Deep in the Heart of Texas - Longhorn 70.3

Austin Trip - Day One:

A little of this.

And a little of this.

Some of this.

Some for me, too!

Then on to this!

I left DM and, after flying thru Minneapolis/St. Paul, arrived on time in Austin. I met Crystal and Jan at the rental car place; we loaded up and headed to the hotel for a quick clean-up before heading to downtown. Jan dropped Crystal and I off at Stubb's to pick-up our tickets for the Gary Allan concert at the will-call window. We were there by 7pm, but all the signs at the venue said that Gary didn't go on until 10pm, so we headed out in search of some supper.

We navigated 6th Street and found some food at the Iron Cactus. The beer was cold, and the food was tasty. Still needing to kill a little time, we found a little Irish Pub nearby and caught up on all that we'd been missing in each other's lives since Crystal moved to North Carolina.

The concert was at an outdoor venue, and the weather was outstanding, but the smokers were out in full-force, so we had to work to keep out of the fog. Gary came on stage right on time, but we quickly realized he'd be quite over-served in the hours leading up to the show. Aside from staggering around the stage and forgetting the words to three songs (which he'd written himself), the concert was pretty good. We charmed the bartender out of two bottles of water by telling him we used to be sisters (he'd been hitting the beer pretty hard himself). A quick taxi ride got us back to the hotel and asleep by midnight. Not exactly the kind of night one needs two nights prior to a half Ironman, but whatever...

Austin Trip - Day Two:

We really only had a couple of things that we needed to take care of on Saturday for Sunday's race, so we had some breakfast and headed downtown to get started. The first stop was to pick up my bike and gear that had been driven to Austin by a Team Vardo friend who was also participating in the race. Then we hit the Whole Foods for lunch and some much needed snacks (and a couple bottles of wine...), we registered for the race, and finally we visited Mellow Johnny's to have a look around.

By the time we'd run all the errands, it was time to find our way to the race venue for a recon and bike drop-off. Crystal tried to stay cool in the shade while Jan and I rode and swam for about an hour. Once the bikes we safely nestled in for the night, we cruised back to the hotel to get cleaned up for dinner.

We had a great dinner with Jeff and Liz Goodman, Tony and Karen Oberman, and Jan. We laughed and drank a couple bottles of wine while enjoying some great food. I *had* to have ice cream (pre-race ritual), so Crystal and I staved off the post-dinner food-coma by walking the nine or ten blocks to Amy's Ice Creams for a little treat. It was lights-out for all of us around 10pm.

Austin Trip - Day Three:

The alarm woke Jan and I at 4:30am. We tried to get out without waking Crystal who was going to catch a ride with Liz and Karen later in the morning. We made it to the parking lot on time and caught an early bus to the race site, but the lines were long!

My wave started 26 minutes after the first wave. The lake was 77.5 degrees - wetsuit-legal, barely - and clear (by Iowa standards). It was the least congested swim start I've had in years. And, considering all the time I've spent in the pool in the last few weeks (read: VERY little), I had a great swim. So great, in fact, that Crystal was amazed that I was out of the water in 30 minutes. I would have been really excited about a 30-minute swim, but as it turns out, the course was short. Rats. Tony had even mentioned something about thinking the swim looked short before the race. The guy is good!

After a decent transition, I cruised out onto the bike course. I had no idea what to expect, as we hadn't ridden more than a couple miles of it during the venue recon the day before. As it turned out the course was about 80% chipseal and 20% asphalt. The roads were very rough, and the wind picked up as the race progressed. I was able to maintain a pretty decent pace throughout, did well with my nutrition, and didn't launch any water bottles. Soon, I was back at transition with a 3-hour bike under my (race) belt. On to the half marathon...

Check out the line of dirt on my back following the bike ride...

I felt decent as I headed out, but soon the heat (and my own lack of run preparation) slowed me. I took to walking the hills and concentrating on getting plenty of water into my body. The two-loop course was about half asphalt and half dirt trail. We spent a good deal of time around the transition area, so I was able to see the Ames/DM fans and my aunt and uncle from Austin quite a few times. Their presence added a little spring to my step and sent me away feeling a little better. The aid stations were pretty fun, too - the costumes and cheering were great. Two trips up the big hill - Quadzilla - was plenty for me, and I counted down the last few miles by reminding myself that they were the last few miles of my whole 2008 season, and I needed to just suck it up and embrace the pain of it all. I was glad to see the finish line, and even happier to see that I had kept myself under the 6 hour mark, my goal for this event.

