2011 Race Season

Even though it's almost June I still haven't nailed down my race schedule for the year. But, I just received notification that I've made it off the Vineman 70.3 waitlist (I started at #395) and I'm officially registered! Vineman 70.3 will be my first half ironman and I'm very excited to try this new distance!

2011 Race Schedule

April 3: MORE Women's Half Marathon (New York, NY, race report)

June 5: Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon (San Francisco, CA)

July 17: Vineman 70.3 (Sonoma County, CA)

Sept 4: 9th Annual Alcatraz Classic: "Swim with the Centurions" (San Francisco, CA)

So far my schedule includes a half marathon, an Olympic-ish tri, a half ironman (my first!), and an open water swim. I would like to do another triathlon in the fall, but I'm not sure if it will be an Olympic or a half. School starts in a few weeks and the first year is super, super intense and I'm not sure how much time I will have to train... I've also been contemplating trying to do a marathon again this fall. Marathon training is hard work, but I think running is the easiest to do because it requires less time than cycling and less hassle than swimming. I think I will either do another Olympic tri and a late fall marathon or another HIM and wait to try the marathon until next year.

Many Random Updates

In case you were worried, I didn't die in the first San Francisco area earthquake (in fact, I didn't even know it happened until a NYC friend sent me an email). I have no excuse for my delinquent blogging other than the fact that I've been traveling, training, and avoiding my computer :)

But, I have been reading your blogs (mostly on my phone, thus hard to comment), and I'm so impressed with everyone's training and races so far! Keep up the great work!

This post will be full of random things that I've been meaning to write about...

Today marks 4 weeks since we arrived in San Francisco. I took advantage of my time off and headed back to Minnesota for about two weeks to hang with my family. It was wonderful to spend so much time there, my longest visit since I last lived there in 2003, but it also made me miss my family even more... I spent oodles of time with my nieces and we had a blast. I can't wait for my next visit (or for them to come to San Francisco, hint hint).
Last weekend we went up to Sanoma with a few other members of the Golden Gate Tri Club (GGTC) and did the Vineman 70.3 bike course. It was a great course and a very beautiful ride (and the weather was perfect). Much of the ride looked like this:


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I think this is the longest continuous ride that I have done. I felt good, although I will need to work on my nutrition for longer rides. I was starving by the time I got back to the truck. I ate a pack of Sport Beans and then went out for a 40 minute run. After the beans I felt better and the run felt pretty good.

On Sunday we went for our first open water swim in Aquatic Park. It was beautiful and cold. Very cold. It is going to take awhile to get used to that water... Also, I get a little queasy swimming in salt water. Has anybody else had that problem? Any suggestions? I think I'm going to have to eat a peanut butter sandwich or something between the swim and bike for Escape from Alcatraz.

Monday night was the monthly GGTC meeting. We had a presentation by the Night Trainer Swimmers. According to their website: Night Train is a group of open-water swimmers dedicated to raising money for charity through ultra-distance swimming events around the world. Founded in 2008 to raise money for a local San Francisco Bay Area Charity, the team is now 12 members strong and completing multiple events each year.


Image: Peter Sorcher, Sorcher Films
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Several Night Train team members joined us to share their experience of just completing a swim from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Farallon Islands, about 30 miles. This is the first time that this swim has ever been completed. This was their fourth attempt (the first success after three failed attempts) and it took their six person relay team 14 hours, 45 minutes and 8 seconds to complete. The water was 50-54 degrees and they do the swim without wetsuits. The relay is done in 1 hour shifts, where each swimmer goes for an hour and then they tag off and repeat for as long as necessary. If you have 10 minutes, I would highly recommend watching this video about their 4th attempt! It is amazing, inspiring and uplifting. Some of these guys have been swimming for many years, but I know that the blond girl, Kim (a computer programmer from New Zealand) told us that she just started doing open water swimming 18 months ago. Now, she is breaking world records. Unbelievable.

That's all for now folks. I hope to post again sooner rather than later :) Happy Training!

