Thursday Thirteen

Thursday thirteen:

(ripped off from Geekgirl, blatantly-although she is infinitely more creative than I am or at least willing to put more energy into her blog than I am)

1. I just spent 6 days with my bestest, oldest girlfriends, two of which I met when I was 8 years old, the other around 12. We have the most fun when we are together, which is anywhere from every year to every 5 years, depending on our lives. We come from Hawaii, Ohio and then there is me-here. This year, for our 55th birthdays, we spent a week here in NM, where I played tour guide, which meant I actually had to remember what the sites of NM are; Santa Fe, Taos, Chama, etc..We had a meaningful, fun, nostalgic time. I even corrupted one of my friends and she put her first quarter in a slot machine at Sandia Casino. I am still a bad influence! I cannot believe I have had these women in my life for 47 years!

2. Two weeks off from training should be making me depressed but I feel like I am on a vacation just from that..Just to plan my days around something other than training is a treat..really it is..By Monday, I will be just insane enough to start our 20 week program for Ironman Western Australia..

3. I cannot seem to decide what program to use for this IM. I have tried many approaches it seems. I come back to good ole' Beginnertriathlete.com and their "intermediate" plans, which seemed to get us through BSLT and a half marathon. That, along with track workouts with Coach Eric and swim program possibly from him, and I think we will be good.

4. Tickets to Australia and new Zealand for 2 months starting Thanksgiving Day..done! Accommodations in Busselton, Australia, home of IMWA...done! I have my beloved husband/travel agent extraordinaire to thank for this. Just tell me where to go honey and when..I will be so there!!

5. My mother in law is not doing so great right now. Without going into detail, it seems she has nine lives and I am just hoping this is her 5th or 6th she is working on right now...The stress of having a loved one ill is so very familiar to me. My parents both suffered for many, many years with chronic illnesses before they died at pretty young ages, both in their 60s. So it brings bad sad memories when I see my MIL sick like this..I am so aware that every day is precious with those we love, even if it is painful, stressful and downright an emotional roller coaster at times!

6. Can I come up with 13 things tonite?

7. Holy cow is there anything on the news except Michael Jackson? I have mixed emotions about this. I do believe he changed our music world and was such a great singer and star but now it is just getting into the "dirt." This disturbs me for some reason...Like a train wreck, I just keep watching..

8. My flowers this year are blooming out of control! I finally think I have a system that works. Oh, like watering every day! And the hanging ones..I put them on the ground every other day after watering, wait 45 minutes and water again..Voila! No dead hanging flowers! (so far)

9. Now that I have my maiden name on Facebook, I am hearing from really old friends from childhood. This is awesome except I have bits and pieces of my memory chips in my brain that are missing so I can only remember part of why I know them or what happened back then. They, however seem to remember much more..remember the time we went such and where and we did such and so.. then I start to get really worried about what the hell did I do with this person and why can't I remember? Oh man, it sucks getting old. If you are young, start a diary or you too, will forget someday..

10. I got my haircut by a new hairdresser yesterday. I have been through a few of them over the years. One for several years..I felt like we broke up when I left him..This guy was spot on with the color and cut..I must admit when the first chop went with the scissors, my heart skipped a beat. Oh well it is only hair..I told myself. Thank goodness I love it and have gotten tons of compliments!

11. I feel like Buffalo Springs was eons ago and really has only been 2 weeks, almost..The disappointment over my race is completely gone! Amazing how time heals all wounds..And really, in the scheme of things...it is only triathlon..not life or death.

12. I have lost 3 lbs. Not training! Go figure!

13. This is the end..I love my life and am grateful everyday for my friends, my family and the incredible life I have..that's it!

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BSLT Race Report from a somewhat cranky middle-aged woman..

My tri friends are the only real friends who would tell me to STFU about how crappy my time was at BSLT 70.3 yesterday so I will refrain from being negative here. I will do as my granddaughter Lane says: "I am not complaining, I am just telling the facts here Grandpa" (yes this is a four year old going on forty)..

We arrived in Lubbock on Friday kind of late but managed to get in bed very early, like before the sun went down, so as to get that "night before the night before good night's sleep". H & I were well, how do I say two really, really cranky triathletes the couple of days leading up to the race. Which can make for a fun ride or really LONG ride to Lubbock in the car...We both kept catching ourselves and apologizing because it was all so pre-race nerves and we knew it but kept being mean anyway..we managed to get to the start line without killing each other so I consider that a small success alone..I am so spoiled. I am use to H being the "Observer"

and me being the pre-race "bitch" so this both being bitches thing is fairly new to me! I love that he is racing though..in the end sharing the stories with my partner in life is, well, the best!

Saturday, I rushed us out to Buffalo Springs Lake as early in the morning as I could because the heat index was about 100*. This had made me panic the few days before as I watched the fickle weather reports for race day: one day it was 96*, the next 88* and rain..Made me nuts.

On Saturday it was REALLY F*ing HOT!! So I took a test drive in my long sleeved wetsuit in the really warm water and was immediately too warm. On to my Point Zero Skin suit that I have never really worn in a race before. It felt infinitely better and more comfortable. So I went back and forth as to which to wear. It seems that most folks think the wetsuit is faster but I do not think I am really faster in it at all. So I called Coach Eric, who encouraged me to go with the Skinsuit, since I do not train in a wetsuit and swim just fine without it..thus not overheating..OK, I finally made the decision..no wetsuit! We ran around the course, biked a bit. It was windy (of course) but this seemed to cool things off a bit so I expected wind. The run was HOT, as expected..OK, we are in for a HOT race I told myself...