After some pics with the DM gang, my family, and a longhorn steer, we marched back to the parking area. I loaded the IronMaiden into Chris' van, then Crystal and I climbed in with Phil and Susan to start the second half of the vacation and the part I was most looking forward to - the Tex-Mex eating 3-day binge!

Austin Trip - Days Four and Five:

Phil and Susan claimed that it was the first cloudy, rainy day for quite some time, and, of course, it happened to be the day we had a boat ride planned on Lake Travis. To heck with the weather, we went for the boat ride anyway. It was fun and cool - I was glad we did it!

Monday night we went to my cousin Molly's house for supper with her husband Johnny, their son Cody, and my other cousin Paige and her son Jack. We all enjoyed the fantastic enchiladas, beer, brownies and ice cream, and watching Jack eat hotdogs with grape jelly. It was really good to see my cousins and their families. It had been too long!



Tuesday morning, Phil and I enjoyed looking through a box of old family memories together. Crystal even sat in, as she's basically part of the family, too. We had one more meal of Tex-Mex at the El Arroyo - The Ditch, and made the obligatory stop at James Avery Craftsman. Soon we were all back at the airport and ready to come home!

It was another great trip, and I'm so glad I decided to squeeze in one last race before the tri season ended.

Sugar Races at Sugar Bottom!

With the promise of Whitey's ice cream echoing in our heads, Cam and I headed east this weekend for some time to be spent with family and, of course, mountain bike racing! I got up early on Saturday morning to get in my 10-mile run before we loaded up. We were going to Sugar Bottom Recreation Area (outside of North Liberty, Iowa) to pre-ride the course before continuing on to the Quad-Cities for the night. I didn't think that my legs would want to run 10 miles after an hour or more of riding, so it was good to get it out of the way beforehand.

Cam takes excellent care of me (and the bike he lets me ride) whenever I endeavor to try my luck at this crazy sport of his. We took off together for a little tour of this awesome park. It is very well-maintained and clearly marked, much like a ski slope, with green (beginner), blue (intermediate), and black (not for Julie) routes. It's great fun for me to ride with him - thankfully he slows it waaaaay down when I am with him - I can really learn a lot by watching him. Plus, he gives lots of pointers along the way. Apparently, I was a little rusty getting back on the mountain bike after a couple weeks off, and I could clearly see that I was slowing down his attempts to get a good read on the course. I sent him off on his own, then took off in search of some easy green stuff to practice some basics.

Once I found some trails that were more my speed, I got back into the groove pretty quickly. This course is much different from where I made my mountain bike racing debut - mostly singletrack as opposed to the wide open stuff at Ahquabi. I found one section that I could ride without too much trouble, but that had a few challenging sections and I rode that for about 40 minutes. About halfway through, I heard Cam ride up behind me, and I just tried to ride fast enough that he wouldn't plow me over! I had a big grin on my face the whole time, and with every pedal stroke I got more excited to race the next day.

We continued on to Bettendorf where we cleaned up and met Cam's sister, Amy, and her husband (Josh) and their kiddo (Kennan) at church in Moline. We were entertained at dinner by 17-month old Kennan's funny antics and the skinny, weird dentist who danced outside our table-side window. After dinner, we headed to Whitey's for one of the best Oreo malts I've ever enjoyed. Cam is smart and tries to watch what he eats the night before a big race. I, however, seem to want to put Whitey's ice cream above all other goals and ambitions! We split the malt, but I ate the lion's share.

Sunday morning was perfect! It was a little foggy, not too warm, not too cool. We stopped by Hy-Vee for some coffee (Cam) and bagels, yogurt, and OJ (me). My race was at 10am, but Cam didn't have to start til noon, so he would have plenty of time to inhale a box of cereal before his start.

