RAGBRAI XXXVII - The Best Yet!

I know I say this every year, but again this year was the best ever! It just keeps getting better! If I had to put a title of this year's ride, it would be Family Ties. Riding with Team Satisfied this year was Sparkle, Sparkle's mom (Snake), Sparkle's cousin (Saucy) and Saucy's husband (The Shaman), plus my uncle (The Sjeff), and me (Sugar). I was so glad to have Jeff along this year. I've been very fortunate to be able to spend more and more time with my extended family over the last 8 years or so, and the more time we spend together, the more fun we have!

I knew that Jeff would like RAGBRAI for the people and for the riding. The way we did RAGBRAI in the early years was growing old for me (or am I that one that is getting old??), and I've begun to realize what I like most about the Ride is the riding! Jeff and I set a pre-ride goal of riding the whole thing. Honestly, I've never done that before, so I was excited about doing it!

Jeff had an adventurous trip to Iowa, including hitting a deer at 2am (in someone else's car), and met us in Council Bluffs on Saturday. I was without, for the first time, my traditional RAGBRAI bike. A day or two before Cam and I left for Colorado, I found a crack in the frame, so Cam let me borrow one of his bikes to take on RAGBRAI.

Some highlights of the trip:

1. We made a stop at Sid's on the way west, plus the traditional stop in Marne.

2. It was a very mild week, temperature-wise. I wore arm warmers for at least parts of 3 days.

3. Jeff and I did the century loop. This was also a first for any member of Team Satisfied.

4. I ate a lot of Pastafari. Whoa, the food is so good and the salmon is so worth the extra cha-ching!

5. I only ran into Team Emerson once the whole week. It was very strange not to see them as much this year.

6. I don't think we ever went to a single beer garden. Oh, I take that back. However, the only one we went to was off-route at the Cumming Tap.

7. Beer and Casey's pizza is always a good dinner at the end of a long day of riding bikes.

8. Snake is an awesome sag-driver. I learned from her that it is easier to ask forgiveness than ask permission.

9. This year's traditional thunderstorm took place the first night that we didn't have a house to stay housing us for the night.

10. I'm already looking forward to next year. Any other family up for the challenge?

Colorado Training Camp - Durango Report

After our rides on Tuesday, we left Vail and headed to Durango. The drive varies between dull and fairly flat terrain to some of the most amazing views and roads I've ever seen! Aside from the bit of motion sickness I encountered on the last half of the drive, we really enjoyed the trip and found a few other places we'd like to check out on a bike next time we are in Colorado.

We had one night to spend in Durango before Cam's dad showed up with our accommodations for the rest of the week, a sweet motorhome. As soon as I could get out of the car, I hit the hay. Cam found some BBQ, and that was all she wrote for the first night in Durango.

During the drive over, I realized I was half-way through with my Colorado trip, and I hadn't even set the tires of the 'Goose on any dirt! That needed to be fixed ASAP. Bright and early (sort of...) on Wednesday morning, we left the Jeep at the hotel and rode a couple miles to the Telegraph trails. Cam gave me a few warnings about rattlesnakes, trails to be careful on, and encouragement to drink often, then he headed out to abuse his body and amuse his mind for a few hours.

Thankfully there are some pretty nice trail maps at every intersection, so I couldn't get too lost. I tried out a couple trails and came across some other riders who were impressed that I had tackled one of the trails. They told me they usually rested up a day or two before trying that one! I was pretty glad to hear that because I had used up most of my allotted energy for the day on that one trail! That and I was feeling the hurt of the altitude. I stopped to rest at one point and seriously thought I was gonna toss my cookies. I tanked a bunch of water and a few calories and headed for flatter terrain.

Instead of sticking to the trail map, I just went exploring. I rode up Horse Gulch Road until I found some random unmarked trails and just followed them til they either ran out or turned into something too gnarly for my meager abilities. It turned out to be a pretty fun adventure, and I rode quite a bit of stuff I was sure I'd never attempt!

