Mmmm... food!

This is what I picked up at my CSA this week:

That's a lot of food for one person! The closer we get to the fall, the more food that is ready to eat. Earlier this summer (especially during the floods in May/June), our shares were pretty small, but the last couple of weeks have been quite bountiful!

I started with some sweet corn on Tuesday night. Some of the sweet corn has been better than others this year.

Next up was the eggplant on Thursday. I tried a cheesy eggplant casserole and some baked eggplant. Um, I'm not a big fan of eggplant.

Cam was here for dinner on Friday night. We made fish tacos (my favorite!) and apple crisp. That used the cabbage, onion, and half the apples. Cam came back on Sunday night for dinner again. We used some of the summer squash and zucchini in the pasta sauce, steamed some green beans, and had the rest of the sweet corn.

Today, I made pickles out of the cucumber and washed the lettuce for salads for the rest of the week.

I still have to figure out what to do with the other half a head of cabbage, all the tomatoes, the pepper, and the rest of the apples. More food comes tomorrow!

Mob the 'Quab

Another weekend, another new adventure.

Not only did Cam talk me into doing my first mountain bike race this weekend, he also gave me a guided tour of the course on Saturday afternoon, set me up on one of his old rides (and didn't get upset when I busted the saddle during the practice ride...), and patiently answered my questions and talked me through all my newbie nerves.

I think this was only the 6th or 7th time I've been on a mountain bike (at least riding trails - I don't think that my commuting to the ISU football tailgate on a mountain bike really counts as riding). Thankfully, this wasn't a terribly technical course . There wasn't really any singletrack to speak of - mostly some nice, wide snowmobile trails. But that meant that it would be a little faster course, and at some point, I guess you could say that fast becomes technical again.

I like to think I have a healthy respect for the damage that I could inflict on myself if I got out of control. I lean a little towards caution, but I still like the speed and being just on the edge of out of control. The hard part is finding the fine line between the two.

The venue was Lake Ahquabi State Park, just south of Indianola. The race started at noon on Sunday with Cam and the rest of the Experts, then the Sport Class at 12:05pm, and all five (three dudes and two gals) of us Beginners at 12:07pm. My goal was to survive our single round of the course and to not get lapped by Cam! My warm-up consisted of a few rounds of the last section of the course. It had me a bit nervous as it is a long-ish decent on a torn-up old asphalt road. I went to the line very excited, but not in the same pit-of-my-stomach nervous that I get before a triathlon, just thrilled to be trying something new!

My adrenaline was pumping hard as soon as we got started. I had no idea what to expect out of the "racing" part of the race. I'd seen the course, but not ever really raced a bike before! My heart was red-lined for the first 5-10 minutes with all the adrenaline, but things settled in nicely after that.

The guys in our class were basically out of sight (off the front end, obviously) right from the start, and I quickly dropped the other woman on the first hill. I raced alone for the first 8-10 minutes until I caught someone on one of the hills. And by "caught" I mean that we had both bailed out somewhere on the incline and I was hiking faster than he was. I passed him before we headed out on to the first bridge. At the time I thought he was in my class, but I think he was in the Sport Class, so I'm not sure what his story was... But, the bottom line is he got chicked by some newbie rider!

My HR was more under control and I was enjoying the whole experience by this time. I remembered that the second half was a little tougher than the first, so I just started diggin'. Eventually, I motored up behind another guy and made a clean pass - although I think this guy was hurtin' from an altercation with a tree. As I made my final turn back into the woods before the final decent, I was bummed that the race was nearly over. I was finally getting into the groove and that was it.

I cleanly made it down the asphalt road and to the finish line. I even had time to get off the bike, grab a drink and enjoy a banana before Cam came sliding through at the end of his second lap (he lapped the other gal during that last decent). My goals were met, and I ended it with a huge grin on my face!

Final time was 36 and change, good enough to win the Women's Beginner class and take home a box of Clif Bars for the effort!

Mountain Bike Racing in Boone

No, not me racing on a mountain bike. I just went to watch and cheer. My friend, Cam, is a semi-pro, but doesn't do a lot of racing in central Iowa. So, when I found out he was going to be racing in Boone, I took advantage and headed over to watch. Of course, it turned out to be one of the hottest and most humid days of the summer, but that just added to the adventure.

Armed with a camera and an extra water bottle (for Cam, not me), I hiked into the woods at Seven Oaks and tried to get some good shots without getting eaten alive by the mosquitos or run over by a wayward bicycle.

What I learned:

1. You can't miss a giant herd of mountain bikes headed in your direction - even if they are obscured by the trees. They are loud - at least a lot louder than I was expecting and loud enough that you feel the need to get the heck outta their way!

2. Bug spray is no match for the man-eating insects of this central Iowa summer.

3. It's hard to take good pictures of Cam. He led from start to finish, so I never had any warning of when he'd be coming over the hill I was standing at the bottom of. If he'd been in second or third, I would have had some idea of when he was coming. I don't think he thought much of my request to have him race in second place til the end...

4. Mountain bike racers are a funny bunch. Many of them would have a little chat with me as they rode by - telling me about the heat, the bath they took in the stream, how glad they were that I was there to cheer for them.

5. Cam makes some funny faces when he rides.

6. Sometimes you just have to get off and run!

I think I may have been bitten by more than just mosquitos; I think he's got me talked into trying out my own mountain bike race next weekend! Stay tuned...

Big Creek Tri 28

A quick race report from last weekend...

This being only the second triathlon for me this year (and being only 5 weeks post-Ironman), I had pretty low expectations for this race. My training has been mostly whatever I have felt like doing (or not) on any given day. Plus, I had just come off 4 days of RAGBRAI, which isn't exactly a triathlon-specific training regime.

I wasn't too sure whether the swim would be wet-suit legal or not, so I almost left home without my wetsuit. Thankfully, it dawned on me that I could at least throw it in the truck and use it if, by some miracle, the water temp allowed.

I went off in the fourth wave. It wasn't a particularly physical start, just the usual jostling for position. Still, though, I continued to struggle with getting into a decent rhythm until the halfway point. After that, it was smooth sailing (glad I had a wetsuit, too!) into T1.

Having done a lot of riding over the past few weeks, I wanted to push it a little on the bike to see where I was at. Actually, I decided to treat the ride as a stand-alone bike race, and then hope the run would take care of itself. The new course was great, but early into the race, I realized I had an issue with my left aerobar. At each joint in the road, the impact would cause the bar to loosen and drop to the front. As the race went on, it continued to get worse. After the turnaround, I realized I couldn't get out of aero or the bar would drop dangerously close to my front wheel. The last thing I needed was to endo after having the shifter lever lodge in my spokes! Although coming back into T2 was a little scary given that I could only break with my right and had to stop and dismount with lefty still on the aerobar, I didn't break any bones or sail past the dismount line.

