Kelly Richard's Chelanman Race Report

I like to choose races that test me physically and mentally. I know this means my chances of seeing a top 5 in age group placement means I have to work much harder than I would like to. I also like to choose one race a year that is out of town, somewhere different, somewhere where my husband and I can escape and do nothing for 48 hours.

So this year I choose Chelanman. It was the Best for the State of Washington. I have discovered an Olympic distance is what I enjoy the most. With the swim being longer, the bike a challenge and the run is a run. I also thought I love to run in the heat. This would be the perfect race for me.

So once again I set out to follow my 16 week Olympic training plan. It is suppose to be tough enough to get you in shape to place in top 5 age group. Severely disappointed with my first Olympic distance and 6th place age group finisher I wasn't going to give up. I did a practice Olympic distance earlier this year to see how my training was going. (Cascade edge, which I previously wrote about)

To my dismay Chelan was cold. Not just cold. Windy, chilly, a few sprinkles. People were wearing hoods, coats, layers, jeans. After we checked into our B&B I too was now dressed in layers:(
Sat. morning I headed down to watch the sprint swimmers. The water looked fairly calm, the distance seemed long for 800 meters. I wasn't really in the mood so I picked up my packet. Rode back to B&B and set out on my 20 min. ride. I just couldn't get in the groove. Everything felt wrong. I decided not to swim and put my
bike away. Took my shower and headed outside with some reading material to wait for my husband who was on a 40 plus mile ride. We did the lunch thing, drove the coarse and back to the B&B again. I thought I would have a nice ride on Sunday. The view was fabulous. Jerry mentioned I get my bike and we would work on the derailleur again. A never ending battle. More because I am extremely picky. Not that it doesn't work properly. I want it to work better. I want i t to shift when I shift without delay like my mountain bike does. It is a road bike. It should do tricks -
It should be fast - I should not drop a chain going downhill! After polishing my white bike and making some adjustments around the block a few times and my confidence and mood began to change. I was feeling better about the competition the next day. We wasted the rest of the day doing almost nothing. I couldn't believe how tired I was. Not just a physical, but a mental as well. I guess stepping away from house is not just necessary but mandatory once a year.Fast forward to Sunday morning. I wanted to arrive ridiculously early to set up as close to the bike exit as possible. I wanted not to have to run long in my cleats. The morning seemed to drag. I actually had a few moments where I was thinking I wasn't feeling well. Then I came to realize it was butterflies in my stomach. I was officially nervous.

After racking my bike, finishing the body marking and having to write on the best swim cap given out I headed to the water. There had been a lot of buzz about the chop and how to swim through it. The locals claim it is never that choppy and especially in the morning. But the wind was blowing and the clouds were above. The chop was like mini swells. The 1/2 IM swimmers would be up then down. They bobbed along. Soon it was my turn to get into the water. I tried breast stroke a bit to see how to sight.Well to my surprise I went under and back. A small panic attack. Try another approach and no luck. Just deal with it and figure it out as I am swimming. There were no waves. Just a mass start.I was excited to be sandwiched between two guys in the front line. Maybe I could draft! No such luck, they started in a mass sprint only to stop after 100 yards to try and figure out where they were going. Remember the chop. I just kept swallowing. I picked two main swim techniques to focus on and somehow I managed to drag one of those guys 9/10ths of the way around the course. Then I let go of technique and got off course. Now I had to swim into chop. Not good! Going no where fast. At least I dropped the guy who played with my toes for past 20 min. When I breathed I could see him attempt the breast stroke. Not a good idea in choppy water. You turn out to be like a bobbin at the end of a fishing line.Going NO WHERE! Out of water , I looked down at my watch and was surprised by the time. Was faster than I expected. A guy on the beach yelled second women out, a minute behind. I some how got a second wind to get to the transition area. I left off the second layer, left the gloves and socks. I now was on a mission. Bike, helmet, glasses, shoes, out of there in two minutes.

1.4 miles into the ride, just when I thought I was getting comfortable, I opened my mouth for what I thought would be a breath and out came Lake Chelan, a hammer gel and stomach acid. Re-compose myself. 2.4 miles uphill I drop a chain. Re-compose myself. Mile four the smooth road turns into pebble vibration. I realize I have 16 miles of this junk to ride on. I allow myself my small pitty party - tell myself I have allowed my negative feelings to come out now it is time to get down to my goal.

Shortly after the turnaround I hear ambulance and fire truck. I knew there was a crash. Shortly after that I am passed by three men traveling way to close to each other and to me. When the third guy passed me I yelled out that I was on his left side. Soon we came to the hills and it was my turn to start picking them off. As I passed I yelled out "that would be ME, on YOUR LEFT". Please remember to inform riders you are coming. Nothing worse than being startled on skinny little ti res as you are trying to hold still on a tri bike in the wind. Upon coming back into town a very nice officer yelled out "nice job LADY" I was impressed. Being called a lady on a bike! He sounded like he meant it too! Third female into transition and out onto run course.

First step to last step = pain. The never ending run. Every person I passed had no clue how far I had gone or how far left I had to go. After about a mile I got passed by a couple runners. I was dreading every step. very nice person had a school bus for sale on the side of the road. A 1984 bus for 3,000.00. So here we go- preschool song Wheels on the Bus keeps me going for a mile or so. I begin to tire. I spot
a man in his 40's running not far from me. My bus is broke down. Mr. will you tow me? Sure for about a mile. Then the rope begins to fray. I see it unraveling. Snap. Away he goes. But wait you are passing a younger many wearing a white shirt. He has nice rhythm in his feet. We (my bus and I) can follow along. Two more miles pass. Cool- some steps in this run, through the park, oh my stomach hurts. More Lake water going out. I see Jerry- he says something. I must be about a mile away. I keep plugging along behind my leader. No extra gas for the finish line. Just cross it. Finish 2:31.18. Good enough to earn me 5th female overall and 2nd in age group.

We hung around for my little red ribbon. I wonder if a blue one will come my way someday:) Happy with results and oh so tired we head for home. Thankfully Jerry is driving and I am sleeping. Back to our crazy house and life. Stash away some good memories for the tough training
days ahead and smile.

Only bad thing about the trip were the two potty stops. Yuck! There should be more rest stops or even a happy little port a potty. The scary truck stops are not for me.

Faith - makes things possible, not easy..

Kelly

What Trigirls do in their Spare Time

Patti Krebsbach, Kristin Anderson, and Heather Nugent on a trip for trigirls....

Bright and early on a Friday morning at 5:30 a.m., Kristin and Heather meet up with Toby and do an 8 mile run on the Soos Creek trail, a little warm up before our race. This is just the beginning of what is planned as an action packed weekend. Patti (aka PK), home nursing her strained hamstring is getting ready for the race. She hops in the pk mobile, picks up Kristin at 7:30 a.m. then swoops in and gets Heather for the second discipline…the much needed trip to Starbucks to get our blood flowing for the race! With make-up, primped hair and elastic waistbands, the trigirls hit the first leg of their race weekend…the NORDSTROM ANNIVERSARY SALE! I know what you’r thinking…..WHAT!?!…but read on fellow triathletes.

With our well trained minds, we have no problem transitioning from I-405 to a perfect parking spot at Belle Square. We start out a little shaky checking out our competition, but start getting into a good groove. Kristin and Patti make their first moves and purchase their first items without any complications. We head to the next transition…..The Point of View. We are overwhelmed with all the competitors but quickly fall into stride. Ever alert salesperson Adrian beelines in on the trigirls with their armload of hangers and offers to get their place in line for an available fitting room. An hour later and close to 40 items, we finally arrive in our fitting room. The girls are truly glad for their elastic waistbands (Heather who wore jeans, makes a note to self…..easy transition is everything!!). The fitting room was the hardest part of the race. All that on and off really works you physically and mentally. You really have to have a will to continue on….ESPECIALLY, when things don’t fit. Adrian, our great supporting crew, was really there for us running back and forth to make sure we had what we needed to finish that part of the race. PK had only one glitch, trying to find the right size shirt. But Kristin, with her eagle eyes, finds the right size mixed among the other sizes while PK was at the cash register. What timing, PK did not want to wait in that line again…. It was like waiting in line at the port-a-potties!!!! The split time at Point of View is over 2 hours but well worth it as all three trigirls make purchases.

Feeling the effects of the grueling shopping race, a carbo-load trip to Pagliacci’s is in order before making the next transition to the Brass Plum department. Thank goodness no clothes trying required here as Patti makes purchases for her teenage daughter. With half a dozen Nordstrom bags, our shopping race leg is successful and complete. Patti drops everyone off for some quick recovery before the next leg of our weekend.

The next leg of our race involves packing food and clothes for a trip to Lummi Island. This time the Kristin Cruiser makes a sweep to gather the trigirls. They arrive on the island late at night – but early enough to enjoy chips, fresh guacamole, and Coronas with lime. Yum! Time for a good nights sleep after a hard first leg.