It was a pretty warm day and the stuff I was riding was in no way sheltered from the sun, so after about 2.5 hours of fun on the dirt, I headed back to the hotel. There I sat under an overhang and "borrowed" the wireless connection while waiting for Cam to return. He rolled up a little later and it wasn't until he got off the bike that I could tell something was wrong. He looked a little dazed, then turned around to show me his back. The raw meat that was where his shoulders used to be looked pretty bad. The bike wasn't much better with a cracked stem and partially taco'd front wheel. We got him cleaned off and then went in search of his father and some dinner - and we found it in the form of a cold beer and awesome meal at the local micro brewery.

Durango Day Two, Cam went out for a long road ride. His mountain bike was not yet rideable and the road would be a little more forgiving to the aches from the crash. So, Larry and I went in search of some singletrack. We found some good trail that eventually meets up with the Colorado Trail. We rode for about an hour before Larry started to feel like I did the day before. I, on the other hand, was feeling great! I sent Larry back to a junction in the road, and I went on up to find the Colorado. It took some climbing to get there, but I can't tell you how fun the trip down was! Again, throughout the day I found myself riding stuff that was so intimidating before. For some reason, being in Colorado gave me the extra little boost of confidence I needed to just charge through rocks and down trail that might have been a hike-a-bike for me in Iowa.

I met back up with Larry at the bottom - he looked much better - and we headed back to the RV. We hit a great little Italian place for dinner (and some great wine). We also procured a new stem for Cam's bike, so we could go ride some dirt together on Friday, my last full day in Durango.

Larry opted for a road ride on Friday, so Cam replaced his stem and wheel, then we drove into town to start the ride. We rode out to the same trailhead that Larry and I had driven to the day before. We followed the same sweet singletrack as the day before and chased each other down the Colorado Trail. Instead of turning off to go back to the trailhead, we continued on the Colorado to Gudy's Rest for a little snack and some photos. The rest of the Colorado was really fun and a little challenging. The views were amazing, so it took a little bit of concentration to remember to keep my eyes on the trail and not on the vistas!

I was both perfectly tired and perfectly satisfied when we rolled up to the Jeep three hours after we'd left it. It was the perfect ending to my trip.

Early the next morning, I boarded a plane home. It was pretty hard to leave, but I'm already looking forward to next year!

Colorado Training Camp - Day Five

For our last day in Vail, Cam wanted to go for a long road ride, so I sent him out the door early. I relaxed around the house, did a little work, then decided I wanted to go for one final ride. Steve was off of work and going to take the girls to the park in Vail, so I opted to ride to the park and meet them for a little fun. It was about a 45 minute ride wach way, with a very fun break in between!

The blondie is Sophie and the one in green in Lauren, both age 3 1/2. Awesome kiddos!

Colorado Training Camp - Day Four

Every time I drive to Vail on I-70, I see the bike path that runs from Frisco to Vail, weaving back and forth under the interstate and over Vail Pass, and I think to myself, what kind of crazy person would ride their bike on that?? Well, today I found out that I am that kind of crazy person.

The sign at the trailhead

The view looking back towards Vail

The view at the top of Vail Pass (elev. 10,600 ft)

Heading back down the mountain

A VERY steep section near the Interstate - with the Runaway Truck Ramp in the background

The sign I was most looking forward to seeing on the ride home - the turn-off to Steve and Tina's house!

The Stats (at least the best that I can figure):

Distance: 60 miles

Time: 5 hours (!!)

Elevation Gain: 5500 ft.

Times I Got Lost: 2-3-ish...

Many thanks to my sister-in-law for letting me ride her road bike for the day. I'm thinking this wouldn't have been so much fun on a mountain bike!

Cam and my brother went out to hit some local trails and try to rip the legs off of each other. I'm not sure who "won," but each came home with evidence of a crash!

Colorado Training Camp - Day Three

We awoke to another beautiful day; chilly, but beautiful. Since Cam was still feeling a little like he'd been run over by a bus, we decided to just do an easy recovery ride to Vail. Sunday is also the day of the Farmers' Market in the Village, so it was a good day to go.