Although there had been a slight chance of rain earlier in the day, by now all the clouds had burned off and we were left with sun, heat, and humidity - kinda like you'd guess Iowa in July might be... I felt strong for about 2 miles, then the wheels came off. It was a suffer-fest to the finish for me, but once I saw the results, I was pleasantly surprised at how the day had turned out.

I finished 5th in my age group and PR'd the swim, the bike, and the overall race! Not great, but overall, I can't complain.

I'm hoping to find at least one more triathlon for the season. Since I haven't done a sprint since the early part of 2006, I'm thinking about the Hickory Grove Triathlon. I'll keep you informed...

RAGBRAI XXXVI - Team Satisfied Strikes Again!

Although the membership changes slightly year-to-year, the whole Team Satisfied experience becomes more and more satisfying with each passing RAGBRAI. The 2008 edition of what I consider the best week of the year took riders from Missouri Valley to Harlan, Jefferson, Ames, and all the way to LeClaire. Per Team Bylaws, the road stopped for Team Satisfied on Wednesday afternoon.

Thursday and Friday: Making Preparations

Though convincing Curt that we wouldn't ruin his new trailer by taking it on the Ride was no easy task, he did eventually relent. He and I spent a couple hours on Thursday getting things ready to go. The main challenge was retro-fitting the parts and pieces we'd previously used on the old trailer to make an equally functional home-away-from-home for the Team. We laid the wall-to-wall carpet, mounted new screens for the doors, and loaded some of the furniture. Honestly, I think Curt ended up really getting into the modifications - he went above and beyond the call.

Sparkle arrived on Friday afternoon and was the most hyper I've seen her in a long time. We finished up the final touches on the trailer: mounting the dresser, loading the sofa, futon, toilet, and all the tubs with the essentials. Tami and Doug were stuck in Chicago traffic, so the first team meeting was a little on the light side, but we made final plans over dinner at the Cafe.

Saturday: Ames to Missouri Valley (via truck and trailer)

The goal was to leave Ames at noon, but due to a few circumstances, we didn't roll out til 1:30pm. We had lunch in the truck and pondered what our first stop might be. Initially, we entertained the idea of stopping in Polk City, but Sparkle and I always have a difficult time figuring out how to get there, and we ended up too far west to stop there.

We continued south to I-80, then west to Stuart. We found a great little bar - Ruby's Pub - and had the whole place to ourselves. The women's restroom was voted best bar ladies' room by Team Satisfied.





Not long after leaving Stuart, the traffic on I-80 came to a complete stand-still. At one point, Sid got out of the truck and went out to talk to the truck drivers and others milling about in the median. He quickly concluded that we would exit the interstate as soon as we could.

The next exit took us southwest to Anita. As soon as we pulled in, we could easily spot the hot ticket for RAGBRAI cyclists. The place was packed with Team Toe Ring. There was dancing on the bar, leg-wrestling, and a couple of TVs. Le Tour + Pure Country = A Very Satisfying Stop for Team Satisfied!

The final stop would be Marne. The party was in full force, and there were clearly some folks who had spent the better part of their Saturday there. Free koozies and a "Pam" spotting were highlights of this stop.

The rest of the drive into Missouri Valley followed the early miles of Sunday's route. Sometimes this isn't the best idea, as it gives you a pretty decent taste of the following morning's hills. The town of 3000 is built on a hillside - not very conducive for camping and hosting 15,000 people. Armed with an address and little else, we failed miserably in trying to find the lot we were to camp upon. It's not a good sign when none of the locals or friendly police officers have ever heard of the street you are looking for... The geniuses that we are, we did eventually find the spot, but there was no way that Team Satisfied (or anyone else with a brain) would be happy camping on a 10% grade.

We decided that if we looked like we knew what we were doing, we could probably get away with parking in a (flat) lot just up the hill. We pulled in like we owned the place and set up camp at the school's bus barn with a bunch of other RVs and tent campers. We shared a couple of kybos and, rather than setting up a dumpster, the fine folks of Missouri Valley left us our own garbage truck!

The skies began to turn dark and ugly as we unloaded and prepared for the first night. In talking to some of the other campers, we learned of a house nearby that would allow us to come inside in case of bad weather, which was forecast. We ate some dinner, then headed downtown.

I was keeping my eyes peeled for the familiar white shirts of Team Emerson, friends we met on the 2005 RAGBRAI. They all have connections to the Atlanta Old White Rugby Club, and we ALWAYS run into them. Of course, a watched pot never boils, so I never saw them and was convinced (and very disappointed) that they weren't going to be there at all. They have become good friends over the years, and it felt like it could be a long week without them on the ride.

It was a slow start to RAGBRAI compared to previous years, but I think the weather played a role in the events of the evening. We had the dark, rolling clouds, the big gusts of wind, and a severe weather watch, but nothing ever materialized out of the sky (thankfully). The band at the beverage garden was pretty good, but the dust blowing around and multiple trains a few feet away chased a lot of us to other locales. Of all the people we met that night, most had been moderately over-served and were not very satisfying to spend much time around. As soon as we were able to convince Sid, we headed for home.

Sunday: Missouri Valley to Harlan

We awoke feeling pretty fresh and took care of all the morning's business of getting packed up and creating a game-plan for the day. While inflating tires for the team, I noticed a familiar issue with Tami's tire. There was a pretty healthy bit of cracking near the bead on her rear tire. Recognizing this as a potentially dangerous (and possibly inconvenient) problem, we made our first stop of the day at the familiar Rasmussen's Bike Shop truck 0.9 miles into the day for a new tire.

Happy to be done with the mechanicals of the day (we hoped), we headed east into the hills. Caffeine and food were the first order of business in Beebeetown. A very tasty ice tea and lemonade for drink and a sloppy joe for breakfast hit the spot. While enjoying the sloppy joe, a passerby asked where I got my "tavern." After asking him to repeat himself a number of times, I figured out he was asking about the sandwich. Have you ever heard it called a tavern?? Must be from out of town...

We continued the climbing to Underwood. Doug was on a mountain bike and Tami was riding her Bianchi that she purchased in high school (15-20 years ago...), so they were getting a little fatigued. I'm sure that it didn't help that their ONLY training miles were 15 miles the week previous along the lakefront in Chicago. Sparkle and I determined that we would put them in Sid's sag wagon after 30 miles in order to get them through the day without dying - they could still enjoy the evening in Harlan and be willing to get back on their bikes the next day.