With a few Saturday morning activities that include a warm up run around the island, the trigirls get ready to continue the race…. the trip to “Whistler” to watch a Mt. Bike competition, an out and back race for the trigirls. We know you think we are crazy but what triathlete isn’t a little. They leave Lummi Island on the 11:00 a.m. ferry to start the race. We arrive at the border and the border gal asks “where are you going and for how long?” we answer “Whistler for one day.” She tells us, with a look that we are crazy, that it is a 3 hr drive. We are determined trigirls and push on with the race. A few miles into the race we try to find the best way of getting to Whistler. We purchase a map and realize we have veered a little off course. We turn around and find our course and continue the race. We finally arrive at our transition destination…Whistler resort…. at 4:00 p.m. (5 hours after leaving Lummi Island). The trigirls, with only a few hours to spare, enter the village and see mud after mud covered mountain bike. After stopping in a few shops, they finally make their way to the bike course. Wow! The course was amazing. There were lots of jumps and several riders flying through the air. With a long drive back to the finish of the race, the trigirls decide to get fueled up. One of the sponsors of the festival was “Jim Beam”. The JB rep just happened to be hanging out at the restaurant the trigirls were fueling up at. With a few batting of the eyelashes and the story of how we got there, he gives them cool sponsor t-shirts and a round of Jim Beam drinks! Almost made the 5-hour drive worth the trip.

With a long journey back to the states, the trigirls finish fueling and head out. On the way out they see a dad hosing down his son’s muddy Mt. bike as well as the even muddier son. Kristin comments that she will never again complain about having to clean off her bike after a ride. The trigirls agree their road bikes don’t get that muddy even at their dirtiest.

Heather and Patti split the drive back to the Island in the pouring rain. We miss the transition ferryboat at 10pm by 8 minutes and had to wait for the next one at 11pm. We finally arrive at the finish and head to bed for a well-deserved sleep.

In trying to keep with a true island fashion, the trigirls are in no hurry to wake up Sunday morning. Kristin and Heather do a post 10-mile run and PK does a 3-mile walk, the trigirls pack up their belongings to make the venture home.

While it is great to be a triathlete, it is even better to be a triathlete with spare time!!

And time to sleep too!!!

It Takes Two.....apparently it takes a lot of Twos.

There are TWO Ellers on Raise the Bar's team, and they are married to each other. Brad and Erica. Here they are with their TWO boys, Nathan and Isaiah. This picture is a little dated - it's TWO years old..but it's cute so we used it anyway.

Brad and Erica need to buy TWO bikes, TWO Time Trial Bikes, TO be exact, which was proven at their last race, where the TWO of them raced TOgether - the Federal Escape. The Federal Escape offers TWO distances -the Olympic goes first and the Sprint goes 2nd. Guess which one the Ellers picked.

So back TO the bike deal.

Raise the Bar has a fleet of very slick fast Time Trial bikes that our team members can cheaply rent to race or train on, and the Ellers snagged TWO of them for the Federal Escape. They are Felt S22's.

After they each executed great swims, they headed out for the 2nd leg of the race, which is a TWO loop course. They were magnificent. Finishing off with TWO very good runs, they crossed the finish line and each placed.....you guessed it SECOND. #2 man overall, and #2 woman overall.

What does this mean, you ask? I have no idea....Except that it's pretty neat. The Ellers work really hard and it's neat that they got such a cool result on such cool bikes on a cool day.

Just in case there's something to all those numbers, though, and assuming they want to come in 1st, maybe the bikes they buy should be something besides S22's.

An Open Letter to Young Benny Swedberg

Thoughtfully submitted by Phil Spencer....

Dear Benny,

Your mother was worried about the effect Vino's positive test might have on your young impresionable mind. I have filed the following report to ease her, and all other concerned parents' minds.

PARIS, 24 July 2007 - Following the positive homologous blood doping test of Alexandre Vinokourov and subsequent withdrawal of Team Astana from the Tour de France today, Race Director Christian Prudhomme announced that everyone else racing in the Tour de France is clean.

"Well, that about wraps it up," said Prudhomme at a hastily-called press conference. "We finally got the last doper. Everyone else racing the Tour is as clean as a whistle. Possibly even cleaner. You can now watch the rest of the race with full confidence that everyone still in the race - especially all those guys who had like half an hours advantage on the once-frontrunner Vinokourov - are not doping. At all."

Asked about current race leader Michael Rasmussen and the cloud of suspicion hanging over him, Prudhomme responded, "Well, is he still in the race? Yes, he is. So he must not be doping, or we would have caught him, just like we have caught all the dopers."

Smiling for the press, which was completely reassured, Prudhomme noted, "It's a fantastic time to be a fan of professional cycling, now that we're finally finished cleaning the sport up."

Fans and Racers React

"I used to worry about whether some of the pros were doping," said Matt Carter, an American cycling fan visiting France to see the Tour firsthand.
"But now that the sport has these really reliable drug tests in place, anyone who's foolish enough to cheat will be caught and punished. I'm just glad that Alexandre Vinokourov was the only one left cheating, and that the other GC guys - each of which was just about forever ahead of Vino - aren't doping."

"I sometimes used to look around me and wonder," said Levi Leipheimer, a clean racer for Team Discovery, "which of the cyclists around me are doping.
Now I no longer have to worry about that, because all the dopers have been caught, leaving only the honest racers in the peloton. It's a great feeling."

"Yeah," agreed teammate Alberto Contador, a clean Freshman racer currently in second place in the Tour de France. "I don't understand why anyone would need to dope anyway. I mean, look at me! I don't dope, as clearly witnessed by my negative test results, and I'm still able to take first and second place, stage after stage after stage!"

"What's crazy," said Nick Abbott, an Australian race fan, "is that Vinokourov somehow thought he could get away with it! Didn't he realize that anyone who dopes is going to get caught by this foolproof dope detector machine WADA has built?

No More Tests Needed, Ever Again

WADA Chief Dick Pound took today's announcement as an opportunity to say, "I'm very pleased that we've finally arrived at the point where our sport is all cleaned up. Effective immediately, there will be no more tests, since they are no longer necessary. Also, I am disbanding WADA, since it has so thoroughly done its job that it is no longer necessary."

"I feel immensely gratified," concluded Pound, "to have played my part in this highly effective anti-doping campaign in the great sport of cycling.

With the capture of the final doper in the pro peloton, we?ve crossed the finish line, and we've won. It's a great day for all of us."

There you go Benny, you can now rest assured that the stewards of the sport you so love have restored it to it's former glory.

Your friend, and fellow homologenous blood free mate,
Phil

Probably not for blog posting due to the whining...but it's my race report

Richard Jacroux is one of RTB's finest story-tellers, and a 5-year veteran of multisport. Coming back from an ugly stress fractures (not to mention bad ankle scarring from all the aquajogging) he gives us the account of his exploits at Seafair. Richard...seriously....about the bike......

Alternative blog titles:
"The best race that wasn’t…"
"The worst way to achieve a personal best…"
"A beautiful day, a good group, a personal best and I’m still whining… "

Standing with my buddy at the water’s edge I knew today would be a good day. My first race of the season (due to a broken foot), I thought I had a good chance of doing well…OK, to be more specific, I had a good chance of doing well for me…

I had never had the “perfect race” at Seafair. This was the 5th anniversary of my very first triathlon. My first year involved a total of 30 days of pre-race training – my goal had been simply completion. My second year was training for STP (so no run or swim) - I had only wanted to do well on the bike. My third year, I turned in my chip to “wingman” a friend in his first race. And last year, I was sick and didn’t race at Seafair.

So, even though my training was behind, I had a good chance of getting a personal best. And, my training really was behind: I had only biked 11 times since the injury (about May 1 - yes, that’s 11X in 11 weeks - i.e. not enough!), I had brought my running mileage back up, but had done no speed work. On the good side, my swim was doing excellently (again: for me) since it was the only thing I could do for a few weeks. My goal as set by my friend: 1:26:30, my old PB: 1:27:51, unhappiness would occur at 1:30:00.

Back to the water’s edge:

I decide, since my swim has been doing well, I’d pick an inside line and start further forward in the pack…never tried that before (yes, I defied rule #1: never do anything for the first time in a race). The countdown, the horn, the start, the realization I’d made a horrible mistake. Note to self: don’t go inside - everyone goes inside. One thing about my swim: I have a fairly consistent stroke - I don’t rush out, but I don’t fade. So, I start getting passed by a bunch of people. The hitting I don’t mind, but I can’t find a rhythm – and I’m searching everywhere. First buoy: some of the folks who went out fast are gasping and I’m making my way through them – again, trying to find a clear line and a rhythm. A minute later: Excellent!…I’m nearing some open water…and then a hand grabs my head and I’m pushed under just as I was taking a breath in. I manage to surface and shoot a stream of water out of my mouth and nose (just thinking about it is making my eyes water again). Treading water while choking, gagging, hacking, sneezing – and everyone passes me again. Poo! I’ve got to get back in this. Making my way into the crowd again - second buoy…and halleluiah! open water? Yup, on the outside! My best ½ mi swim prior to this had been 16:30(ish)…all that work for 16:15…Good for me, but I was hoping for something in the mid-15’s.