We hopped on the mountain bikes and headed down the road out of the neighborhood. The trip down the hillside took about 8 minutes. Being that the road is 3.3 miles long, that meant we were flying at nearly 25mph without ever taking a single pedal stroke. Fun on the way down, but that meant it was going to be a looooong ride home at the end of the day.

Right at the bottom of the hill, we were able to jump on a bike path that took us straight into Vail. The Farmers' Market was packed with people, and we had trouble even walking through with our bikes. Once we survived that melee, we found a little outdoor patio to have some lunch.


The ride back toward Avon was great. It was great at least until we got back to the entrance of the neighborhood. The skies had been darkening throughout the day, and we were wondering if we could make it back to Steve and Tina's before we got wet. It turns out that we didn't make it. After hiding out under the awning of a condo for about 20 minutes during the downpour, we resumed our the slow slog up the hill. It took us a full 30 minutes to cover those last 3.3 miles home (a breakneck pace of 6-7 mph).

Besides the visit to the coffee shop and the grocery store, we relaxed the rest of the day with my nieces and put ourselves to bed relatively early.

Colorado Training Camp - Day Two

I was riding along a nice bike path just outside Breckenridge and couldn't help but reflect on just how fortunate I am. It's July 4th, and I am out enjoying a beautiful day in the Colorado mountains on my bike. Between the wildflowers growing along the trail, the bright blue sky and light breeze, and the fact that I just love to be on my bike, I couldn't possible come up with anything that I would do to make the day any better. Or at least I'd better not try to come up with anything... I am so blessed to get to do what I do.

I started off the year with 10 days on Maui, riding my bike. In April, I scored another trip to Phoenix for 5 days of riding with some great women. Now, here I am in Colorado getting to spend another 8 days of riding. Later in the month I'll add another week with RAGBRAI. It truly doesn't get any better than this!

The reflection came about because I was out riding while Cam raced in the Firecracker 50 in Breckenridge. His race started at 11am, so I watched the start (literally a parade lap - the racers lead the Fourth of July parade down Main Street in downtown Breck.

I had roughly 2 hours to kill until I would see Cam again and he would need a hand-up. I changed clothes and went in search of the bike path we'd seen on our drive into town. I made it as far as Summit High School before it was time to turn back. I was pleased to see a high ropes challenge course similar to what we use at the ALC. I had to take a few pictures, as there were a few elements that we don't have.

Once I rode back and gave Cam some more to drink, I was free for almost another two hours before he'd finish. I headed back out along the same path, but made it all the way to Frisco this time before needing to double back. This time, I spotted another one of my favorite sports being played: rugby! That warranted another stop for some photos.

As I was snapping some shots of the scrum, moisture began to fall from the sky. It was very light, but was rain nonetheless. So as not to be caught out in a downpour, I high-tailed it back to the race site. As I watched the winners and other finishers come through the chute, the heavens opened. If I were to see Cam's finish, I had no choice but to hang out in the rain. When the breeze also picked up, I found shelter under an EZ-Up of some team. I just pretended like I was supposed to be there...

Dave Weins had a great finish. I took his picture because his aunt takes one of the exercise classes I teach in Ames. That and he's just a stud... The women's champion came across the line and was doing all her post-race interviews right in front of me. She was stoked to earn a national title - her first!

Soon I saw the familiar black and white of Rassy's heading down the hill towards me. Cam crossed the finishline, and before I could even say a single word, he looked me straight in the eye and said, "I am NOT doing this again next year! That sucked!"

I just smiled, knowing it would only be a matter of time before he ate those words...

We did a quick cool-down, changed into some warm clothes, shivered at the finish for a while, ate some of the best post-race food I've ever seen, had a beer, then headed back to Vail where a great Fourth of July meal awaited us. We stayed up late enough to watch some fireworks out on the deck with the girls. A great day!

Colorado Training Camp - Day One

2:59am (Iowa time): Wake up!

3:50am: On the road, my idea. I remembered our family trips to Colorado when I was a kid - we would be on the road VERY early and although that kinda sucked, it was great to be well into Nebraska when the sun was just coming up and crossing into Colorado before noon.

