably partially my fault, following too closely and all that . . . but I think she was out to get me.

A further example of our competitive spirit. My husband planned on going to Spokane to cheer me on during Troika. He promised to cheer on Caitlin as well. Not good enough. She had to have someone who was cheering first and foremost for HER! So, her brother-in-law Brian flew over to cheer her on. AND, her niece and nephews made her good luck signs. With a drawing of Caitlin as a 1/2 Ironman. They were cute. I was jealous.

Anyways . . . on to race day. Brian drove us to the start at Medical Lake. We had been warned at the race meeting that the cops at Medical Lake are bored and like to write speeding tickets. We forgot to warn Brian. Brian got a ticket along with some bad attitude. Caitlin decided that our bad luck for the day was complete so we would have a good race. She was mistaken . . .

Back up . . . I got NO sleep the night prior. Hotel bed was uncomfortable. Family above us was jumping up and down on their beds, going up and down the stairs. At 3:30am when my alarm went off, I think I had less than 4 hours of sleep.. Yeah. Then I was sure I was going to throw up all morning. A little pre-race jitters. YUCK.

Back to Medical Lake. Both Caitlin and I were pleased with our swim. It was our first land start and a bit chaotic. Some of those women were just plain mean! Caitlin had a couple of people purposely elbow her. Then we were both a bit confused and afraid we’d cut the course short somehow because we started passing yellow caps (men) . . . lots of them. Yet we were both sure we’d followed the course . . . so we continued on. We both completed the swim in less than our goal times. THANKS COACH MIKE!!!!

The bike went well. Caitlin and I had come to Spokane a few weeks back to do a dry run of the course. And we were happy we did. It made the bike route much easier to follow and prepared us for some fast downhills as well as the rollers. We both enjoyed the bike . . . except . . . I had to pee the whole time. Very uncomfortable. I considered doing like the pros do . . . but I just couldn’t bring myself to pee on the bike. Especially since we’d have bike catchers. Yuck! Yet my discomfort was nothing compared to Caitlin’s on the bike . . . At the turnaround on an out and back section she took it a little too fast . . . and her back tire slipped out from underneath her. Down she went. She got back on her bike and took off again. Then, while looking at her knee to see how bad it was scraped up . . . she went down again. She thought for an instant “screw this, I’m done”, but that thought was quickly replaced with “Are you kidding me? I didn’t train for 7 months to quit 8 miles into the ride. I’m doing this!” So on she went. And then she missed a turn. But she figured it out immediately and corrected her course. And she still beat me on the bike. Grrr!!! I think it must have been the adrenalin. My dad said she must have been doping (my dad still thinks I’m the greatest). I’m sure it HAD to be one or the other!

The run. Neither of us enjoyed the run. I did it barely over my goal time. Caitlin did it faster than her goal time. But it was painful, long and slow for both of us. It just seemed to drag on and on and on. I’m definitely planning on doing more bricks next year. At one point some spectators asked how far we were running. The runner in front of me said “13 miles”. I clarified with “AFTER swimming 1.2 miles and biking 55 miles . . . that’s all”.

Crossing the finish line . . . nice strong finish. A fellow athlete and I paced each other for the last mile. Thank God he was there or I may have walked. At the finish line, Caitlin, Brian and my husband Dave were all there cheering me on! I had completed my first ½ Ironman. I didn’t get to bask in that accomplishment for long, though. As soon as everyone congratulated me, Caitlin said she needed to visit the med tent. It was then I found out about all her accidents. Not only did she crash twice but she waited 20 minutes for me to finish before going to the med tent! Damn, she is TOUGH! No wonder she beat me. She impressed the hell out of me and I’m glad she’s my training partner. Now if I can just keep up with her while we train for the California International Marathon . . .

One last note. Thanks to Ann Sloan for all her info on Troika. It was great to have in advance especially with the multiple transition areas and strange set-up. And congrats on a great race! You kicked butt, girl! And thanks to all our well wishers at RTB. Both Caitlin and I really appreciated it. We wish we’d had the team there to cheer us on – but we knew you were thinking about us.