T1: I’m up…I’m running…My wet suit is half off before I pass the first rack. A nice person has put a large balloon on the rack across from mine, so I know exactly where I’m going. (a pause, a panic, a circle) Ummm…where’s my stuff? There’s my bike…but…(more pause) Ah ha!…my stuff is under someone’s bag and a mountain bike is on it’s kick-stand right in the way. Sometime after I left the transition area to go to the swim, someone had shown up, and thrown their stuff on top of my stuff and run off to the water. My nice little setup was a mess. Where were my glasses? How’d my socks get way over there? I was nice and racked the mountain bike, set up their stuff and bag over a little then finished my own transition. Between setting up their stuff and freaking out about not finding my stuff, I left the transition area thinking about “that guy” rather than myself…I hit my watch at 2:32…poo, a half-minute lost.

The bike: I had expected to bike poorly given my “extensive” training (a direct quote from Patty: “What's with the cycling, dude? Your bike in the shop or something????”). But, I came out of transition, got into a tempo, looked down and was very happy to see 21mph...Yea! Hitting the bridge, I realize, based on the cross winds, that there was a tail wind the whole way…much less yea! Coming back to the trail down from the bridge, the person in front of me was tip-toeing her bike down the hill and the Course Marshalls would not let us pass. The guy behind me actually starting yelling at this poor lady since she was holding up a number of racers. We got to the bottom and as I got back into my tuck, he passed me. I should have told him off, but didn’t - I just didn’t let him get away from me. I would feel better about this little victory, but unfortunately, he wasn’t in good bike shape either (isn’t that always the case – biggest mouth, smallest fill-in-the-blank). As I arrived at the dismount line and looking at my watch, it laughed at me showing 40:27.

T2: 1:23…that’s about right for me…

The run: A gu, a water, and he’s off! Ouch! What’s that horrible bubble in my side. ½ mile into the run a belch that Homer Simpson would have been proud of relieved me of the pain and I started to relax. Fortunately Kathy Morrisson (I think) had passed me long ago and the people around me forgave my bad manners. I picked up a fellow who started pacing off me and we had a nice chat as we hit mile 1 in 8:47 – “less talking more running,” I told myself. I lost my partner on the hill, (Kathy passed me again - at least this time in the opposite direction) but I kept another age-grouper in sight as my pacer and hit mile 2 at 18:00 – whoa, did I really lose that much on the hill? I thought I was making up time. “Pick up the pace, Richard.” Coming down the hill a nice lady passed me and I thought, “there’s my pacer”. I asked if it would be OK for me to pace off of her and she said “no problem”. I stayed on her left shoulder and was in just enough pain to realize this was my speed. Coming around the last bend, I saw the banner and told her it was time for us to push it more…She said I was on my own and I ran ahead for the last ¼ mi. The last mile must have averaged 7:45(ish) as my final time was 26:29. A good way to end.

As I crossed the finish line, Kathy came over to explain to me that she had already gone for a massage…

Overall 1:27:07 was 0:44 better than my last PB – but it felt slow. The silver lining? I’ve got more improvement in me – you hear that, Kathy? ;-)

Deb & Cathy Pedal to Portland

Submitted by team members Cathy Nelson and Deb O'Connell

The short version…
We made it! We had no mishaps, not even a flat tire. Our host families were great. Yes, we were hot, thirsty, tired, and grimy at the end but no major pain.

For those that want ALL the details…
We left our house at 5:30 am to drive to the UW. It took us about 30 minutes to get to the 45th Street exit and at least another 30 minutes to get into the UW parking lot. My back brake was rubbing so I made a stop at the repair tent for a quick adjustment. We skipped the port-a-potties because the line was too long. After about 1200 training miles in the last 4 months and a 10 minute wait for the next wave we headed south as part of the STP.

We had remarked earlier, “Who needs a pit stop 10 miles into a ride?” That would be us. We made our first stop at Seward Park where there was no line for the port-a-potties. :) From there, we made it another 15 miles before stopping at REI in Kent for the first free food stop. It was well organized, lots of port-a-potties so no lines, and decent snack foods. While we were reapplying sunscreen at the first aid stand a volunteer came and asked how to contact other rest stops. Apparently there was a dad who hadn’t seen his 9 year old son in the last 15 miles and had no way to contact him. We saw several seemingly unattended children over the ride… As we left, I commented to Deb that it actually wasn’t as crowded as I expected.

From that point on, the ride was swarming with bikers. We had done a few group rides but none were as crowded as this. I knew we’d have to watch out for car traffic but some people on bikes are crazy drivers too! We really learned the value of calling out and signaling to other riders. Usually we are getting passed by everyone and just have to stay right but we passed a fair amount of people.

Over all our training miles, we had never broken the 14 mph average mark on a long ride. I think that just shows how many hills we trained on! The STP is relatively flat and we averaged the lightning fast paces of 14.4 mph on day 1 and 14.1 mph on day 2.

The next free food stop was at a school in Spanaway. It was lunch time for us, we were low on fluids, and it was hot so we were ready to stop. We hadn’t passed any place recently that had lunch potential. We grabbed some food on our search for water. They had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or rice and beans in a tortilla, grapes, the ubiquitous bananas and bagels, and Cliff bars. Not wanting to take chances we went for the dried-out PB&J. We then stood in the water line for at least 20 minutes. Luckily I wasn’t wearing my watch to know exactly how long. We were able to eat our sandwiches and drink the final swallows of our water bottles while we waited. One hose for 5000 people was very poor planning! From there, we headed to the port-a-potty line. It actually moved faster. We made good use of this time by reapplying sunscreen. They had “Standing Room Only” port-a-potties that were popular with the guys because there was no line for them. We left the rest stop not really rested, still hot, but with full water bottles. A few blocks later we came to a Safeway and restaurant row. Had we only known! We could have sat down to eat a real sandwich in air-conditioned comfort and used a real bathroom. It would have cost us a few $ but taken half as long. Lesson #1 learned!

Not long later, a Wilcox Farms truck was handing out ice-cold chocolate milk, yum! Or maybe not… Deb learned quickly that Gatorade and chocolate milk do not mix well at 95 degrees. Lesson #2 learned.

The second half of the day was HOT. I have no idea what the actual temperature was but we were in the full sun a lot of the time. Between the hot sun, and the hot pavement, we were cooked. We saw several riders taking a break in a lake we passed but we pedaled on. We passed a guy with a STP jacket and number on a skateboard. Rumor has it he does the ride each year. Judging from the size of his calves I believe it.

Had some dicey riding on highway 507 near Tenino: a busy highway, and a smallish bike lane (one rider wide). The problem is, there are the “slow” people, the medium speed people (like us), and then the people who think they should be in the Tour de France and “own” the left lane. The slow people mostly stay to the right, and the crazy people mostly stay to the left, which in this case, is in the highway. There are those perforations in the road on the white line (driver reminders), that you had to cross over and back. So, people are cruising along at 20 miles an hour, jumping in and out of the right lane. We did that for about ½ hour, and that was a bit stressful.

We rolled into Centralia about 3 pm and headed straight for the beer garden. After a cold one, we made another quick stop at the repair tent for a new end cap. The guy waiting behind me in line had a cracked frame that he had repaired with duct tape. His repair job had lasted 50+ miles. I’m not sure what he thought the mechanic could do for him! We passed all the campers pitching tents on any spare patch of grass and continued to Chehalis. They were handing out creamsicles, and I tell you, that is the best Popsicle we’ve had in a long time!

Our host families live right on the route in beautiful historic homes. They had our bags in our rooms and lots of snacks and cold drinks. Dinner was delicious, dessert was awesome. Met some interesting other riders, and had a nice visit.

We were up early the next day; bags had to be on the curb by 6:30. Even at 5 AM, you could hear the bikers going by already. We were on our bikes and riding by about 6:45. The weather was perfect on Sunday, overcast and cool. Started out with some gentle rolling hills that weren’t too bad at the beginning. Reached the lunch stop, and saw the huge crowds (again), and decided to skip it and head to a mini-mart for some store-bought food and water (remember lesson #1 above). We felt good, strong and thinking that this wasn’t so bad…

Well, after about 3 hours of those rolling hills, that was starting to get old! It did sprinkle on us a bit, but then just got warmer. Stopped at the 75 mile food stop, and decided again to by-pass the huge mob and go to Subway, where Deb learned lesson #3: a sandwich on a queasy stomach isn’t always the best thing. Deb spent the last 30 miles of the ride to Portland feeling about ready to hurl. Told Cathy to not ride on my right! One amazing sight was the escort over the bridge from Washington to Oregon, full of cyclists.