12:10pm (Colorado time): Join every resident of Denver on I-70 West. Traffic moves between 5-15mph for the next hour. It's a good thing the scenery was so great, otherwise it would have really been annoying. Drive through a torrential downpour in Summit County.

2:40pm: Arrive at Steve and Tina's house and get to spend a little time with Lauren and Sophie. It pours again.

4:30pm: Finally get a break in the weather. We head out for a little ride to stretch the legs and make me feel like a human again. We rode around Steve and Tina's neighborhood which is fun, but we are always either tearing down some hill or climbing back up some hill. Did I mention that Steve and Tina live on the side of a mountain??

7:45pm: Bathe and feed ourselves and get to bed early. Cam races 50 miles in Breckenridge tomorrow!

Hy-Vee Triathlon

The Team Vardo Tri Group (acutally I coach all these folks but Kecia!)

A free entry to the Hy-Vee Triathlon fell into my lap a few weeks ago. The only thing that had been holding me back from signing up on my own was the cost. I’ve done enough big races (and spent enough big money to do them) to know that at the end of the day, it’s still just an Olympic distance race. And, while Hy-Vee does hand out a lot of schwag, the quality isn’t enough to warrant the high price tag. Craig and Jenny put on awesome races with better schwag for half the price!

The original plan was to work the Zoom booth at the expo and take in all the rest of the events of the weekend without having the headache of actually doing the race. I was so excited to get $150 worth of free entry to the race that I grabbed it without really thinking about all the other inconveniences that go along with a race of this size – namely the parking, the athlete meetings, the bike check-in the day before, etc. Reality hit once the weekend rolled around.

On Friday I headed to West Des Moines to kill a couple birds with one stone. I hit the expo, chatted with Matt and Dustin at the Zoom booth for a little bit, then Dustin and I filed into the mandatory athlete meeting to hear a bunch of stuff that we either already knew or turned out to be misinformation! After the meeting and packet pick-up, I went back to the booth and ended up staying there for a couple more hours than I expected. We had a ton of our athletes come by, but we also talked to a lot of folks about who Zoom is and what we do. It seemed to be worth the extra effort to stay and spread the love!

Because Hy-Vee has so many connections in the food industry, there was free food all over the expo. I think that part of my undoing of the weekend started right there on Friday night. It seemed as though I was always snacking on something. Chips from the Doritos booth, granola bars from the schwag bag, “vitamin” water, etc. I spent more time than I had planned at the expo, and that meant I had more time to eat a lot of junk.

After the expo, Cam and I met Matt and some of his athletes for dinner. Pizza wasn’t the greatest choice I could have made (but, man, was it good!). Cam headed out early on Saturday morning for his race in Mankato, so I hung around the house until about 11am, then headed back to the race site to watch the pro races for the afternoon. I took in lots of water, but it was still blazing hot, and sitting in the sun from noon til about 7pm might not have been the best idea either. Kris, Kirstin, Kecia, and Tim were all down for some of the races, too, so we hung out and ate more free food.

Really the amount of food that was given away at this race to the spectators was like nothing I’d ever seen. The green movement meant that there were a bunch of vendors handing out reusable grocery sacks, and the people walking through the expo looked like they’d just done all their grocery shopping for the week. I basically ate lunch and dinner there, plus had tons of free water and other beverages whenever I needed. At one point, one of the vendors just started bringing free sandwiches into the stands and passing them out.

The women’s pro race was a blast to watch, but it was the men’s race later in the day that was the real nail-biter. Going into the last lap of the run, it was a 6-man race. The sprint to the finish was awesome, with the difference between 1st and 3rd place costing the losers over $150,000! Very exciting, and I’m glad I was there to witness it!

At 6pm, they finally let us start checking our bikes in for the night. By that time, I would guess that I’d walked about 5-6 miles in the heat and humidity of that day. Again, not the best idea the day before a big race… I had to get home and to bed early since the raced started at 6am the next morning! I’m so thankful that I was able to stay at Cam’s the night before. The rest of the Team Vardo folks from Ames doing the race had 3-3:30am wake-ups - I got to sleep in til 4!