I was hoping for a good turnout in the beginner class, as the last race I'd done only had two women in my class. I wanted to have a little more competition this time. The parking lot was pretty empty when we rolled in, but quickly filled, and I watched a few more females getting warmed up. I headed out to get the blood flowing a little bit and see if I could figure out what kind of route we'd be on. Naively, I thought that the beginner race would stick to mostly beginner-ish routes, so that was where I turned my focus. Apparently, though, they weren't quite done marking the course when I did my warm-up!

Although the picture above doesn't show it, there ended up being 7 women and 26 men in the beginner class. We lined up, received our instructions, and then we were off! We headed up the gravel road before we turned onto the singletrack. This was the section I'd reconed on Saturday and during my warm-up, so I felt like I could go for it. I think I saw 5 women go in ahead of me, so I had a couple rabbits to catch! We were no more than three or four minutes into the woods before I had my first altercation. I came around a corner a little hotter than I should have, only to find that someone planted a very mature tree right where my bike was steering itself. I had no other option than a direct hit. My only hope at the time was that I could deliver a harder blow to the tree than the tree could deliver to me. My hope was in vain. I stuffed it hard, crashing my left hand, shoulder, and knee into the bark. Saving what little face I had left, I never fell over. Another chick and a couple of guys passed me while I untangled myself from the tree. I didn't really take any time to assess the damage - my mind was still in "rage" mode from the Pantera death metal we rocked in the Jeep during the drive to the course - I just made sure that nothing was broken. You have to look really closely to see anything on my shoulder, but there is definitely blood running down my leg...

The extra adrenaline rush from the crash carried me the rest of the race. Not too much further along, the chick and one of the guys that passed me while I hugged the tree had their own little tangle during a pass, so I passed them back at that point, never to see them again. Once I got the hang of passing people, I made it my job. Don't tell anyone, but the most fun for me is cruising past the guys...

After a good 30 minutes on the singletrack, we hit the gravel for a quick couple hundred yards before getting back in the woods. The two guys I'd been chasing got passed by me like they were standing still. I was loving all the fitness I'd been working on all year! We started hitting some more technical parts of the course where I could reel guys in on the fast stuff, but they'd usually get me on the more technical areas. Overall, I was gaining, and I chicked quite a few dudes.

The third and final section was the most technical of all, and I was starting to appreciate how painful Cam's races are for him. My back was cramping and my arms were cooked, but I only had to do one lap; the experts had three! In the last third of the race we turned onto an expert trail. Right away, we had four log crossings. I easily rode over three of them...

The "highlight" of this section was Cyclocross Hill:

Riders come cruising down the first hill, cross the bridge at the bottom, then try to maintain enough momentum to make it up the other side. I think I made it about a third of the way up before I bailed, grabbed my bike, and ran up the hill 'cross-style. I passed another guy at the top of that hill! There were a bunch of people watching the carnage from the top. I made a mental note that it would be a good place to watch Cam's race when I was done.

With that section behind me, I took off for the finish. I could hear one guy behind me, so I just tried to maintain the pace for the rest of the race. I finished the 10.9-mile course in 1:10:54, about 6 1/2 minutes behind the first place female, good enough for third place.

With my race out of the way, my attention turned to getting some food in my stomach, cleaning up, and getting ready to watch Cam unleash his fury on Sugar Bottom and the competition.

I knew his main competition would be Brian Eppen, a local pro rider. Cam said Brian had a bit of an advantage, as he rides at Sugar Bottom on a regular basis and knows the trails well. But I also knew that Cam is having a great year and was fresh off an incredible 10th place finish at Chequamegon last weekend. This was going to be a fun battle to watch unfold!

I watched the expert and sport classes take off, then wandered over to Cyclocross Hill to see how things would play out on lap one. After about 40 minutes, we hear someone on the far side of the hill tell us there are riders coming. I see Brian cruise to the top of the hill, with Cam in tow about 15 seconds back. So far, so good. The top ten or so guys are able to top the hill without dismounting, but then the fun starts for the spectators! We cheer, encourage, sometimes even attempt to *will* people up and over the top. Most don't quite make it. I enjoyed watching Kent (on a singlespeed) easily zip past an expert (on a geared bike) who barely made it half way before having to hike it. Rather than risk poison ivy by hiking through the woods in search of another vantage point, I stayed put at the hill and cheered and chatted with some of the other fans.