The arrival in Portland was a bit anti-climatic, with a small hill climb up to the main street, then a bunch of stoplights and hordes of bikes. So, we walked our bikes across the finish line. Someone near us was playing the theme from Rocky. That got everyone cheering. We made it! After putting those pain-machines on the bus to Seattle, we headed to the beer garden for a cold one, we had earned it! While Cathy got the bags, Deb headed over to Macys to buy some shoes: lesson #4—don’t leave your shoes at the host families’ house! On the other hand, how better to reward yourself than a nice new pair of shoes?

Lesson #5: Stay in Portland! A dip in the pool, a long shower, a good dinner, and a quiet hotel room with a 9 PM bedtime were just what the doctor ordered.

What an amazing experience!

Doris Klein's Podium Trips

3 Times to the Podium This Year

First
In April my friend, Karen, said “I ran 4 miles on my treadmill this morning. I can run a 10 minute mile.” We decided to sign up together for our first fun run, the Maple Valley Days’ Bear Run. We trained by running together on Saturday mornings about 5 or 6 times and went to Toby’s Tuesday night runs. This was the first time Karen had run outside or with a training group. From our first run together I could tell she was either faster than a 10 minute mile or I was slower than I used to be. At the race, Karen (59 years old) came in about 45 seconds after the first place gal (a 50 year old in our group). I was 3rd about 4 minutes behind Karen. We both got ribbons!

Second
My Cascades Edge time was my worst triathlon time ever (oh, not quite true – my first tri, the Reebok in Sept ’04 was much slower but there were 4 hilly miles in that one and I had an old yard sale mountain bike). I had been in Deep Lake the week before and it wasn’t so bad but on June 17th I think there was a thin layer of ice. The swim is my strongest part but half way into it I was breathing on every other stroke and thinking “This is not like the Danskin where I swim over and around a lot of old ladies in front of me. I hope I make it.” I borrowed a team bike and it was fun to use. I didn’t fall. It was raining that day. On the muddy path around the lake I did put one foot in front of the other but there wasn’t much forward movement. I always try to put out a good effort for the last 100 yards or so. After that I took care of my bloody feet. (I didn’t wear socks to save a second or two in transition. Once someone told me socks were a waste of transition time.) When you’re in the 50 – 54 age group, there is a lot less competition. I was able to walk away with a 3rd place medal for my age group even though there was a 19 minutes gap between me and #2. Fortunately, they don’t worry about gaps like that when they give out that coveted hardware.

Third
There was a ¾ mile race across a lake at the church family camp last weekend. I used my wet suit even though no one else did. I hoped it would intimidate some folks. It says “Ironman”. There were about 30 people in the race. . The first place finisher was a gal, 30 years old, more or less, who had a swimming scholarship to Purdue University. Fortunately she hadn’t swum a stroke in the last year whereas I had swum about 200 miles in the last year.. She beat me by 2 minutes. She swam in a straight line. My husband told me I was way off course and could have saved a couple minutes if I had only swum in a straight line. Next time, I’m going to try to do it that way. I got a certificate for 2nd place and it was presented to me in front of maybe 500 people. A few people thought it was unusual that women came in first and second. Third place was a burly, young, tanned guy.

Doris

Kristine Kloepfer, one of Team Thriftway/Crystal Light's newest members had herself a great day at her first half Ironman at Lake Stevens on July 8th, and even gathered enough energy to tell us about it. Congratulations on a terrific accomplishment, Kristine. We're all really proud of you!!!

I did it!!! I am so excited. OK stats first.

Swim: 48:21

T1: 3:25

Bike: 3:35:42

T2: 5:01

Run: 2:29:57
Total 7:02:24

I am too tired to write too much but I'll get in what I can. It was an amazing day. Not only was it an accomplishment of a lifetime, but it was the day of a lifetime.

First, the Swim: I met this guy at dinner last night who had done 18 IM and was here trying to qualify for Clearwater. He gave me one piece of advice. Take it easy on the swim. It will only cost you a few minutes and will be totally worth it. I listened to him and I am really glad I did. The swim was slow but I felt fresh and strong the whole time, doing bilateral breathing through the 1.2 miles. Early on I found the bouy lines underwater and just followed them. Easy as swimming in a pool with almost no spotting necessary. Kinda felt like I was cheating. Came out of the water fresh, strong and ready to bike.

Bike: OMG the hills. That deserves it one more time, OMG the hills. They were relentless. But oh the joy of doing 40mph downhill while loudly yelling WHEEEEE! The bike was so much more difficult than I imagined. The whole first loop I kept thinking, OMG I gotta do this again. There were times on the bike I felt great and times I felt despair but I perservered and did the ride. I will definilty train more hills next time (YES there will be a next time!) The one bad thing about the bike was there was suppose to be gatorade at the bottle exchanges but there was none. My lone 20oz bottle was not enough. Luckily I brought some extra salt tabs cause with no gatorade I really needed it.

The Run: OH, the run. I was so worried after my bike that my legs would be toast after the ride. And doing only 3 mile bricks I had no idea how I would do. My PR on a HM is 2:19 and I only added 10 minutes onto that. I felt really strong about 80% of the run. I kept asking myself, do I really feel this strong?? And kept answering, YES I DO. Except a few water stations and one big hill on the second loop I ran the whole way.

The finish: I had to start holding back tears at mile 11. I was so overjoyed at being there, it was amazing!! By the time I crossed the finish line I couldn't hold back anymore. I felt great, and tears were streaming down my face, and I beat my goal of 7:15.

This is a day I will remember for my whole life. Mike was there all day cheering me on and I can't even tell you how much that helped. Also, much of the run I kept thinking of the RR I was gonna write and that helped me a great deal. I am so proud of myself. I know I MADE IT HAPPEN.

Pain is temporary, bragging rights last a lifetime!!! Thanks everyone. I felt you there with me all day, and oh what a day it was.

Kristine Kloepfer

Arnie Maish's Ironman Report

Note to reader: Arnie Maish decided about 10 days before Ironman to actually go through with the race...with little to no swim or run training or any logistics plan whatsoever. None of this discourages our dashing young bachelor in the least - nor does it diminish his enthusiasm. He arrived in Spokane by train at 1:30AM on Saturday and rode his bike on I-90 to Coeur d'Alene with 45lbs of gear on his back, posting only one flat. Apparently unaffected by Sleep Deprivation, he posted an 11:45 finish and entertained us all weekend.....Way to go, Arnie!! Arnie (back to camera on left) tells the story of

his arrival to CDA to disbelieving teammates

Well, this years IM will be a joy to sum up as it is the 1st time I have avoided an IV bag and the Med tent! Whoo hoo!

After months and months of diligent swim and run training, my arrival friday morning in CDA was a clear demonstration of my well thought out and excuted logistics plan.

Race morning, showing up in T2 as the announcers were calling last call to get out of T2 I calmly ignored said announcer and slowly and joyfully prepared for my day. First things first, I needed to attach my CO2, spairs and tool to my bike. I had attached my number the day before not realizing that it would be covered by my tool bag. With 3 rubber bands I went to work....quickly bundling all items and looping rubber bands over and over them and then banding to the bottom of the saddle. Somewhat confident that my flat kit would make it at least the first 20 miles of the ride I moved on to my next duty, putting my premix solution into my aero bar water bottle. Ooops, didn't bring that with me. Quickly improvising, I saw a gallon water jug sitting next to a tree, looked like water, smelled like water....maybe a little old....I poured about 10 oz's into my bottle and was satisfied as everything was coming togethar as planned. I then double checked that everything was good to go and went about putting my new wetsuit on for its first swim. With new wetsuit on I proceeded to drop off all transition, gear and special needs bags and make my way to the beach. Feeling confident that I had everything in order...

Arrived at beach with a smile on my face as I had told a few athletes at Friday's spagehtti feed that it may be a little rough later in the morning for practice swims but come race day @ 7am it's always calm smooth water :)

Went to the far left next to the fence and peered around for familiar faces...paticularly the old-school single thin green band off Brad's goggles....not seeing those I planned my inside the buoy swim line....swim went well with little to no contact with any other athletes....clear of the water in 1:03....
T1 was lengthy....as I had forgotten a towel and dried myself with one of my spare arm/leg warmers ( tube socks )...as I ran out of the tent and was lathered by sunblock from 4 females ( one of the best parts of every Ironman ) my race belt fell apart so it took about a full minute to put back togethar.....finally on my bike and off I went...

Sipping water I began to look thru my Bento box for my endurolytes.....where are they? My feeding/energy plan was gu, real food, and water with added Endurolytes...with no endurolytes I realized I would have to consume gatorade....so at about mile 45 when I caught Brad I was feeling terribly sick and bloated with my systems way off as the consumption of Gatorade and Gu's completely turned my stomach....that and a little too much pace to start with..