After a quick pit stop at a (very nice) kybo under threatening skies, a familiar jersey rode past. It was Team Emerson!! They pulled off a few yards up the road to determine what they should do with one of their riders. He is a native of the island of Fiji, where apparently bicycles are not a usual mode of transportation. The rider was having a pretty rough time of things, so I think they were gonna put him on the team sag wagon, too...

We all met up in Neola, the meeting town of the day. Soon, it was like old times, Team Emerson and Team Satisfied hanging out in the (air-conditioned!!) bar and Sid hitting on girls from other teams. Eventually, Sparkle chose to sag in with Tami and Doug, and I headed down the road in the Team Emerson pace line. By now the skies had cleared and the sun was in full force - just like Iowa in July, it was hot and sticky! I stuck with the Emersons until the next town. While they waited for a couple people we dropped, I continued on at a more reasonable pace. I got hit on by some girl, and I can easily say that made me ride about 5mph faster, just to get away from her!


The rest of the ride was great - hilly, but great. I cruised into Harlan and easily found the host home. We showered and headed into town for supper, an ice cream treat at the gas station, and some pull tabs. No one won the lottery, so it was back home for us.

Bad weather was forecast again, so Sparkle (who really doesn't care for tornadoes) decided to just go ahead and start her evening by sleeping inside. I tried my best to sleep in the trailer without cooking myself in the heat and humidity. At 2:30am, I heard the familiar sound of the police making their rounds telling all the campers (via squad car loud-speaker) that a severe storm was going to hit within 20 minutes and we needed to seek shelter. I had the trailer sealed up in a matter of minutes and alerted Tami and Doug that they needed to get out of their tent.

We'd been through this once or twice every year we'd been camping in the trailer and had been caught in some pretty bad situations, so we don't risk anything anymore. I found an empty futon inside, so we got a decent night's sleep after that!

Stats:

58.9 miles

3797 feet of climb

Monday: Harlan to Jefferson

Saucy and the Shaman opted to start their day with a ride in the truck. They wanted to finish up the day riding into Jefferson, and we all knew that 82.9 miles could easily kick your butt!

The ride out of Harlan was good. We missed the century loop again this year! We joke about it each year, but it is one of the by-laws of Team Satisfied. Scientific studies have proven that riding the century loop on RAGBRAI is not at all satisfying.

After 15 miles, we arrived in the first town of the day, Kimballton. It isn't much more than a bend in the road, but we were ready for a little treat. After a granola bar under the shade of a parked pick-up, Sparkle and I walked our way to the other end of town. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a guy with a sign on his bike that said "Spoke Bracelets $5." Sounded intriguing (and not very expensive), so we circled back to get a better view. Basically, this guy does a quick eyeball of your wrist, pulls a spoke out of his bag, and bends (with the help of a pair of pliers) a perfectly sized bracelet to fit you. It's understated and yet says, "I ride a bike." Sure to be a hit on the runways in Paris this fall.

It was another very hilly day. I heard someone say that if you had done the century loop (only an extra 17.1 miles), it would be the hardest day in RAGBRAI history. Sparkle and I agreed early on that we would stop for Pastafari this day, since we were both craving veggies, as one tends to do after eating RAGBRAI food for 3 days. We would ride together some, then we would get spaced apart for a little bit, but would always wait for each other after a few miles.

As I was riding, I was asked by a fellow rider about my cycling sandals and how good they worked for riding. We ended up chatting for quite a while, and, as it turned out, Stuart was meeting his brothers at Pastafari as well. The three of us had a great little meal on the porch of little cabin on a hill. In the shade! We rode from there to Coon Rapids to meet up with Saucy and the Shaman. When we found Snake with the truck, Sparkle decided that she'd had enough, and joined her mom for the rest of the ride into Jefferson. Stuart and I, after being well nourished by cookies and Pringles, headed out to chase down Saucy and the Shaman.

Along the route, we saw evidence of what the previous night's storm had done. The corn in many areas was blown nearly all the way over. There were tree branches everywhere. At one point we came upon a grain bin that had been blown to pieces. Next to it was a wide swath of corn that was smashed to the ground. It was either crop circles or a tornado had been through!

We took another break in Scranton, because it looked like rain (and we were really ready for another break). As we left Scranton, it started to rain. With only 10 miles to go, we forged ahead. The rain would have been fine to deal with, but the accompanying lightning was not. Our two choices were: keep riding or take shelter. However, the only shelter was large groves of really tall trees - not really where you want to be in an electrical storm. We kept pedaling our way to freedom and arrived safely.

I'd never heard of this, but (leave it to the out-of-state guy riding his first RAGBRAI to tell me) many of the bike manufacturers allow riders to demo bikes for a day on the ride. We checked that out, then made our way to our accommodations for the night. I told Saucy and the Shaman about the demos, so they went downtown to see about new rides for Tuesday. The team was blessed with a great host for the night - good showers, supper, and beds (!!!) for the night.

We had a big team that night with Snake and Pete, the Senator and all the riders in the same town. My favorite RAGBRAI band was playing: the Johnny Holm Band. They all dropped me off at the expo on the way into town, as I needed a new helmet. Mine fell victim to some accident that, thankfully, my head was not a part of - I'm still not sure what happened, but it ruined my old one. At the concert, we enjoyed some good beverages, great music, and the always interesting spectacle of the Senator working his constituency.

Stats:

82.9 miles

5239 feet of climb

Tuesday: Jefferson to Ames

Tuesday greeted Team Satisfied with another glorious day. Saucy and the Shaman had some sweet demo bikes to ride (and they wanted to go the whole distance!!). Soon after leaving Jefferson, Sparkle and I lost Saucy and the Shaman after a quick bathroom break in Grand Junction. We ran into Team Bad Monkey and one of my Team Vardo running friends. By the time we were through visiting with people in town, we came to realize that a train (damn trains!) was blocking the only route out of town. After waiting for a little bit, riders started throwing their bikes over their shoulders and hiking up the track until they could cross. When in Rome...

The next stop was just outside of Grand Junction. We spotted the homemade ice cream sign long before we became aware that everything at this farm house was Iowa State cardinal and gold. The ice cream was awesome, and Sparkle dunked a little kid dressed in University of Iowa clothes in the dunk tank.

We moved on quickly as I know Sparkle was excited to get to the next town: Dana! Unfortunately, Dana was not in Dana, but we did get a picture of her with the town water tower, er, stick. In Dana, we hatched a plan to bypass Ogden. We've both been to Ogden, and neither of us could remember seeing or doing anything there that we wanted to do again. We mapped out a straight-shot to Boone. The new route took us through a surprisingly nice part of Boone County and got us out of the crowds for a little while.

We met up with Saucy and the Shaman (who were VERY satisfied with their demo bikes) just before the BIG hill into Boone. Following their hike to the top, we all rode into Boone for some lunch and a quick visit to Details - all three of us used to get our hair cut there. We made another quick stop for a beer, then pedaled on into Ames.