Pretty soon, it was time to start looking for Cam and Brian again. This time Cam was right on Brian's wheel! I screamed some encouragement, then took off for the start/finish line in case Cam needed a hand-up. I also wanted to have a look around for Amy and Kennan, since they were supposed to be driving up for Cam's race, but I didn't see them before the start. Cam was still glued to Brian's wheel when they came through, and both guys looked like they were working pretty hard.

Not seeing Amy and Kennan, I headed back to watch lap three on the hill. I expected it to be another close lap, but when the time was right, all I saw was Cam coming up the hill with Brian nowhere in sight! Cam had to take some evasive action on the way up the hill to avoid a tangle with some lap traffic, but made it through without any trouble.

I screamed something again, and was so fired up at that point, I didn't stick around long enough to see how far back Brian was; I just took off in a dead sprint to the finish line!

A few minutes later, Cam crossed the finish line, looking pretty beat, but thankful for the win! It turns out that Brian had his own altercation with his saddle a couple of times during the race, and that might have contributed to some slower than usual lap times for him, but a win is a win! Soon enough, I saw Amy and Kennan, so we hung out and watched Kennan practice walking on the uneven surfaces while Cam sucked down his post-race nutrition and took a cool-down spin.

Kennan enjoyed her uncle's funny faces and getting to play with the acorns and sticks, and Amy and I enjoyed the beautiful day. Post-race was spent rehashing the day with everyone, taking some more pics, and Cam and I splitting a tall-boy of MGD. What more can a girl ask for?

Late in the afternoon we left Sugar Bottom in search of food and more ice cream in Iowa City. We had the most amazing burritos at the Atlas - these things were to die for: buffalo chicken, mashed potatoes, celery and carrots, wow! Though stuffed, we walked to the ped mall for another Whitey's shake, but this time we each had our own!

Riding and Racing

I can hardly believe, as I look at the calendar, that September is flying past me. It seems like not very long ago that I was just getting recovered from Coeur d'Alene, but already football is on TV and the leaves are starting to change. Usually, this is cause for great concern for me. You see, I basically hate winter in Iowa. I don't tolerate the cold well, and the Iowa winters just seem to go on forever. I like to get out and play in the sunshine, wear shorts and flip flops every day, ride my bike until 7 o'clock or later, that kind of thing. While fall is a fantastic time of year, I generally find myself getting into a bit of a funk when it rolls around because I know that sub-zero temps and fewer hours of daylight are right around the corner.

This year I am fighting the inevitable onset of my winter depression. I have been on my bike as many days as possible and have been getting some pretty decent rides, especially considering that I don't have any races or goals on the horizon. A couple of Fridays ago, I had an afternoon free, so I got on my bike and headed NW. Soon I found myself just west of Webster City and three hours from home! Thankfully, I had a debit card and enough of the day left over to make it home with plenty of sunshine. While I didn't make it home in time to do the 5K I had planned on, I did launch myself out of bed the next morning for a great 10-mile run with Team Vardo.

Cell phones take great pics during long bike rides

Sometime during that run, I had to ask myself what the heck I was doing. Here I was, done with all my racing for the season, with apparently a ton of fitness and nothing to do with it! Talking with a bunch of other triathletes, I realized there were a lot of people I know who are going to do the Longhorn 70.3 in Austin, TX, on October 5th. So, with 3.5 weeks to race day, I pulled out the trusty ol' credit card and bought a plane ticket and a race entry.

With only a few weeks to sharpen for the race, I've been spending more time in DM riding with some folks who are getting ready for Ironman Florida in November. We've had some really fun rides, even when we get lost (and add another 90 minutes to the ride because of it) or it rains. I've made some awesome friends through this sport, and I am so thankful for that!

As I think about this race season, I am also really thankful for the opportunity to do some events I might have shied away from in the past. Last weekend's DOathlon for Life might fall into that category. I've only done one other duathlon: the 2007 Dutchman Tri turned Du. It was the most painful 5K run, 40K bike, and 10K run of my life. This time I decided to embrace the pain and just go for it! Part of the pain would be induced by the hilly 70-mile bike ride we did on the day before the event, but the rest would be self-induced. Although it was a bit rainy, windy, and chilly (not my favorite combination...), the race went well - I ended up 2nd in my age group and won the door prize (a set of clip-on aero bars)!