Thankfully Ol' Willy had come properly prepared ( as one would expect ) and was able to give me a hand with 2 salt/electrolyte capsules...swallowed the 1st one with water...broke the 2nd one open in my mouth for quicker action and I started to feel better...now just to clear the stomach...stopped at the port-a-potty before special needs bag. While reading the Sunday paper in the john, Brad passed. When heading into Higgins Point I saw Brad in a very statuesque yoga hip flex pose off his bike. I also saw a competitor take a nasty head/shoulder dive into the concrete trying to get his bag open....note to self...special need bag not worth accident...

Ah, food at last, spirits on the way back up as I started feeling much better. My needs bag was filled with the advice of our good doctor....PBJ and a bag of Tim's cascade Salt and Vinegar chips....WOW - the chips are awesome....I daintly nibbled at my bag of chips all the way thru town and up Government as I wanted to savior each and every crunch.

After disposing of the chips time to start riding again....caught back up to Brad again in about the same spot....shared a few words and then moved ahead..only to have a motorcycle Judge come and lecture me on the finer points of the "box"....no penalty...just a warning...Brad pedaled up to inquire as to penalty or no penalty....we rode together a little more until a descent marked with slow signs signaled to me it was time to accelarate and put some distance between me and my RTB team mate as I knew he would catch me in the run.

In and out of T2 like a pro - under 2 minutes - ( included my favorite part - the 8 hand sun block massage ) I felt like a Kenyan breaking into an 8 minute mile 1 time before getting into my 9-10 minute pace that I was able to maintain for the first 9 miles. I was pleased not to be passed by the top female until mile 7 of the run. At mile 9 my lack of run training started to show and I went to a walk/jog for the next 4 miles. At this point I was very pleased - and decided not to push hard and ruin the day by not finishing. I jog - walked and looked over my shoulder for Brad for the next 4 miles...ahh...finally coming out of the turn around in town there he was - closing down my gap. Finishing the last 12 miles run/walking with Brad and keeping our pace under 12 min miles was a perfect way to end the day. And then came the final turn....we had discussed finishing arrangements and talked about crossing togethar...I felt that if we hit the last straight away togethar that my noble elder would get the nod across the line.....this was the plan until a female passes with 600m to go....this can't be happening....I can out run her to the finish line....I can't take it...been passed already by too many women...Brad gives me the nod to

run her down and off I go....Michael Johnson 400 style to the finish to run her down by 2 seconds....

A great day indeed!

Maria Rippo's First Olympic Tri

Well, my first triathlon was the most exhilarating experience ever!! I LOVED every minute of it. I met up with Kelly Spangler right away at about 7:15 and she helped me with every step. I had never set up a transition or transitioned, so she was there showing me how to do it and explaining what I would do at T1 and T2. She is my triathlon guardian angel!!! I love her.

I was so nervous before the start that I was shaking, visibly shaking, involuntarily. It made me laugh. The first start I had ever seen was that morning. I just watched each start and it actually calmed me down to see it happen. Thankfully, I love the water and grew up swimming in the ocean, so the warm up you suggested was really good for me to do. Once the race started I had one moment where I thought I was crazy and couldn’t do it, but I got over that with a short session on my back and a little deep breathing and then I just decided to go for it and finished that mile in the middle of my group which was very encouraging to me. My biggest fear was coming out of the water last. Coming out was awesome b/c I saw my family first and then there you were cheering me on. THANK YOU! I loved being cheered onJ I loved wearing the RTB suit b/c so many people I had never met, just cheered me on. I felt like a champion b/c of all the encouragement and cheering. It was a fun feeling to have.

The bike was a little challenging b/c of the weather, so I didn’t go as fast as I would have liked, but I did the 24 miles in 1 ½ hours, so I was happy with that. I have only been on a handful of long bike rides, so my goal was to do it in 1 ½ hours. I did get lost trying to find my spot in the bike transition zone. Thankfully my friend had just gotten there and she yelled to direct me to my spot. I was surprised that my bottom hurt so MUCH when I got off the bike. Kelly thought maybe it was b/c I was so nervous with the rain and it being my first race ever. I really was not sure I could run once I got off the bike. I popped a couple of advil at T2 and I think that helped. There was a nice man there that heard me complaining and he said, “ don’t worry, you will use totally different muscles for the run.” That was really nice of him to say. The run was great b/c of the cold. I am not a good runner in hot weather. It was so fun to run through the crowd and have so many people cheering me on. I really did not know whether I could really complete an Olympic Distance race until I crossed the finish line. The most fun part of the whole race was sprinting to the finish line and passing two gals on my way!

Anyway, I am thrilled to have my first triathlon experience behind me, but I do hope my high from it will linger for a while longer. What an amazing sport this is. I’m thrilled to be a part of it.

Maria Rippo

Jim Hutter's Ironman Race Report

Jim Hutter was the most senior member of RTB's IMCDA squad this year. (He'll love that description)- and had a score to settle with the course. Last year, his knee blew up on him and would land him in surgury just a few days after a heart-breaking DNF (his first EVER). 2007 was a whole new ballgame and Jim finished, despite less-than-ideal circumstances...read on....

I had a fantastic time. I dropped all my salt tablets early in the bike and you probably heard that around the 75 to 80 mile mark I started having major crank issues. The crank was becoming looser and looser and the chain kept falling off. Up until that point I was on plan and feeling great. A nice gentlemen tried to help by trying to tighten the bolt on the crank but it came loose again after a couple of miles. Unfortunately the crank bolt requires a larger allen wrench which only tech support had. It was a truly frustrating experience to watch bike after bike pass me by while I waited for tech support. The finally came and repaired the crank and I was off like a bat out of hell passing bike after bike trying to make up time. I think this effort did me in and the run after about 4 miles became pure hell as I was cramping up. At about the 17 mile mark I decided that all I needed to do at that point was finish the damn race and the time didn’t matter. I came across another runner who was having difficulties and we pretty much just walked and talked until the finish line. I will be back next year with a large allen wrench and a determination to make up for a disappointing but somehow fulfilling race. It was great racing with everyone and I thank everyone for their encouragement and support.

Jen Boespflug's Ironman Spectator Report

Jen Boespflug is an energetic, enthusiastic RTB'er who traveled over to Coeur d'Alene with her equally enthusiastic friend, Julie Guillian. They were a crack-up on the course. One IM emailed me later asking who the crazy RTB chicks were on the course?! Jen writes a fun spectator report below and is pictured here having a great race at the 5-mile Lake Triathlon a week later. "Go Jen Jen Jen!!!"


I had a great time this last weekend watching the Ironman. I was so inspired and thought that I might like to give my spectator race report.



So Julie (Guillian) and I drove over to stay with friends on Friday so that we could get in a little activity on Saturday. Julie had the great idea to do "something cool" so that we didn't feel like such slouches by just watching the Ironman. We did go for a 15 mile hike and I was definately sore the next day while watching, which made me feel better.

We woke up at 5:30 and got to the beach and our viewing spot around 6:00. I do believe we had one of the best spots to view as we could see the entire swim course and were on the retaining wall right were the sand meets the pavement on the path out of the water. We got great views of all of the athletes literally a couple of feet away. In fact we were swore at by other spectators who tried to steal our location, but we held strong and didn't give it up.

My first impression of the swim course was "holy cow look how long that is" then we found out that it was 2 laps. How humbling. To boot the water was super choppy and we could see white caps. I was nervous for the athletes, let alone couldn't imagine swimming any distance in water so rough. The swim began and it was a sea of caps flooding into the water for several minutes. Wow, what a sight to see! Truly Beautiful!

Then the first swimmers emerged from the second lap and came running up the beach. We were so excited and began cheering crazily and thus began our clapping and shouting that lasted for the rest of the day. I felt like paparazzi with my camera as I was snapping pirctures like mad!



And look at that "RTB Thriftway" "Go Raise the Bar" here comes one of our guys out of the water, then another and so on. It may well have been the President or Paris Hilton, we were totally STARSTRUCK by the RTB athletes. Then came the final swimmer after over 2 hours in the water. She emerged from the water and was trying to run up the beach, when I think it dawned on her that the thousands of screams and cheers were soley for her. When she reached about where we were she covered her face to keep from crying, thus opening the faucet from my own eyes and everyone around me. I am a little teary eyed thinking about it now. How inspiring so see someone working so hard and to see so many supporters. I couldn't even imagine how she felt.

On to the bike course! We found a great location right at a round about. We could cheer the riders coming and going. Again, whenever we could see an RTB member coming you would think it was Lance Armstrong or something. We tried to be encouraging, but most of the time we would just scream and yell nonsense or the persons name "Jim! Jim! Jim!" then they would pass like a bullet and we would talk about what encouraging words we could us the next time they came by. Pointless conversations though, because we would have the same celebrity sighting reaction the next time.