Saucy and the Shaman had to parade past their niece and nephews in town, but Sparkle and I took the shortcut to the house. Already waiting there was Matt (Team Emerson) and his two boys. We helped get them unpacked and into the house, then I met them at the airport to drop off their rental car.

The rest of the Emersons were in the midst of numerous rounds of showering and getting ready when I came back. One over-served Emerson even napped on my kitchen floor while we made plans for the evening.

We all loaded up into a couple vehicles and headed to Sid's for some chow, then to the Styx and Nadas concert. The concert was good, but the fireworks show afterwards was better.

Stats:

57 miles

1377 feet of climb

Wednesday: Ames to Tama-Toledo

It appeared that I was the final remaining member of Team Satisfied who still wanted to ride, so I headed out of town by myself, helping a few wayward visitors with the best way to get through town. Sid called and surprised the heck out of me saying that he was on his bike and headed east! I met up with Stuart in Nevada, and I did my best to give him a different view of RAGBRAI than what he had seen over the previous 3 days. We hit the 6th Street Pub for a vodka lemonade and waited for Sid to arrive. The place was hopping after about 30 minutes, and I almost thought about spending the rest of the day there!

Sid, Stuart and I left after a little while and kept motoring to Colo, then State Center. A text from the Emersons said that Road Hawgs was the place to be there. I had my first tenderloin of the ride then settled in at Road Hawgs with the Emersons and the Monkeys for a few more lemonades. Stuart wanted to keep riding, so, after a high-five, he was off.

After listening to the Bad Monkey's plan to go to Marshalltown (off-route), I threw out the idea to the Emersons who embraced the idea whole-heartedly. Sid had ridden 27 miles (27 more than he'd ridden in about 20 years), and he'd been slightly over-servedso we put him in the Emersons sag-wagon to meet up with us in Marshalltown. A few well-paced draft lines later we rode into Marshalltown. As we rode into town we passed a building with a message board that read, "Welcome Emerson." It was a sign that couldn't be passed without taking a picture. I didn't have my camera, though, so you'll just have to take my word for it...

We found a fun little bar under a bridge and started in on the Red Bull and Vodkas. They were tasty! Following a bunch of BSing on the patio, Sid then Sparkle showed up. It was getting late, and none of us needed any more Red Bull. Sparkle packed Sid and I into the truck, and suddenly RAGBRAI 2008 was over.

Stats:

40-ish

2000-ish feet of climbing

I was bummed out for the rest of the day about having to stop the ride mid-week, but when I awoke Thursday morning to rain, I was feeling like a genius!

More Random IM Week Photos

Here are just a few more pictures from the big Ironman adventure in Coeur d'Alene:

Mike and I were very blessed to have such a large and enthusiastic crowd to cheer us on to our Ironman finishes.

If there is one thing that the Klein clan is good at, it is eating. If eating were a sport, we'd all have M-Dot tattoos! Even our pies sported the trademark...

Aside from being an awesome cousin (to me) and mother of three, Erin is a physical therapist who offered up her services as massage therapist for the weary athletes. I cannot tell you what a great massage that was...

The night before the race, Mike and I were able to take a few minutes to thank everyone for coming out to support us, and for dealing with us as we trained. It was good to be able to say thanks. If you weren't there, and I didn't get to tell you in person, thank you!

The Big Day - June 22, 2008

My goals for this race:
1. Finish under 14 hours. Mike (from Team Vardo) decided that I should have a daylight finish since my Wisconsin race ended well into the night, with a finishing time of 16:30. I think he wanted me to have a better finisher's photo! I had a couple things going for me on finishing in the daylight. First, Idaho is darn near in Canada, so the daylight sticks around a lot longer in the summertime. Second, June 22 is only a day off of being the longest day of the year!
2. I wanted to swim under 1:30, bike under 7:00, and run under 5:00. The remaining 30 minutes were my buffer for transitions and anything else that might come up.
3. Nutrition was a big goal for me, too. I didn't even come close in Wisconsin to staying on top of my nutrition program, and I thought that made a big difference in how poorly that day turned out.
4. My final goal was to remain present throughout the race. Wisconsin was such a blur with the cold, the fatigue, and the stress of it all. I wanted to remember every detail - good or bad. I wanted to have the kind of race that, looking back, I could know that I put myself out there and performed like I haven't in the past.

Pre-Race:
My body was still tuned to Central Daylight Savings Time, so the 4:00am wake-up alarm was not a shock to my system. I had actually slept pretty well; the ice cream in my tummy made me happy all night long. The usual pre-race nerves weren't present, but neither had they been all week, so all was good. I felt very calm, collected, and controlled with every movement. Breakfast was the usual PB & honey on whole wheat bagel. Given the magnitude of the caloric requirement of the event, I ate the whole thing rather than just my usual half.

I turned on the Weather Channel for another update. Things still looked good - partly sunny with a high of 76 and 10-15mph winds out of the south. Perfect. Roehr mixed up four bottles of Perpetuem with calories for 2 hours in each. My plan was to only use 3.5 of them, and have the rest as a back-up. I got dressed and gathered up my special needs bags, my Perpetuem, a couple bottles of water for my bike, a pre-race gel, and some sipping water for the rest of the morning. We loaded up the car and headed down toward the lake.

We parked pretty easily and went first to body marking. Meghan, Teresa, and Leigh were a three-man body-marking team. Then it was off to transition. Roehr was smart enough to wear her volunteer shirt, so she came into transition with me. It had rained the night before, and there were puddles on all the transition bags, but thankfully nothing in my bags was wet. I put the nutrition in my swim-to-bike bag, then we headed to my bike. The plastic bags I'd put on the seat and front had pretty much done their jobs, so I reset the computer, made sure it was in the correct gear; the last need was a little air for the tires. I gave the IronMaiden a quick little pep talk, then we went in search of the special needs drop-offs.

We walked west along the lakefront to bike and run special needs. I didn't put much of anything in the bags this time - just a Snickers Marathon bar and some Pepto and Tums in case of emergency, in each. By this time it was only about 5:30-ish, and I didn't have to meet Mike until 6:30, and I wanted to get off my feet and just chill for a while. We found a great little spot on the wall at the far end of the beach, away from all the chaos of the morning. Roehr and I just talked and watched the swim course take shape. There were tons of kayaks in a rainbow of colors - it was a really cool sight to see them all on the lake as the sun came up over the hills to the east.

Soon, the pros were making their way onto the beach to begin their warm-ups. I glanced over to my left and saw an athlete getting into her wetsuit. It took me a moment to figure out that I'd been sitting next to Desiree Ficker for about 15 minutes! Roehr went into stealth mode, and managed to snap a couple pictures of her getting ready.