Next up is another mountain bike race (if I think I can do it without screwing up anything for the Texas race...).

24 Hours in Boone

I had the pleasure of spending 24 hours (really it was more like 27 hours, but who's counting?) in Boone over the Labor Day weekend. I know, anyone who has spent any amount of time in Boone is wondering how even 24 minutes in Boone could be pleasurable, but I think that anyone can enjoy Boone if you are with the right people.

Cam and the rest of the Rasmussen Bike Shop Team (Andy, Kent, and Jed) were in town to defend the team championship that Rassy's has won for the past two years. The 6th Annual 24-Hours of Seven Oaks Mountain Bike Race brought out solo riders and team of two or four to race for 12 or 24 hours.

The weather was awesome and the company sounded great, so I committed to hanging out with the team for the full day. Armed with a camera, some food and beer, and the truck tent, I met Cam at Seven Oaks on Saturday morning to set up camp. They already had a pretty sweet set-up with the Rassy cube truck (fresh off the road from RAGBRAI), a couple of big tents, some lights, a generator (Team Satisfied take note, these guys do it right!), and all the equipment necessary to kick some butt.

The whole bottom of the ski hill was full of tents, teams, solo riders, and lots of fans. The course followed a serpentine pattern at the base, to allow the fans to catch more than just a glimpse of their favorite riders on each lap. This was also helpful to allow the next team rider enough time to make his/her way to the exchange zone to start their lap.


The race started at noon on Saturday, and Team Rassy took turns , one lap at a time, covering the 8+ mile course. After a few rounds, I hiked up the "mountain" to take some pictures. Andy was just finishing his lap while I was scouting for good places to grab a couple shots of Cam when he came out for his next lap. I was distracted for just a brief moment on the trail and nearly had a potentially fatal collision with Andy speeding through the woods. I'm sure both our heart rates when up a few beats, but all was good, and I did end up getting a couple decent shots of Cam having a blast.

Took some fun pics of the wildlife: some bees doing their thing and a rather large millipede living it up in one of Jed's discarded tires.



The guys slowly started gaining ground over the second place team and lapped them in the evening. As the sun started to set, headlamps and lights started to make an appearance on the course. Although we still had some daylight at camp, I understand that things were getting pretty dark in the bowels of the course. With the setting sun came cooler temps. The race had already lost a couple people to heat exhaustion or heat stroke (one guy (24-hour solo competitor) we almost lost permanently - paramedics said the next step for him was death...), so it was a welcome relief.

Around midnight, the guys started doing two laps at a time, to allow for some sleep. At 2am, I got up out of the truck tent to "help" send Cam out for a couple laps. Really, I just had to go to the bathroom, but don't tell him that...

As I was walking back from the bathroom, I took a couple cool pics of the fog that had settled in over the camping area.
I thought for a few minutes about trying to stay up to cheer Cam on for his two circuits, but the cold and sleepiness drove me back into the warmth of the tent.

By morning, the guys had added another lap to their lead, and we thought everyone would be done after they'd completed their 7 laps at about 10:30am. But the second place team could technically still win, if they got another two laps in while Team Rassy rested. Andy, although visably bitter about having to go around one more time while everyone else had breakfast and cleaned up, suited up and took one for the team. That last lap secured the win!

1000 clams richer, the Rassy team left Boone and surely enjoyed the rest of their holiday weekend with big smiles on their faces!

Hickory Grove Triathlon

When I first started doing triathlons, I thought they were a pretty big deal. I knew how hard running was, but for the life of me, I couldn't figure out how people could run after they'd gone for a swim and a bike ride. Having done a marathon in 2002, I figured I could handle a sprint-distance triathlon the following year. I was hooked after that first race and did four more sprint distance triathlons the following year. I always seemed to be cooked after the 5K run at the end of the event. The jump to Olympic-distance seemed like too big of a leap for me; I mean, I would have to run a 10K at the end - no way! The 2005 season was packed with more sprint triathlons.