We went to grab some quick eats and sit on the curb a few blocks up from the finish. It was so amazing to see the athletes coming down the road. I could not believe the athletes had the energy to smile, wave, or even still be able to run at that point. It was so inspiring, I wanted to be that person who had accompished such an amazing thing. I can't even imagine what they must have felt after finishing the race. I'm sure it is one of those things that you cannot understand until you have done it. We joked about how "sore our clapping hands" were, but knew how silly that was compared to these ironmen and ironwomen.

I would like to think that somewhere, sometime I will find that I too have an Ironwoman somewhere in me. In the mean time I am already making plans to watch/volunteer in 2008. What and inspiring weekend, I drove home Sunday night so pumped on adrenaline from such and amazing event. Julie and I did agree that it was made especially cool and exciting knowing that we had a small connection to so many inspiring people on the RTB/thriftway team who competed, even if they had no idea who the crazy chics were on the side of the road shouting jibberish at them. So THANK YOU to all of the athletes who competed in Ironman Coeur D'Alene.

Tina Coleman's First Triathlon!

Tina is part of our "Raise the Hope" squad and Cascades Edge was her first triathlon. She is a fighter. :) Congratulations to you, Tina!! Here's her story:

I felt like I got a good nights sleep, don’t remember being restless in the middle of night or anything like that, and I definitely didn’t have any more nightmares of coming out of the lake during the race naked. Yes, naked. After Patty worked my butt off in Lake Morton Thursday night, I had these nightmares that I was in the swim leg of a tri, and I was coming out of the lake naked and had to go back in the water to find my wetsuit and the race went on without me and I never got to finish. Is that weird or what? Anyway, had a good nights sleep, got up at 5:30am, my husband loaded the truck for me, I made a slice of pb&j toast which I gagged down; it’s really hard to eat when your nervous. By 6:15am we were headed on our way to Nolte, in the rain. The rain didn’t really bother or worry me; I knew I was doing this no matter what, rain or shine. I did have butterflies the entire way there though, and tried to keep drinking my water. Got to Nolte and found Teresa right away. I had my bike, my gym bag, a backpack and a Fred Meyer bag with my vitamin water and bananas in it. I was really loaded down with stuff and was driving Brooks (my husband) crazy because I wouldn’t let him help me carry anything. I figured it was my race and I should carry all of my stuff, I didn’t want any help, I need to do this myself. He just hated it because he thought it made him look un-chivalrous; so I let him hold my water that I was drinking. So I got my packet, had the bike people inflate my tires for me and got “marked”. Found our transition area, and happily also found Cathy, Patti, Elizabeth and Ruth. Once all my stuff was laid out, we decided to go look at the water and find our buoys. There they were, big and orange and daring me to come out and play. Went back to the transition area to suit up in my neoprene armor and prepare for battle. When we headed back out to shore we found Kristin Anderson and Teresa’s husband Ron. I was sick to my stomach and scared to tears, literally. I think Kristin was the only one who saw my eyes watering and it quickly passed as I had to pay attention to the announcer’s instructions. Before I knew it we were lining up to the start and stepping into the water. Water wasn’t too bad, not as cold as I remembered the week before and then I hear “45 seconds”, I’m in the water jogging in place to get the blood flowing, the “trickle” isn’t so bad either, I’m thinking I can do this, I’ve been training, this is equivalent to 18 lengths of the pool, I can do this! Then I hear “5, 4,3,2,1 GO”! I take off into the water and I’m feeling strong, 1 2 3 take a breathe, 123 take a breathe, 123 take a breathe and then I realize that the breathes aren’t going in. I am literally gasping for air, my chest is locked up and I can’t breath. So I stop. I am no longer swimming and I am bobbing around in the water trying to catch my breathe. I can hear Patty’s voice telling me not to stop, keep going, so I take off again and it’s no good, still can’t breathe. So I begin to doggy paddle, I think to myself that I have to finish this no matter what, and humility has gone out the window on this one. I begin to hear the announcer preparing the Olympic Men to start, I’m doggy paddling, I hear the Men take off and I’m doggy paddling, I hear them behind me like a tsunami approaching and I’m freakin’ DOGGY PADDLING! I don’t want to turn around, because if I do, I’m done for. So I make it to the first buoy just as the Men are jetting past me. I’m safe. The Kids in the canoe look pretty worried and I let them know that I’m ok. I look back to the shore and think wow, that’s pretty far, but that next buoy isn’t, so I take off swimming. I am feeling good and make it to the second buoy. I rest a bit and take off again for about 20 strokes and stop again, I look to shore I see Teresa getting out of the water. GO TERESA I yell and scare the canoe Kids who aren’t too far away. I go for it again and I am really disappointed at how fatigued I am. I stop again and try to pee because that 20oz vitamin water that I downed before the race is throbbing in my bladder. Can’t pee, relax Tina, you can do this you have to pee you have 11 miles ahead of you and you can’t stop at the buckets right now. Can’t pee, so I try to keep swimming and end up doggy paddling until I can touch the ground. I get out expecting to see my team totally disgusted at me for my weak attempt at pretending to be a triathlete and I all see are smiles and voracious cheers. I see Patty standing there in here bike helmet, yelling GO TINA GO!!! I walk the entire way to transition trying to shake off the shame of my swimming disaster. Then I see 2 RTB team members/spectators outside the transition area cheering me on as I am rolling out with my bike and helmet telling me I am doing great, clearly they didn’t see me swim. I yell back, “when do the nerves calm down?” and the gal says to me “right now, on the bike”. Good, I thought. So I head out on my bike and the first mile is a struggle, my legs are burning and I’m trying to open my power bar that I stuffed in my sports bra without crashing. Don’t really remember when the burning stopped but I do remember all our amazing RTB teammates cheering me on. I would see our colors flying by and I would hear “RAISE THE BAR” “you’re doing great”, “keep going”, “looking good”, “nice work”. Whether riders were coming or going, I heard shouts from both directions. I felt great and I’m pretty sure I was smiling. I was doing ok with my gears and I made it through all the hills. There were 3 times where I wanted to get off and walk but I kept hearing Patty “DON”T STOP TINA”! I made it over the hills and I kept thinking as soon as I see that little store, I’m golden. Now I still haven’t gone to the bathroom and tried to go while I was on my bike; gross, I know but by this time I was in serious turmoil. I can see the lights of the patrol car in front of the park and I know I’m there, I’ve finished the bike leg. I easily roll through the parking lot and I see my dear sweet husband at the end of the lot looking worried and proud and cheering me on. I dismount my bike and roll to the transition area, dump off my bike and head to the bathrooms, finally. Of course I lost at least 5-6 minutes in order to do this, but I didn’t care at this point. So I head back to the runner’s start, take a cup of water and start my walk. It was muddy, slippery and treacherous. It was at this point where I had lots of time to think, time to think about how insane this was and why would anyone in their right mind choose to do this. I was mad. I thought to myself, instead of calling this a Tri It, they should call it a Hate It. I can’t wait to be done, this sucks and I can’t believe I’m here doing this of my own free will. Then they started in on my again, “RAISE THE BAR” “you’re doing great”, “keep going”, “looking good”, “nice work”. This was also about the time that Luis Diaz passed me up and gave me a high five and told me to keep it up and said he passed Teresa up too and that she’s doing great. So I decided to run a little and it felt good. Not too long after that I was coming through park and really had my arms pumping doing kind of a speed walking thing. My legs were burning but I had to show my husband that I was ok and it felt great once again to see everyone, Brooks, Melissa, Patti, Patty, Kristin, Ruth, Elizabeth, Cathy and others. The second lap around the park was much faster and I did a lot more running than my first time around. There was this one RTB gal who had on red under armor, who was my run angel. She was so sweet and every time she passed me she gave me a big smile and would have great words for me. If anyone knows who she was please tell her she’s wonderful for me. She finished her Olympic just after my Tri it and I walked up and thanked her, but I wish I knew who she was.

Finishing was the best part of the day, finishing with at RTB jersey was a close second. Thank you all for your encouragement and support. I am so proud to be a RTB team member.

I will never forget my first outdoor triathlon. It was humiliating, painful, dirty, wet, exhausting, exhilarating, uplifting, empowering and wonderful. I ran across the finish line that day, and it was great.

What I learned:
Never give up. Even though triathlon is an individual sport, it’s good to be on a team, because you are never alone.

3 things I must do before Danskin:

1) warm up before my swim, so I can get my breathing worked out; both Patty and Kristin advised this and I didn’t listen
2) learn to pee in my wetsuit
3) work on my running endurance, I didn’t fall asleep after the race like I usually do so I think I had more to give than I actually gave. I wasn’t even that sore today, except for my bum.

Ann Sloan's First Olympic Race Report

Ann's FIRST Olympic Race

Hello all....get ready for a LONG LONG REPORT......it might be two sittings worth with a cup of coffee or wine.
Yahoo...the road to my first 1/2 Iron.....