Lori walked by at about 6am, and joined us on the wall. She took a few more pictures and I just enjoyed the whole thing - relaxing, hanging out with friends and family, keeping things in perspective. It is a good way to start an event like the Ironman. The morning was still pretty chilly - about 55-60 degrees, so the longer we sat, the colder we got. I was not feeling very excited about getting in the cold lake already freezing! A little before 6:30, we started walking down to meet Mike. It was very crowded along the lakefront, but I managed to spot him without any trouble. I shoved myself into Jenny's wetsuit, lathered on the BodyGlide, gave lots of hugs to everyone, and then Mike and I flowed into the mass of black moving toward the lake. The Swim:
Mike and I wanted to start together, so we found a little spot of real estate on which we could await the start. We took a quick dip in the lake to get the initial shock of the temperature out of the way. I think the official temperature ended up being 59.5 degrees - it had warmed up a few degrees since my arrival. Mike and I shared a few words and I told him to take a look around at the last little bit of peace he was going to see for the next hour or better. As we looked around, I was amazed at how few people were standing near us. We had lined up roughly in the middle, but we were about 3-4 rows deep with no one behind us. As I looked to my left and to my right, there were stacks of people crowded all the way up to the wall, but no one very close. I guess no one wanted to start in the middle, so they all took the advise of starting to the outside! Not a problem for me! The National Anthem was sung, we watched the pros come around to start their second lap, Mike Reilly had a few more encouraging words for us, then the cannon started the race! Between the cold water and the 2000 other athletes, this was the most violent swim start I've been a part of. At least in other large races, you can put your head down and swim. But here everyone was doing the swim 3 strokes and sit-up routine. This went on for at least 600 yards. No one was in any sort of rhythm. The blast of the cold water, the stress of the start and the race, plus all the arms and legs were too much for many people to handle. I was ready to swim, I just couldn't swim away and through all the bodies to find any clear water. The other variable that I always seem to forget about is the male to female ratio. This race was 70:30, and it's tough being a sub-130# female getting the crap kicked out of you by men twice your size for over an hour.

While things had spaced out a bit by the first turn, they just piled back up at the corner. It wasn't too far to the second turn, and finally after that I found some open water. The sun was peeking in and out of the clouds which was good and bad - the sun really helped with warmth, but it was much easier to sight without the sun blasting in your eyes. By now, I was good in the temperature department and was swimming at a pretty good pace. I kept hearing Jenny's words ringing in my ears about my swim stroke, so I spent a little time making sure all was good with the technique.

Soon enough, I was ready to get out of the water at the 1.2-mile mark. My legs weren't really excited about having to walk/run out of the water, but we got it done. As I eased back into the water for lap two, I noticed that not only was the water not cold, it almost felt warm! About 25 yards into the second lap, I took a shot to my left eye. I think it was a fist, but it could have been a foot, too. It shoved my goggles into the eye, so I had to sit up (which also gave me a chance to say a couple of choice words) to adjust. Not really a big deal, but painful for a little bit. Everything else about lap two was good. I had no idea of my time, but I knew that my swim fitness felt great.

I climbed out of the water and walked up to the transition area. I heard people cheering for me, but couldn't always tell who it was. I also overheard someone mention something about 1:20 (as in elapsed race time), so I figured I swam near that time. I grabbed my bag from a volunteer (who I later found out was Allyson, Kris' sister, but apparently I didn't look up at that point) and ran to the women's change tent.

Outside was my mom directing traffic into the tent. I stopped and gave her a quick hug and kiss (she looked very relieved to see me non-hypothermic) and went inside. I saw Roehr was helping someone else, but I sat down nearby. I was still feeling pretty focused, so became very direct with the volunteer as to what I wanted and in what order. I got all my nutrition loaded in my bike jersey (and somehow got my arm warmers on) and headed out the door, telling Roehr my time as I left. Immediately outside the tent were the sunscreen applicators. I could see Erin had opted to be near the men's tent exit (smart girl, Erin!!), so a couple of other women tended to me (how come they didn't have male sunscreen guys at our tent??). They didn't do a very good job, but, as I later found out, I shouldn't have worried about myself; it was Mike that came out with the second degree sunburns from the day (with lots of finger streaks from the applicators...).

The Bike:
The sun was shining and I had a great swim. Transition had gone well, too; it was almost all too perfect. The bike course starts with a short-ish out and back along the lake, about 16 miles round-trip. Then we head north toward Hayden Lake, and the hills start there. There are just a couple hills after the turnaround, then it is pretty flat back toward transition, with just another tiny (1-2 mile) out and back before you can start the second lap (or head into transition).

I carry my nutrition in a Bento Box on the bike. It is big enough to hold two 2-hour flasks, so the other two flasks go in my jersey pockets. There is a little velcro top that secures the flasks into the box. My plan was to just have a sip or two of water for the first 20 minutes, then start in on the Perpetuem, one shot every 20 minutes. I took my first shot right before the first uphill. The road was a little rough coming down the back side of the hill, and I had a little chuckle to myself about all the yellow meshy aero bottle thingys that had bounced out of the water bottles of other people. There was lots of stuff littering the road - CO2 cartridges, water bottles, gels, etc. I hit the turnaround and was headed back to town when I was ready for shot number two. I looked down into my Bento Box only to realize that I, too, had been a victim of the road! Apparently, I hadn't sufficiently secured the top and had bounced one of my nutrition bottles out with everyone else's! Next time, I won't laugh quite as hard. It's that whole karma thing...

As we make our way back towards transition before heading out on the big loop, I was riding along, still kicking myself for losing a very valuable bottle of nutrition, I suddenly hear a "whoomp, whoomp, whoomp" noise coming from my bike. Just as I realize it is something hitting my brake pads on each revolution of the wheel, I brace myself for the upcoming pop of the tube. BANG! It sounds like a shotgun, but I was thankfully on a flat, residential street, and not screaming down some huge hill at 35mph! I pull over and methodically start to pull out my tools and go over the steps in my mind. Part of me was bummed that this had happened, but the other part of me was still focused on the task at hand and was thankful that I'd changed a bunch of tubes and tires this spring, so I knew the drill. Also good for me, was that it was the front wheel, so it is a lot easier to deal with.

I grabbed a section of grass in some dude's yard and the tire comes off easier than usual - I should have known that was a bad sign. I pulled out the old tube and grab a new one. Not wanting to forget any important details, I grabbed the tire to check out what cause the hole. It was wishful thinking to hope there was a thorn or nail in the tire. Instead I saw that the bead had blown on the tire. It is totally shredded. Not good. I was carrying two tubes, but no tires. I decided to replace the tube and see if I can limp it back to transition (only a couple miles away) and hopefully get a new tire there. I put a little CO2 in the new one and it bulges right out of the hole, like I expected. So I deflated the tube some, put the wheel back on the bike, and started walking. This was not what I wanted to be doing at 9am on race day.