It wasn't until the fall of 2005 when I apparently lost my mind and signed myself up for an Ironman that I realized I'd better get ready to tackle the mighty Oly, and his friends Half IM and IM. I did one more sprint early in the 2006 season before I became hooked on long-course triathlon. I've totally loved the training and racing (or more appropriately in my world, participating in) long-course. I thought it really suited my strengths - I may not be fast, but I can go forever.

After all the long stuff I decided that I wanted to try out another sprint, just to see what I could do. Nearly all of my racing this season has produced PRs, so I was cautiously optimistic about going fast again.

The Hickory Grove Triathlon (formerly the Cy-Man) is held in Colo, Iowa, about 15-20 minutes from Ames, so it seemed like a perfect time and place for me to go. Plus, some of the Team Vardo triathlon faction would be competing.

The plan was to hammer the swim (at least to my weak abilities - I haven't been swimming very much this summer), really push the bike (I've been doing LOTS of cycling this summer), and then just suck it up and embrace the pain of the run. I also had this very lofty little goal of a podium finish (top three in my age group), but I knew that was a stretch, at best.

The weather was awesome. It was a bit chilly when we pulled into the lot at about 6:30am. I got my transition area all set up then went for a quick recon of the first part of the run course - pretty flat and on grass and trail. I jumped on my bike for a taste of the three-loop bike course (totaling 15.5 miles) - it was sweet and fast. I made it back into transition in time to make the final wetsuit decision - I opted for the extra warmth (while standing on the beach for 30+ minutes before my wave went off) and buoyancy, put on the wetsuit, and headed to the beach for a little swim warm-up.

My wave went off at 8:18am, and it was a great start - not a lot of contact and I found open water very quickly. Since it was only 500 yards, I cooked along pretty well and made it out of the water in the right place despite having the morning sun directly in my eyes. Swim time was 8:27 - a PR by 3 minutes and fourth fastest in my AG. After a run up the hill to T1, I floundered around trying to get out of my wetsuit and onto the bike. T1 was 1:52 - not bad for me all things considered.

I got onto the bike without any problems. I'm so used to really having to pace myself for 50+ mile rides, so it was good to just get out there and blast it. I passed a bunch of people, but didn't see too many in my age group right off the bat. That meant I either had a really good or a really bad swim. Things started to get pretty crowded by the end of the second lap with nearly 300 people spread out over the same 5-mile loop. I did a little inadvertent drafting, but only because I couldn't get to any daylight. I pushed the pace the whole way and landed back at T2 in 45:50 for a 20.3 mph pace - another PR and third fastest in my AG! Following a 1:23 T2, I headed out on the run.

It was painful as usual, but I concentrated on staying relaxed and a quick cadence. I wasn't passed by anyone in my age group. I spotted one female who left T2 right ahead of me, but I couldn't make out her age on the back of her leg. I slowly reeled her in by the end of mile 1 and realized she was in my age group. She was running with someone else, and I opted not to pass her (thus giving away that I was in her age group and putting a huge target on my back) and just hung right with them for another mile. At mile 2 she started to pull away, and I couldn't hang with her. My goal was to get to the finish line as soon as possible and not get passed by any other 30-34 year old female! I kept up the pace to finish the run in 26:17 - another PR and sixth in my AG.

Immediately following the finish I searched out that girl that finished ahead of me to congratulate her on a great race. It turns out that she knew I was just behind her on the course, and she turned it on to drop me! We had a good laugh and introduced ourselves.

After some nutrition, I checked out the results. It looked like I was 5th out of 29 in my AG. The first one in my AG finished second overall, so that took her out of the top three in my AG. Rats! It looked like I was one spot out off the podium. So close... If only I'd beaten that one girl!

We hung around for the awards, and I was surprised to hear them call my name for third in my AG! I picked up the hardware - a pint glass - and I went home a little puzzled by how I could finish 5th in the AG, but end up with an award.

It wasn't until I really examined the results that I realized what had happened. The second place girl in my AG had posted a bike time of 37:something, which translates to an average speed of 27.5 mph. Um, I don't think so. It looks like she only did 2 laps of the bike course instead of 3.

It was a great day for a triathlon! Lots of PRs all around and my first hardware at a tri!

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...