The Pre Race Story:
Well, most of you all know I LOVE participating in races. Training for my 1/2 Iron has cut back on my race activities this season. Most races are on Saturdays, which is my training group day. Plus I need to do longer distances then sprints. This is where my fear, excitement, not sure what comes into play.....I wanted/needed to do an OLY distance prior to my 1/2 Iron and have very little choices.....in June it is Moses Lake or Cascade Edge. Cascade Edge is closer and cheaper, but they start the sprint and oly at the same time....my fear is being last so I opted for doing Moses Lake since they start their Oly at 8AM and Sprint at 10AM so you figure on the run I'll see the sprinters...PLUS it would be the same course I did my FIRST Tri on........

I talked a fellow Tri girlfriend into to going so we were on!!!! Moses Lake here we come for our first OLY - 1 m swim, 22 mile bike, 6.2 mile run.

FRIDAY NIGHT
Lisa and I drove to Moses Lake.

RACE DAY
Lisa and I got up at 6AM. I was dawdled too much....packed my stuff and dawdled more. Finally we left the hotel around 6:40, decked out with my RTB race uniform and headed to...you guessed it.....Starbucks! Got my pre-race green tea latte. YUMMY. Got to race check in about 7:05. Grabbed our stuff and set out to transition. We decided to set up next to another Biancci bike like Lisa's. The owner came over and it was a gal from Seattle, Gail - we made fast friends! this was her second OLY. She knows several of the gals I am training with for my 1/2 Iron. It made the time pass super fast...all of the sudden it was 7:40 and we needed to get in our wetsuits.

The SWIM>>>DA DA DA DUM
Got into the water and filled my wetsuit. Swam a few strokes then stood in the water for the 'Race Meeting'.
I was feeling pretty good. Excited.
Rory the race director started the meeting. He said....ok - now the swim has an hour cutoff.
"WHAT!?!" I yelled An hour!!? He gives me a funny look and several swimmers laugh and yes you need to swim a mile in an hour.
I yelled, THAT WASN'T on the website!!!! I am not kidding,this is not good." ok, now I was stressed!!!
I have never 'officially' done a mile in the open water let alone timed myself. Well, I pretty much did not listen to the rest of the race meeting....1 hour holy crap.

Once the meeting was over they did the national anthem. I think that calmed me a bit, but I kept thinking I need to do this in an hour.....30 seconds to send off....wished Gail and Lisa luck.....10 seconds....GO!!!!

ok, we are off. YEA, didn't even think about the people in front of me. The thought of being left NEVER entered my mind only, get to the 1st buoy.....just swim......

the swim course was 1/4 out, 1/4 back, then another time.
Got to the first buoy, hit my lap button on my watch - DID NOT LOOK AT THE TIME....figured that might stress me out. After I turned I felt some hands hit my feet. HUMM>>> someone is actually drafting off ME!?!?!?!? LOL. That kept me thinking for a bit. Midway back to the first buoy the leaders were headed towards me. I was a bit worried I might bump heads with someone. Nope, no head butting, but did have someone push off my legs. Got to the next buoy and hit my watch, again not looking at the time but did look back and there was a girl whose head popped up and she said ONE more to go. I said yep...and again thought wow what a change from last year....someone following me!
Got to the buoy hit my lap button and decided to look at the time - 27 minutes. YES!!! plenty of time.
The kayaker was funny - he said I was just behind the leaders and he was sure I could catch them. I laughed, thanked him for being there and headed on my way......last 1/4 mile. No worry, no concern. Did try and push a bit faster. Then heard one of my trainers voices in my head - Make sure to pee before you get out! Hummm, pee while swimming...yipes. That took my thoughts through the last 1/4....was able to pee a bit finally after concentrating. LOL>

Got out of the water at 37 minutes and was greeted by Rory who quickly looked at his watch and said - What 37 minutes - weren't you the one who was worried about the hour cutoff ....plenty of time!!!

Overall - my swim was GREAT! I wouldn't have changed a thing. I was steady, didn't freak out - other than before at the hour cutoff, kept mostly focused.

Ann's top 5 list of - you know you've improved your swimming when.....
1) You do the entire swim freestyle instead of back stroke
2) Even though you are 5th from last, someone is actually drafting off of you!!! (felt the gal hit my feet a few times on a turn)
3) The first 3/4 of a mile doesn't feel like the longest 27 minutes of your LIFE.
4) On the last 1/4 mile all you can focus on is how to pee and swim before getting out.
5) You look at your time for 1 mile (37 minutes) compared to last years 20 minutes for 1/4 mile !!! :)

Transition: Lisa was already in transition when I came in....we chatted a bit. can't remember much...then she headed off saying I'd catch her on the bike. I was moving kind of slow.

Bike:
Now on to the bike.....not much to report here. We are on a frontage road next I90. The first couple of miles my HR was way up and my thighs seemed to be hurting a bit. Tried to work that out. Few things to look at....freeway, racers coming back, few racers ahead. Lisa left a few minutes before me...so I worked on catching up to her and did. Spent most of the race on my aerobars. Saw a snake in the road too. The course was probably close to the loop around Lake Sam. I think Lake Sam has a few more hills, but felt about the same. Ate my 6 potatoes for fuel. Didn't drink enough probably. Would have been a whole different thing if it would have been hotter. It was fun seeing my speed at 17 and 18 mph...that is rare!!!

My Avg speed...16.4

Transition: Got into transition and changed my socks for the run. My feet were wet. Lisa came in just after me. Grabbed my hat and fuel belt which was packed for a family of four, said goodbye to Lisa, cause I knew she'd catch me on the run. Yes, had my fuel belt packed with all four bottles.

RUN:
The first mile didn't feel great but didn't feel awful either. Lisa passed me before mile 1 and was looking good - even though she said she thought her legs would sieze up at anytime.
This is where I know training pays off. Kept telling myself that the first two miles would be hard, but then I'd get into a rhythm. Before I got to the first water station a guy started to pass me...I of course cheered him on. I got to the first water station, passed on the stuff indicating I had enough for my family of four and kept on going....the guy stopped. Then he caught me again and asked if I had done this before - I said just sprints, how about him...first time and this is hard....then off he ran.....

By myself again.....saw racers coming back....yelled at them...didn't get too much response back. Passed a house where some folks were bbqing...I said hi, they returned the favor and asked how I was doing - I said GREAT and them? They had hangovers. LOL. Run run run.....sing to my self...lets see what else to think about.....oh, there's a yard sale....run run run.
Opps almost missed a turn....the volunteer wasn't paying attention. Whew, the turn around. Lisa passed me on the way back. I said I had plenty of water/gu if she needed anything....she laughed said she thought about asking me but thought it might freak me out.

Turn around point here I am!!! passed again on the water station, thanked them and told them sorry I didn't need them to do their job. :) Passed the yard sale house...there were some more folks shopping this time. There were a couple of folks looking bored, so I clapped and said, come on and cheer for me! They did.....that made me laugh for a bit. SAW NO ONE....for a long while...then I heard a car come by and girls cheering...it was the yard sale folks. I waved and cheered back...kept on running. Finally made it to the turnaround for the sprint distance folks and started seeing people. To my surprise the yard sale car came around again....LOL....
I kicked it in the last 1. I was in my element - other racers! I cheered everyone I saw......of course I am sure some of the faster sprinters were trying to figure out where I came from...and how I got ahead of them. The race numbers were the same color so they may not have known I was on the OLY course as the 2nd to LAST person!!!! Yes, not last but there was only one runner behind me......Then on the last 1/2 mile I caught up to an OLY runner....checked in with him and said come on and get on my heels...we're ALMOST HOME!!! Let's go!

I see the finish line and head on in with a SMILE on my face and my thumbs up!!

Except for my first mile - I was under 12 minutes. the last mile was great - 10:30, that was when I could cheer on the sprinters and had something else to focus my attention on other than ME! this was about the time I was thinking about my 1/2 Iron as well as if I ever did an Ironman - holy cow how would I keep my self entertained for 17 hours...ALL by myself???

The finish!
Lisa is greeting me at the finish line! I hug her and am so happy she finished and was happy! This was her first OLY and she hadn't been totally training for it. BUT she was sporting a 3rd place medal !!! Good for her. Then to my surprise the race director Deanna says oh Ann - here I have your medal....LOL....I said how can I get a medal being 3rd to last?!?! But there it was, 3rd for my age group!!! Of course there were only about 40 folks in the OLY race...and 3 or 4 folks in my age group. I'll take it anyway I can get it... :)

Total Time: 3:23 - not bad for my first OLY and to still be smiling and want to do it again..
1/2 Iron here I come - 1 month 3 weeks 4 days!

I really like this race I think it might be an annual one for me.

FUN TIMES!!!!

Ann

Cheryl Iseberg's Half Ironman Race Report

70.3 Hawaii Half Ironman
Race Report - Cheryl Iseberg


In my best imitation of the sports announcer Al Troutwig “you find yourself on the Big Island of Hawaii”. Beautiful music is playing in the background. Pan to show the lava fields and waterfalls of Hawaii. You triathlon freaks know the rest of the lead for this story.