I was looking for a tech support van to magically appear, but none ever did. I waved down a race support motorcycle who did a u-turn to get to me. He asked me what I needed and if he could call anyone for me. I didn't know of anyone I could call who could help me, so I just asked him to see if he could find a tech van. He rode away, and other riders started to ask if I needed help. I got lots of pity looks when I said I needed a tire, not a tube. After a block or two of walking in my cycling shoes (turned out that the mile-plus hike we did in the Arizona desert in our cycling shoes actually paid off!!), the spectators started to come to my aid. One lady said her neighbor had a bunch of bikes and maybe he could help. Her daughter ran over to the guy's house and, sure enough, his front yard was littered with about 30 bikes, mostly cruisers and kids' bikes. He came out of the house looking rather irritated, but asked what size I needed. He said he didn't have one, so the walk began again.

This was the first time that I actually started thinking that my day might be over. All the training, the fitness, the excitement might be for nothing. I was seriously bummed. After another block or two, another spectator asked what I needed. He thought he probably had one, so I pulled over. [Excitement!!] Soon, he comes out of his garage with a front wheel. We pull the tire off the rim, and get it on my wheel. Upon closer examination, we realize this tire is a piece of junk, too - really old and starting to disintegrate - probably not gonna last me the whole race either. [Disappointment...] He yells across the lawn to his neighbor, and soon this guy comes trotting out of his garage with another wheel. [Excitement, again!!] It looks good. Definitely not a race tire, by any stretch of the imagination (even had a Schrader valve), but who am I to complain!

As all this is going on, I see out of the corner of my eye, one of the race officials heading my way. [A touch scared at this point...] He wants to know what is going on, and if I need some help. I basically tell him that I need a tire, and I need him to just look the other way (literally) while I allow these nice young men to put a new tire on my wheel for me. [Please don't DQ me for this!!] He says it's no problem and away he goes! We got the tube deflated on the neighbor's wheel so we could switch the tire, and suddenly we realized it will just be faster to give me the whole wheel. It is at this point that I ask these guys what kind of beer they like, since I'm pretty sure I owe them a giant pile of whatever they ask for! Their only request is that the beer is cold. I can do that! I glance up at the address on the house so I am sure to remember where to bring the beer - 1209 Mullan. I handed them my old wheel as collateral, got back on the bike and started again!

I think the entire ordeal cost me around 20 minutes and a lot of heartburn, but I rode away with a huge smile on my face and a ruined day saved! The only other casualty of the long pit stop was that I somehow bumped the computer sensors on the bike and had no other information besides cadence for the rest of the ride. This is sort of ironic, since my computer crapped out during Wisconsin, too. Truth be told, I really do most of my riding based on cadence and heart rate (on my watch) anyway, so it was no real loss, but I was kind of looking forward to having more information this time. Still, I was so thankful to be riding I didn't much care!

I had to refocus myself, now that I was back in the race. The game plan had been to go really easy on lap one, then get crazy (or as crazy as I can get at my speed...) on lap two. This little detour meant that I was already way off my goal pace and the total time goal might be gone, too. I brought myself back to the real world, where I still had about 120 miles left in my day. I got my heart rate and cadence where I wanted to be - at the "easy" pace I had initially wanted. Still, I was picking people off like crazy.

The downhill sections of the race were a blast and the scenery was amazing, especially out by Hayden Lake. But what goes up must come down, so the uphills were amazing, but in a different and not so good way. The first major hill was probably the worst of them all, and I honestly didn't know if I would need to test out walking in the cycling shoes again when the second lap came around. However, not long after that climb was a great group of loud Team Klein-Vardo supporters in their awesome red shirts - so easy to see! They were cheering like crazy for everybody, but turned it up a notch or two when they spotted me! The hills rolled on for about another 20 miles and I saw Roehr and my parents and Lori at various points out on the course. I told Roehr about the flat and the address of the guys that I owed beer.

I made it a point to offer some encouragement to those riding around me. We shared some brief chats during passes, and I think it really helps to have all those positive vibes going in the midst of something that can be rather painful. I also made it a point to smile whenever I saw my friends and family. I think that helped me get past the rough start. The ride back into town was flat, but into a headwind. I was still feeling great at this point and even smiled as I headed back out on my second loop. I remembered how terrible I felt at Wisconsin when I started lap two. I really wanted out of that race at that point. I really was having a good time at CDA! Special needs is not at the halfway mark in CDA, it is more like 62 or 64 miles - the turnaround for the first little out-and-back. As we headed back out, we rode down Mullan again, and as I passed 1209 Mullan, I gave a little shout out to the guys who helped, "Thanks for the wheel!!" They all went crazy! I even heard one guy say, "Is she still out there??" They were yelling for me as long as I could hear them. I did decide to stop at special needs to pick up one of the Snickers Marathon bars, as I'd lost one flask of nutrition early on. Mentally it was good to know that I was beyond halfway when I stopped for SN.

I rode past 1209 Mullan on the way back and gathered a little more energy from the saviors of my race. Once on the road headed north for the second lap, we had the wind at our backs. I could see that many of the racers were felling a little cooked at this point (exactly what I had felt in Wisconsin at the same stage of the race). Feeling great, I tucked down into aero position and went to work. As my old track coach used to tell us, "You've got to make hay while the sun is shining!" The sun was shining on me, and I again started passing people like it was my job. I survived the hills on the second lap, and all the fans that were there on lap one remained! I began to experience some higher highs and lower lows later in the ride. I would have a burst of feeling great followed by feeling like I could barely turn the cranks. But knowing that I was almost done made it go by more quickly. I ran through the first two bottles of nutrition in 4 hours - right on target. The third flask was one that I picked up at the expo (I know, nothing new on race day, whatever...) and it was not a good one, but I had to use it because of the lost one I had bounced one out of the bike. The valve wouldn't stay open and the sides were too rigid to squeeze any of the nutrition out of, even if you could get the valve to stay open! So bottle three was quite a task to get into my system. I basically had to get into aero position, unscrew the lid and pour the Perpetuem into my mouth. It got all over everything including my face. I probably looked like a 2-year old trying to eat oatmeal. Plus that stuff is so sticky, it's like super glue and won't wash off. After two attempts with that, I dug into the Snickers bar and then part of a banana from an aid station. That was enough calories to get me back to transition.