It was a cool morning, and I tried to do everything the same as I always do before a race, including what I eat. My stomach is usually iron-clad, and I rarely have any sort of problems with it. For that, I am very thankful. I parked and walked to the race in the dark, just as the sun was coming up. I easily met up with my athletes and the Vardos in transition. We shot the breeze, took some pictures, then huddled together on the beach to keep warm!

The swim was not wetsuit legal, and not one of the worst swims I’ve been a part of. My swim training this year has consisted of about 6 weeks of swimming in February and March, then nothing (at all!) until a week before Copper Creek. I managed 3 open water swims before taking on the one mile swim at Hy-Vee. Not exactly what I would recommend to my athletes, but at least all that Ironman training stuck in my brain and allowed me a decent swim.

I got out of the water feeling good, had a great transition, and was very thankful to feel that the temperature had risen enough that I wouldn’t freeze my ta-tas on the bike. Again, I wanted to see what kind of damage I could inflict out on the bike course. There were lots of Des Moines cyclists out cheering (heckling) on the course. I put the hammer down on the first half, making sure I didn’t get passed by any other females. The course was pretty packed, but that is just what you get in a race this size. I was going back and forth with a couple of guys, most notable was the guy wearing his old tri shorts with the spandex rotting out of the rear seam. Yep, the view of his crack gleaming in the morning sun nearly burned my retinas right out of my head.

About mid-way through the bike I started to notice a little twinge in my gut. I thought it might just be from riding in aero, as I’ve been riding primarily on my road bike lately. It didn’t get worse, though it didn’t get better either, so I sort of just ignored it and hoped it would go away. I also decided not to take any nutrition (gels) during the ride so I didn’t upset my gut any further.
After a decent ride, I easily transitioned off the bike and headed out into the heat of the morning on the run. The first mile was fine, but as my effort increased with the first incline, my gut started to revolt in anger. Quickly my race plan turned from finish strong to run the downhills and flats and take it easy (read: walk) on the uphills. Bummer.

I tried drinking water, I tried not drinking water. I thought about trying a gel, but was pretty sure my stomach wouldn’t tolerate that. I ran/walked nearly the entire 10K. Thankfully the last mile or so is all downhill or flat, so I did my best to make it to the finish line without embarrassing myself!

Regardless of how you feel at the end of Hy-Vee, it’s still a pretty cool experience to run on the bright blue carpet through the grandstand area to the finish line. I got my finisher’s medal and ran right into Ric Jurgens (Hy-Vee CEO). I thanked him for putting on such a great race right here in Des Moines.

My athletes all had great races. Their accomplishments actually mean a lot more to me than my failure!

That is probably it for my 2009 triathlon season! Next up is eight days in Colorado with Cam, a week of work, then on to RAGBRAI! Following that will be two and half more months of mountain bike racing!

WORS Cup

Following a surprisingly good return to the sport of triathlon at the Copper Creek last week, Cam and I headed back up to Wisconsin for another gamble with the weather and some more stellar mountain bike racing. We left on Wednesday night, as Cam had some work to do in Illinois on Thursday. That meant I got to spend a day with my parents. The rains followed us east and wouldn't leave us alone! I tried to sneak a run in between storms, but got caught out in a mass of thunder and lightning. Thankfully, I was just running around in the neighborhood, so I wasn't more than about a 1/3 of a mile from home.

Friday morning we awoke to clear skies that quickly turned dark as we approached Dubuque. When we stopped for gas there, the weather radio inside the store was blasting about severe thunderstorms that were headed in our direction. We tried to outrun the storm, but didn't get very far before the horizontal rains were hitting us from every direction. After a long 30 minutes of that craziness, we emerged from the mess and eventually turned away from the storm to head north towards Wautoma.