So, I have found myself on the Big Island of Hawaii for the second time in 8 months. Rob and I volunteered at the World Championships (Ironman Hawaii) in October as finish line catchers. We caught a glimpse of the magic and also met someone that would make an impact on my life. Many of you know and have contributed to my Janus Charity Challenge effort for Ironman Coeur d’Alene for Jon Blais aka “Blazeman”. Jon is the first person to complete the race with ALS. I was lucky to meet him and shake his hand in October and I am doing my best as a Blazeman Warrior to raise money for ALS at Ironman CDA.

A lot has happened in the last few weeks so this race report will be long (ok as usual) to get everyone up to speed. A week before the race I got some very interesting news that lead to a frantic email to my friend in triathlon and life, Patty Swedberg. The email went out in pure panic and desperation upon the news. Patty responded and jumped on a plane within 48 hours to join me here in Maui for our first ever Maui Training Camp. One I hope we can do each year J

We started a regiment of eat, train, call husband and talk for 2 minutes, eat, train, and sleep. Some of us eat more then others CLEARLY. Coach Phil I tried to get those last few pounds off of Patty but she insisted on sherbet and cheesecake. We had a good week of dedicated training. We are both focusing on June 24th and looking for redemption.

At the end of the week as we changed modes to Patty flying home and Rob flying in for a visit and to join me on the Big Island I received news that Jon Blais had passed away on May 27th. Jon was a true warrior on the fight of this terrible disease and showed what could be done with courage, strength and honor. Jon was diagnosed just two short years earlier. This information set me back. I wanted so much to be able to send an email to the rest of the Warriors of my accomplishment at Ironman CDA and I wanted him to be a part of that. I was not prepared to loose him right now but I know that he is at peace and I find comfort in that. I know the next time I meet him I will not have to lean over a wheelchair and lift his hands into mine but perhaps we will be coming out of the water together toward the end of great swim.

The trip to the Big Island is a short one from home here in Maui, just a 30 minute flight. We found our way to the race location and I knew this was going to be a great venue and race. It would be hot, humid, and windy. Perfect race conditions J My warm up bike ride was very windy and I soon realized that Maui winds do not equal Kona Winds.
Note to self, ride the white line so when the wind gusts come you have room for when you bike leaps and yes I mean leaps several feet over to the right. I knew the course was tough but I was not in panic mode. This race was not a goal race for me but a warm up to practice my nutrition and have a good training day in preparation for Ironman CDA. This thought made the pre-race panic attacks manageable well that in a few $15 drinks at the hotel bar.

As always, beautiful bodies riding sleek machines through the hotel complex. You wonder if these people do anything but train. This is always the time you start to wonder if you really belong in this league of triathlon freaks. Type A personalities everywhere but some things never change. A day of worry turns into “ok let’s do this”.

The day of the race is beautiful and the beach is fantastic. There was supposed to be cannon to start the swim but I never heard anything I just saw this mass of people running down the beach. Huh, ok let’s run as far down the beach before we swim. Sounds like a cool idea. The water is warm and clear. Not a lot of fish or reef but its nice. The current is running out and toward Maui. The first few buoys are tough. I have to fight off the other 1000 athletes struggling to figure out open water swimming in salt water without a wetsuit and fighting a current. I love the challenge and make my way through the blue caps (men) and leave them behind. On the backside of the course the kids are all way off course fighting the current. I make my way inside the buoy line and find a good deal of open water and no current. I love it! I take my swim as a nice swim in the ocean. No real pushes of power or kick. Just a nice 1.2 mile swim at a good pace. Coming out of the water in a near perfect time. I feel great despite the complications of a sinus infection and I take the time to go through the water showers to get the salt off of me. This is key to salt water swimming – get the salt off of you before proceeding on the bike for several hours of sun or you will suffer from that poor decision making.

I make a good transition and make my way up to the Queen K highway to race one half of the Ironman World Championship course. I think about Jon and ask for his help to keep things going well for my race. I see a lot of athletes with bike issues including many flats. The bike tech guys are on top of everything so people are not waiting long. I pray as always to the triathlon gods to let this not be the day that I encounter bike issues. My new ride and new Zipp wheels are screaming fast and I take the time to enjoy the ride. As the course gets more difficult as we make our way to the turnaround at Hawi, the wind picks up and the incline changes. I make sure just to focus on the plan from Coach John and keep a good pace. My mind wonders to Jon Blais again. How on earth did he ever do this race? How did he will his body to go up and down these hills and suffer the winds that never stop?

I am greeted at Hawi with “welcome to Hawi and God Bless” by a young bike rider. Perfect. This is just perfect.

I then proceed to drink up and eat. I was not prepared for the serious downhill I was about to encounter. I think my bike was giggling with pure joy down that hill. I of course was hanging on for dear life hoping for no big gusts of wind. I don’t know what the hell to do when you’re screaming (literally) down a hill at 66 mph and a gust of wind comes. Yes, kids, 66 mph was the top speed I reached and I took a picture of my bike computer to prove it to all of you race fans.


The lava fields are hot and I find my way back to the hotel and transition to the run. Of course as all of you know I always try to make an entrance and nearly flipped over as I unclipped. I have to blame that on my bike shop boyfriends who convinced me to swap out pedals and new shoes a month before a race. Not quite ready for prime time boys but thanks for thinking of me and I do think the carbon shoes made a difference.

So, T2 goes well and I stop to lather up with sunscreen. I have a pretty good base of tan from Maui but I know this Hawaiian sun and I take the time to get sunscreen on my back. Good plan for my triathlete friends now have some interesting red lines on their backs they are now sporting after the race.

I feel strong but hot at the start of the run. I take the time to hydrate, walk and cool down and thankfully within a few miles I am a new girl with a new attitude – that’s a song right? I feel much stronger then I have in any other race of this distance and I am sporting a smile (Rob said “no mean face” today so I was trying to comply). I have a pretty good run even though it was quite warm and I finish strong. This is a great race for me and I am pleased and tell myself “bring it on for CDA” during the last mile.

So to circle back with why Patty boarded the next flight to Maui. Many of you know this crazy dream of Ironman has been a part of my life for a long time. Many years of thinking of my hero Julie Moss before even starting any sort of training. To be exact, it has been 25 years since I watched her on television crawling to the finish. Doing an Ironman always seemed doable. Competing in Ironman Hawaii always seemed like a pipe dream. Something always to dream about but never to be attained by someone like myself a steady middle of the packer who sometimes can drift to the back of the back J One of the reasons is that Ironman Hawaii requires qualifying for the race which requires fast twitch muscles which only happens when the MS is causing trouble and never in the muscles it needs to be J

So, several months ago I saw an ad for something called the CEO Challenge. Which the short version is a bunch of 40 and 50 year old men competing against each in various sports. Once I logged on to the web site I realized I had to sign up. They only allow business owners or C suite executives with a certain level of yearly revenue from their business. The key part was they made the revenue limits lower for “women business owners” which really pissed me off. I don’t need anyone to lower the expectations for being a woman. So, to race with the boys, I signed up for the CEO Challenge at Ironman CDA. This challenge gives bragging rights to the fastest CEO of the race but also gives out rare Ironman Hawaii slots. Originally I did not qualify to compete for a slot because there has to be at least two women competing and the other woman had to pull out because of a diagnosis of breast cancer which is tragic. I had put the whole thing out of my mind until I was notified the week before the race that there was another woman who might sign up thus we both would be racing for a slot in October. Thus the email to Superstar with a clear panic attack coming on and her race to the airport to come to Maui to assist. Patty is also trying to qualify for Kona through regular age groups slots and after she beat me up for a week, I know she will be there.

Jon Blais died on May 27th and we were officially notified on May 29th that the slots had been approved and the race is on in CDA for us two women. The fastest woman will be going to Ironman Hawaii in October.

At first Rob was on strict instructions (along with Patty) not to tell anyone of my fate. I had vowed not to share this secret with others. Perhaps because I felt I was not worthy of such a slot but more then that, it probably was that I could possibly not be good enough and I might be beaten at the finish line and I would be embarrassed. It has taken a while for me to realize that that is not in the spirit of how I race or approach life. It is not about being beat or being embarrassed about telling people your finish times. No, it is about you doing your best on that day whatever your best is. If you did your best then there is glory in your effort regardless of the finish time or finish place. I truly think that Jon was part of the good race in Hawaii this past weekend but also had a hand in the last minute entry of the other woman in CDA to race for a potential slot in Kona in October.

You all now know that a dream may come true on June 24th and I hope that on that day you will think of me and wish me luck with plenty of speed on that day. I know every positive thought sent my way will help me have a great day. Win or lose – it will be a great day.

Back to Al Troutwig – queue beautiful music and the pictures of lava fields of Hawaii “you learn a lot about yourself on the Big Island of Hawaii”

Thanks to everyone for the continued support.

Livestrong,
Cheryl