The Run:
I returned my bike and found my bag without any problems. Again, I was very direct with the volunteer in the change tent, and things went smoothly. I changed my whole outfit and filled up my shirt with gels and tied a long-sleeved shirt around my waist. I walked out of the change tent with my hat and a half eaten Snickers bar (the rest of the one from the bike) in my hands, but my hair was pretty laughable - the swim and 7+ hours in a bike helmet didn't do me any favors! But I sure didn't want to sit in transition and try to make a ponytail out of the wasp's net that was atop my head! Of course, as soon as I get out on the course, I see Kris, and I yell at her not to take my picture! I must have looked even worse than I thought because my comment drew quite a laugh from the rest of the crowd! I somehow managed to get the hair tamed down and into my hat, then I started to think about running.

The run is similar to the bike in that it has a short out-and-back followed by a longer out-and-back, then repeat. I started with a little easy trot to see how everything felt. It was not so good. Almost immediately, we came to an aid station, so I tried a couple pretzels and some water. That was tough going down, but I was able to start with my run plan. The plan was to walk the aid stations and any big hills. I figured I could talk myself into running the 0.9 miles betwen each aid station. In the early miles, I stretched the aid stations out just so I could walk a little more. Nutrition-wise the plan was a gel at every third mile and water or Gatorade at each of the other miles. During miles one through eight, things were not good in my world. I was plodding along, thinking I was in for another really long day. But I was moving. And managing to have some gels (and I was really glad I grabbed those couple of caffienated ones at the store on Saturday!!). I saw lots red-shirted fans along the route, but everytime I opened my mouth to speak, the words either didn't come out or they came out in extra-slow-motion. Lori was volunteering at a run aid station but still wearing her red Team Klein-Vardo shirt, so she was easy to spot! It was so good to have fans all over the place!

As I was coming back down the big hill at the turnaround, I finally saw Mike as he was coming up. He looked great and he ended up passing me before either of us had reached the bottom of the hill. He was headed in for the finish! I continued the walk-run program and gradually walked less and less (I think the caffeine was starting to kick in!). The trip back into town was kind of a blur, but again I was okay with the fact that I had to take the "To Lap 2" turn instead of the "To Finish Line" turn. I knew I only had 13 miles to go! And believe me, that was something I could embrace!

I'd been doing a lot of math in my head, trying to figure out my finish time. Everytime, I knew it was gonna be close. The overwhelming desire to finish in under 14 hours kept me moving. Each step after mile 13 is great, because you know you are one step closer to the finish line. Things started to feel better and, although this may sound a little strange, I gave myself permission to run. I think that I had been holding back from running because I knew that in this long race, I would only get more and more fatigued and less likely to run. By giving myself permission to run, I (obviously) covered a lot more ground faster, and for some reason, it made me feel better.

While the running was going pretty well, my stomach had pretty much had enough. I think my last gel was at mile 14 or so, and that was all she wrote. Even the thought of trying to swallow another one of those made my stomach unhappy. I kept up with the Gatorade (about an ounce or two) at each aid station, but nothing substantial. I walked up the last hill to the final turnaround at mile 20.75, then I knew it was just a straight shot to the finish line. While most people hit the wall at mile 20, I suddenly came alive! My walking breaks became shorter, and my pace started to pick up. With 3.2 miles to go, the clock read 13:24 - I just needed three sub-12-minute miles to meet my goal! I saw Roehr and Kris one last time at their corner, then I was headed for home.

My legs were tired, but still able to do their thing. When I took the final "To Finish Line" turn I was stoked. I had been going back and forth with some girl in a pink jersey for most of the last half of the race. I'm betting I really made her mad when I went sprinting (as much as one can sprint the last 0.6 miles of 140.6) past her towards the finish line. I was actually quite a dork as I made it down to the end... I was high-fiving everyone in sight and just generally acting very excited! I could see the clock at the end of the street, and I still had a few minutes to spare! I ended up at 13:57:22. I was stoked! Even with the bike malfunction, I made it! I got my medal and finisher's hat and shirt, had my picture taken, then was let go out of the back of the finish area. Just after I stepped out, they brought someone else out on a stretcher. I was glad to be upright! We had lots of hugs, pictures, and even a couple of phone calls before I was ready to head to the massage tent. On my way there, I stopped off at the post-race food table to see if I could get anything into my belly. The cheese pizza looked really good, but after two really tiny bites, I decided that was a losing battle.

The massage tent was hyper-heated and felt great, but the chick that gave me the "massage" was not all there. She barely touched me and when she did, it was more like the slight squeeze you might give to an avocado to check on it's ripeness than a massage. After about 6 minutes of that, I was outta there. Roehr met me with some dry warm clothes and a chocolate milk, and we headed back to Mike and Teresa's to rehash the day.

Totals for the day:
Swim: 1:19:32
T1: 8:52
Bike: 7:19:05
T2: 5:35
Run: 5:04:20
Total time: 13:57:22

Total calories consumed (estimated): 2000
Total calories burned (estimated): 8000

Taper Time!

It is really strange to be tapering in June. There is just something wrong with that! Everyone else is jsut starting to really ramp up their training, and I am on the down-stroke. I cannot complain, however, as I am ready for a little slow down. I did my last big workouts this week, including a 2.7-mile swim on Monday and a three-hour bike ride today. I'm not gonna lie; I was pretty pooped after the ride. I need the big reduction in volume that this week will provide. Last week was a 13-hour training week, but this week will only be about 5 and a half!

I'm leaving for Coeur d'Alene on Thursday and will be returning home the following Wednesday. I am super pumped to have so many great people coming to Idaho to watch. It will be great to spend a few days relaxing after the race, too. I'm not sure what we'll be doing, but as I understand, it may involve beer! Next report will be after the race! Thanks for reading!

Getting Caught Up

I've done a terrible job keeping this blog updated in the last few weeks (or months, rather). Sorry. I've been a little busy!

Racing:

Tri season is just getting under way (and is off to a VERY slow start) in Iowa. I had hoped to do one sprint race last weekend just to get my mind back in race mode before the Ironman, but the weather had other ideas. In case you've been under a rock somewhere, Iowa is in the midst of an historic weather pattern which involves massive amounts of rain, big storms, and lots of wind. One of those big storms just happened to occur the morning of the inaugural Copper Creek Triathlon. I was really looking forward to this race, as it is just down the road in Pleasant Hill and the race director is my coach and good friend Jenny. I spent the Friday night and Saturday afternoon before the race helping her get things ready to go. She had a bunch of contingency plans in place just in case modifications needed to be made due to weather. However, the morning of the race the sky was continually flashing with lightning, the winds were blowing hard, and the rain was coming down in buckets. After standing around in the rain for an hour or so, Jenny made the very difficult decision to pull the plug on the race. It was a smart decision, but there were a bunch of disappointed triathletes.