We arrived at Mt. Norris to find sunny skies and race preparations in full swing. We went out for a lap together, then Cam went around for another as I enjoyed my lunch. The course was in near perfect condition - just a few wet spots that were sure to dry out nicely by race time on the following day. As we loaded up our stuff to head further north to our motel in Waupaca, we felt a few rain drops hit. By the time we were 10 minutes away from the course, we were in our second deluge of the day! Cam was about beside himself and almost wanted to just turn around and drive back to Des Moines. Thankfully, we determined that we wouldn't put to waste all the time and gasoline we'd spent getting there; we'd stay and see what Saturday would bring.

Saturday morning was gorgeous! Nothing but blue skies and sunshine - a perfect day! The WORS Cup has a slightly different format than the rest of the WORS series races. On this day, Cam's race would be the first of the day at noon, followed by the Comp race, then my Cat 2 race at 4pm. This was not great for us, since we still needed to drive quite a ways after my race to get back home, but we would make it work. The skies were clear, but the sun was heating things up pretty quickly. I determined that I would have to seek shade for the whole day if I was going to have any energy left to race with later.

I took a few pictures at the start of Cam's race. He had a great start! I was able to photograph him in a couple locations at the start, then I made my way to the Alterra tent on the hill near the end of the lap. As the first of the riders went through the woods a little distance from where I was, I didn't see Cam, but I just figured that he had moved up a couple spots and I'd missed seeing him come past. No more than a minute later, I looked up to see him riding slowly on a different part of the mountain, not on the trail. I could tell he'd pulled the plug on the race, but that's a pretty rare sight, so I headed down to see what was up.

His disappointment was still pretty fresh, so I didn't get any details at the time. But, I could tell that he wasn't hurt (physically) and that was all I really needed to know at that moment. The bike looked okay, too, and he was able to head out for a cool-off ride to sort through the frustration of the situation. While he did that, I watched the rest of the race from a shady locale and tried to stay cool.

When Cam got back, we talked about what happened. He'd taken a bad line, hit a nasty stump in the middle of the trail, took a flier, and skewed the handlebars in such a way that he couldn't get them straightened out without a trip to the Jeep from some tools. He encouraged me not to make the same mistakes in my race!

A couple hours later it was time for me to get ready. On my warm-up, my legs felt terrible. It was almost like I was low on blood sugar, but I knew that was not the case. I think I was having trouble getting excited to rage on the bike because of Cam's situation. I got to the starting line and had a good talk with Kyle Williams, then Robin came over to offer a bit of encouragement and advice. She'd raced really well earlier in the day and had some very helpful tips on how to navigate the trickier (at least for me) rock gardens. I really appreciate her help whenever it is available! Obviously I get a lot of advice from Cam, but having it come from a woman's perspective does make a difference.

There were 17 women at the starting line when Don gave us the, "GOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Per my shaky legs and usual poor start, I brought up the rear of the field. I managed to get myself up a spot or two heading into the singletrack. I was expecting a bunch of climbing, as this was a ski slope, but to my surprise there wasn't as much as I thought. I really don't mind the climbing too much, at least not in the early stages of the race. I followed a woman through most of the singletrack on the first lap. she was taking some pretty decent lines which allowed me to get a better feel on things. Once things opened up, I easily got past her and began working my way up in the field.

By the third and final lap, I was slowing down a little, but thankfully not as much as the rest of the field! The technical sections that got me the first lap didn't stand a chance on laps two and three. It felt good to get my legs under me and power through some of the tougher areas. The heat was also an issue, and for the first time, I felt like I needed all the fluids I had on the bike, plus some. The ice cold water they handed out on the course felt great when poured over my head!

I crossed the finish line fourth place overall and third in my age group. I felt good about my performance, but was still surprised to hear Cam say that he thought it was my best race so far! For the second time in my mountain bike racing career, I got to stand on the WORS podium!

Copper Creek Triathlon

It was with a little bit of reluctance that I signed up for Copper Creek in the first place. I knew that my focus was going to be on mountain bike racing this year and I hadn't been swimming (at all) or running (with any consistency) this spring. I did want to do the race, however, because we got rained out last year and I like to support the races put on by my friends Craig and Jenny. That and I wanted to make sure I did a triathlon at least once this year, if only for professional reasons.