Welcome to California: Tri Training

We are getting settled here in the bay area. Most of the boxes are unpacked and we are getting into a routine. I can't even begin to tell you how happy I am here. It is hard to express, because I still miss my friends from the East coast... But the weather, the views, and the culture are so wonderful. I'm blessed right now that I have some time to relax because school does not start until mid-June. I'm trying to enjoy this time because it will be a very long time before I have a break like this again (maybe retirement?).

We had a great weekend and finally settling into training again. We joined a new tri club, Golden Gate Triathlon Club, and we did a few of the group workouts. So far it seems much more casual than what we are used to with Asphalt Green in NYC. The workouts are just posted by members and it seems only one or two of the workouts are actually coached. It is still a great way to meet people and learn the area.

On Saturday we joined a member for a 45 mile ride in from Lucas Valley to Point Reyes. It was a beautiful ride! I need to master the art of taking photos while riding, but I did find these photos from the ride on another blog. It was a great ride with a little bit of everything. Some climbing, some flats, open fields, redwood forests, and a delicious bakery right at the half way point!

On Sunday we joined up with a few other members of the group for the Escape from Alcatraz (EFA) run course. It is an 8 mile run. This is a beautiful and intense trail run along the shores of the bay, up and down a few sets of stairs, under the Golden Gate Bridge, across the beach and up a 400 step sand ladder. Much of the run is single track and because it is an out and back course runners are rubbing shoulders with the pros on their way back to the finish!

We started a bit of a way into the course and cut out a little beach so our run was closer to 6 miles. It was a beautiful and challenging run and I'm definitely going to do it a few more times before the race!



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Overall it was a great weekend! Soon we will be swimming in the bay too, but I've got to wait for that long sleeve wetsuit to arrive because the water temp is 53 degrees!

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Day 7: The End

Orange, CA to San Francisco, CA

Total Miles: 418

Tanks of Gas: 1ish

Marital Spats: 2ish

States: 1

Time Spent in LA Traffic: one hour, less than anticipated, but still too much in my opinion
I'm sorry to leave you all hanging for so long. I hope you didn't think we were lost somewhere between LA and San Fran! I'm happy to report that we arrived successfully! The last day was uneventful. We woke up to a beautiful California morning. I love palm trees :)

We were on a deadline to arrive at our new place before 5pm so we could get the keys. We spent about an hour sitting in LA traffic, but eventually we were past downtown and making good progress.

We then payed for our last and most expensive tank of gas on the trip. $4.50/ gallon! Welcome to California. On the bright side, this was the first gas station we had hit in awhile and we really needed gas. The price in SF is closer to $4.25/gallon.

Central California is a pretty dull place. Lots of open space and quite a bit of agriculture. On the plus side, we had many radio stations to choose from for the entire ride :) No more religious radio or right wing talk shows!

After about six hours of driving we arrived in San Francisco with time to spare. We drove over another bridge, this time the Bay Bridge, and our journey was nearly complete.

We arrived at the building, grabbed our keys from the manager and went to search for our apartment. First, we parked in the assigned parking garage. After fighting for parking spaces in NYC for more than 3 years, I cannot tell you how great it is to have our own parking spot, let alone in a covered garage attached to our apartment complex!

As you might recall, we rented this apartment sight unseen. My father-in-law checked it out for us and we saw pictures so were pretty sure it was okay, but it's still a little nerve wracking to agree to live somewhere for a year when you haven't seen it. Lucky for us, it is great! Father-in-law did a wonderful job and we love our new place. It is taking some time to get settled, but I think we are going to be very happy here. In addition to a parking spot, we are lucky enough to have a dishwasher (other than me) and a washer and dryer in the unit! Hallelujah! The only downside? There is a lot of street noise, especially in the early morning. I know we will get used to it and since our regular schedules typically have us up at between 5:00 and 5:30 I don't think it will be a problem.

So, that concludes the daily recap of our trip. Thanks for reading! I'm going to try to do another post with some of the best photos (taken with my actual camera and not my cell phone) and some interesting totals.

I will also return to posting about triathlon soon. I must share with you the AMAZING pool we joined! Here's a hint, I swam for an hour and a half at lunch today and I'm a little sun burnt...