Jenny's problems with the weather are nothing compared to the what the Hy-Vee Triathlon is dealing with. They have a sold-out age-group race and the final Olympic qualifying race scheduled for June 22, but no lake to put the athletes in! Unless, of course, you consider that all of downtown Des Moines is under water. At the height of the flooding, the transition area at Grey's Lake was 17 feet under the water. Even if the water was to go down quickly, the contamination would be too nasty to even consider letting people swim. Both races will now be dry-tris (better known as duathlons). I had the chance to get out on the new courses yesterday, and I am REALLY glad that I get to do an Ironman that day instead. My race may actually be easier...

After we returned from Arizona in April, I planned on doing the Drake Half-Marathon (held at the same time as the Drake Relays) as test of where my training so far had brought me. As it turned out, I had one of my best races ever that day. It was chilly and windy, but I ended up with a PR and felt great. It was a good boost to my confidence going into the last 10 weeks of training.

Two weeks ago was Dam to Dam. The race didn't go as well as I would have liked, but I was right in the midst of the peak of my training, so I'm trying not to beat myself up over that one. It was a PR, so I guess I can't complain too much.

Work:
Although it is not official yet, I am not going to continue working for DMACC. The commute is starting to kill me financially, my supervisor Irene quit a few weeks ago, the work itself was hard to get excited about, and personal training has taken off like crazy in the last couple of months. I worked with some great people there, but I'm not sure that was ever a good fit for me. One thing I learned for sure from that situation is that I do not want to sit behind a desk. I need to be up and moving around and interacting with people. I always had a hard time with people who complained about being too tired after work to workout, but the DMACC experience taught me first-hand why that is.

I've started back to work at the Adventure Learning Center. We are now at two locations: Living History Farms and Southeast Polk High School. That means more work! I also took a "promotion" to lead facilitator this year. Basically that means that I have more responsibility to not only facilitate the groups out on the course, but I will also be helping plan the sequences, coordinate the details of each day, and get paid a little more! As part of becoming a lead, I went through a great 40-hour training program on safety and rescue. There we facilitators from a couple other programs across Iowa that took part with us at Living History Farms. The highlight was practicing rescues on our high course. We took turns being "victims" caught in precarious positions, and we learned how to perform our rescues safely (our first priority) and quickly. Those of us who were able to safely perform the rescues in under four minutes were "awarded" a golden figure 8 key chain. Every time I look at it, I am reminded of what a cool week that was. The adrenaline was pumping like crazy that whole week - I slept like a log every night!

I can never tell when or why things get busy in the personal training business. Most people think I would get swamped right after New Year's, but that never seems to be the case. Most years it is springtime that motivates people. With spring starting later this year, so had the influx of people needing help. I am totally swamped with new clients now! It's great, and I am very grateful that so many people want to work with me, but it is getting tricky to fit them all in! It's kinda strange really. My phone just rings - people I've never heard of or met, but they somehow track down my number and ask me to train them... weird.

This was year six for Team 12.4, and there were 14 people along for the ride this time. I even had a four people who had taken the class in previous years come back to do it again! All spring we fought training in the rain, snow, wind, you name it, but race day turned out to be nearly perfect - maybe just a little warm. These guys get lots of tough kid points for taking on a big challenge like a 20K and doing it in some crazy conditions.

Professional:
I couple of cool things have happened over the last few weeks. In May I went through the USAT Level One Coaching Certification. We had three days of learning, followed by a test and background check. When I get back from CDA, I should officially be a USAT-certified triathlon coach. Although not for publication quite yet, I should have another announcement along these same lines soon after I arrive home from CDA. Stay tuned!

Although a little embarrassing, I can also announce that I was recently awarded the Best Personal Trainer in Story County for 2008.


I'm not really sure who all voted for me, but Crystal's mom assures me that she did! I'm thinking it's probably her and all the little old ladies that I teach in the mornings... Really, it is an honor, and it's nice to be recognized for some of the hard work.

On the other hand, some of my clients aren't quite as crazy about my hard work. I helped talk two of them into running Dam to Dam. They claim I've brought them over to the dark side! I couldn't be prouder of both of them, though. They came a LONG way to get across that finish line 2 weeks ago!

I am now just looking forward to the big race in a few short days and then taking a little break in Coeur d'Alene.

Today was a green day!

Though I am used to driving my gas-guzzling truck all over central Iowa, today offered me a rare opportunity to leave that sucker parked in the garage all day long. There was not a cloud in the sky when I headed off to work on my bike, and the rest of the day was amazingly perfect, as well. Between good weather (a rare find around Iowa these days) and only having to work at one job (and the job was in Ames!!), I gave the environment and my credit card a break.

The commute was a little different than what I would have liked due to the flooding, but it still worked out well. The neighbors probably are thinking that I am nuts, though. I rode one bike to and from work, then came home and headed out for a run. After a quick transition, I came out of the garage on my tri bike and headed out for a training ride. Another quick transition later, and I headed back out for another run!

After my workout, I grabbed my other bike again and took off down the road into town. Tuesdays are the distribution days for the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) that I am a part of for the first time this year. I get a vegetable share from Iowa Fresh Produce, a fruit/berry share from the Berry Patch Farm, and a half gallon of skim milk from the Picket Fence Creamery. This is the third week, and the food so far is amazing.

My fridge is overflowing with four or five types of lettuces, spinach, strawberries, rhubarb, and radishes. As more things come into season, the greater the selection. It's kinda like going to the farmers' market, but someone has done all the work for you! I just show up, pick up my shares, and head home. The rest of my Tuesday nights are spent washing, cutting, slicing, and generally preparing the food so it is really easy for me to grab when I am ready to eat it.

Tonight as I rode home along one of the very few streets with a designated bike lane (who knew??), I am sure I got more than a couple second glances from the people driving past me on the way home. I was wearing the RAGBRAI cooler backpack loaded down with with my milk, veggies, and a bunch of tall stalks of rhubarb sticking out well above my head. I was barely able to get it all jammed into the backpack; I may have to figure out a better way to transport...

I decided to do the CSA thing this year for a number of reasons. I've been gradually working on improving my diet over the last few years. The hardest part for me has always been incorporating more vegetables into the mix. The CSA offers me a big variety of very fresh, high quality food grown locally at a very reasonable cost. My goal is to try everything I get, eat something from the CSA in every meal, and give some of it away - even though I am eating nearly everything in sight these days, there is still so much food every week!

I've been enjoying some great salads every night. The strawberries are amazing (and I'm planning a very yummy strawberry-rhubarb dessert soon!), and I am absolutely loving the milk. I'm sure that my mother who had to basically force-feed me veggies and milk as a child is falling off her chair with shock as she reads this...