Like last year, I helped out with race preparations on Friday night and Saturday at packet pick-up. The volunteers are rewarded well for helping, plus it is interesting to see a little of the behind-the-scenes of putting on a race like this.

Unlike last year, where it rained cats and dogs forcing the cancellation of the race, race morning was foggy, but otherwise great. Cam's race was cancelled, so he was able to accompany me and help me get everything ready. It was good for my mental state to have him there.

I ran into a bunch of Team Vardo folks, a couple of them doing their first triathlons! Rich and Natalie had both been training all spring and Kecia had done a tri with a pool swim last year, but this would be her first open water race. Also joining in on the fun were Bill, Chris, and Kirstin.

At race site the fog didn't seem to want to dissipate. As the athletes gathered for the swim, we couldn't see across the lake. Craig decided to delay the start of the race by a little bit to see if the fog would burn off a bit. After waiting for a while and not seeing the conditions improve, the race was started despite the fog. It looked to be okay for the first few waves that went off, so I just went with the flow. Soon my wave was ready to take to the water. We were in yellow swim caps, the same color as the swim buoys marking our course. I got in the water and looked out into the fog - I couldn't even see to the first buoy! It was going to be an interesting swim.

The cannon went off and the chaos grew worse. Not only couldn't I spot any buoys, but every time I looked up to spot, all I could see were yellow caps that might or might not be the next buoy! So with virtually no swimming at all for the last few months, I was swimming both dumb and blind...

After navigating my way through the swim, I got out of the water feeling pretty good, had a good transition and got on the bike with no problems. From what I had seen of the bike course the day before, I knew it was going to be a hilly, but fast course. The fog we'd experienced during the swim had only lifted a bit. Before the race had started, I'd asked Cam to look at the sunglasses of the elite wave to see if condensation on the glasses was an issue. He was waiting near my transition area during T1 and said only a couple elite guys were back and they weren't wearing glasses. I decided to risk it and put on my Oakleys anyway. I always feel a little naked without sunglasses on my face.

Since I've really only been working on my cycling this year, I hit it hard on the bike. I was passed by a few men and only 2 women, but not from my age group. Because it was an out and back course, I was able to keep an eye on my competition. I know full well that I am not much of a swimmer, but I only saw a few women ahead of me on the bike, so I must have done okay on the swim... I worked on keeping my cadence high and pushed the effort, especially on the hills, where I knew I was probably better prepared than a lot of my competition. With the bike segment being only 12.4 miles, I was soon back in transition and quickly out on the run.

The run followed the lakefront for about a 1/4 mile before starting its uphill ascent to the turnaround. I knew the hills were coming, but I wasn't totally prepared for how I felt once I hit them! I did walk for about 10 seconds at each water station, just long enough to toss down some fluids and give myself a little mental break. The run was also an out and back, so I kept an eye on what was going on around me. Again I was passed by a bunch of guys and just a few women. Once I'd hit the halfway mark, I was surprised to find that there were actually a few more hills I had to run up on the way back to the lake!

The longer I ran, the better I felt - at least to a point. As we hit the final stretch (around the backside of the lake), I was ready to be done. I continued on with what Cam has kindly named the Vardo Shuffle, and headed for the finishline. About 1/3 of a mile from the end, I was finally passed by a gal in my age group. She flew past me like I was moving in the wrong direction, and I had nothing to give in the fight to chase her down. I managed to get across the finishline with my breakfast in my stomach and a respectable 5th place in my age group.

Looking back, there were a few things I had going for me. First, I had very little expectations going into the race, and therefore very few of the pre-race jitters that usually accompany higher hopes. Two, I was better prepared than most for a bike course of this level of challenge. Finally, just having the amount of experience in racing triathlon that I do, allowed me to make quick transitions and have little fear of the less than ideal swim conditions.

Next up is the WORS Cup race in Wisconsin, then the Hy-Vee Triathlon. In a previous post, I stated that I wasn't going to do Hy-Vee. A free entry fell into my lap a couple of weeks ago, and before I could really think about it, I said I'd take it. We'll see if any of my good luck charms that helped at Copper Creek will help me out at Hy-Vee!