We connected up with GeekGirl, S. Baboo, Johnny Tri and some other folks from here and there for a great pasta dinner at Orlando's in Lubbock. We all laughed at the weather and excitedly talked about running, racing and stuff.. Off to bed at again an ungodly early time, then at 3:30 AM Sunday AM, the phone rang and H announced, It's race time!! I convinced him to get to the transition area early since I ha

ve been stuck in the clusterf*k of cars trying to get into the parking lot before and knew how stressful this can be. H relented and gave into my OCD, although his tendency is to wake up later and show up a little more on time. So we were at the parking lot in the front row, in the dark at 4:30 AM. I had my handy flashlight but did not see the cute little ant hill we were standing on and got bit HARD by a damn little ant in my foot. That hurt for some time..The usual PIA stuff..could not get air in my Zipps (oh they're OK, they feel full after my tune-up, etc), should I drink this, eat this gel...on and on..

At last I realized the wind had picked up..in the dark I could see the lake stirring up quite a bit and in the distance lightening..uh oh, there is a storm a brewing! It felt humid but not hot yet. The wind was whipping pretty good by the time we were setting up in transition..no one seemed to care in this bunch. No one was even talking about it. The announcer went on talking about the pros going off at 6:30, us going off at 6:35, while it appeared on the lake that a storm was approaching..Finally with about 2

5 min to go, the announcer went quiet for about 15 min. I really think they were trying to decide whether to delay the race or cancel the swim or what..The lake was pretty choppy, no whitecaps but really close..we took a warm-up run. It felt great. I was surprisingly calm even with the weird weather conditions..I started vacillating about the wetsuit again..I finally decided that I needed the safety factor of the wetsuit in case I needed to float in the choppiness. So safety over comfort won..The lightening seemed to go away but the wind was still intense..

At 6:35, they announced the pro men and women would be going off. It was so cloudy and dark I could not see hardly anything with my tinted goggles...uh-oh.. Oh well just going to wing it I guess. Again very calmly I lined myself up front, as planned and when they said GO to our wave, I took off like a bat out of hell. After about 100 yards, I looked up and saw something new and different, There were only 10-20 -people ahead of me-are you kidding? I have always been afraid to start out fast but we have been practicing this so I just went for it. The only problem with this is there are not that many folks to spot to stay on track...I was veering off to the right alot because of the wind and waves..It was a tough few hundred yards until we turned..I still could not see shit but barely could make out the huge triangular buoys and managed to actually draft a few folks. I felt very strong and just kept pushing myself as hard as I could and stay aerobic. I got VERY HOT, in the wetsuit, as predicted but I pushed on....As we headed back to shore, the wind seemed a little strong

er and waves higher. I knew I was still having a pretty good swim, esp. after the last fiasco in this lake..At last I was done! I forgot they would strip my wetsuit so had to backtrack to get that done. At last I stepped over the mat and boom..into T-1

Swim: 39.51

T-1: 2:13

(note the darkness-yep that is how dark it was..)

Not my PR but in that swim , pretty good. Second out of the water in my AG. I was so happy when I got on the bike, I was practically in tears..Yes!!! I did it! One of my friends who was not racing yelled YOU ROCKED THE SWIM!! That was all I needed to keep going! The first thing out of T-1 is a very steep hill. I used this to just calm down and "spin" up..(not much spinning but slow churning more like it)..The race plan was pretty simple: negative split the bike, do not spend all of my energy on the bike-hold back a little...

I chose not to wear a watch in this race. Was this a good idea? I don't think so looking back. I may have pushed more on the bike, run, who knows? First thing I noticed on the bike, besides the damn hills was the wind..it was gusting probably 25 MPH at times, the course is a big square with some funky out and backs so about half the time the wind was in my face. I just tucked into aero position and went. I took it easy up the big ass hills and just kept it steady on the flats. I felt like I was PRing the bike . My legs started to get really tired by the end and pain was setting in. At about mile 40, the rain started..It was not pouring rain, just steady and the roads were way wet. We had just missed the worst of it I think as we were heading back into the park. As I pushed myself up the last big incline, I asked someone what time it was: 10:50! Oh damn! That meant I definitely was not PRing this bike. How could I be so way off on perception? Could I have pushed harder?

Bike time: 3:32.

2007 bike time: 3:32-no kidding!

, god bless him, had the brilliant idea to put our running shoes and socks in plastic bags in T-2 in case in rained. That rocked!! Except that my transition rug was SOAKED. My feet were squishing everywhere and the towel was soaked. I somehow managed to get my shoes on relatively dry, even though it seemed to take forever. Do I need sunscreen? Isn't it raining? Should I bring this goo bottle? All these thoughts and questions that don't make any sense in the moment at all.

T-2: 2:13

I took off on the run to "warm up"the first mile as planned. What I did not plan was the intense pain I had not only in the inner thigh that has been bugging me for weeks now, but in both my legs. Bad pain...I stopped and dumped the goo bottle and white arm warmer thing. I took some Advil and electrolytes. I then proceeded to have the mental fight for my life to stay in the game. Every time I landed on my feet, my legs were screaming...Whoa, I do not remember this run hurting this early! My feet did not go numb..that was one positive..I only had to go to the BR twice...that is another positive..all my mostly liquid no roughage diet was paying off now...But I was was suffering to the point I felt like crying..The "plan" was to go easy, then all out the last 10k. Say what? My plan shifted to "run for 60 seconds, walk for 60 seconds"...I ran probably more than I walked but not really sure..I just know when I saw that I had 11 miles to go at mile 2, I thought I would throw up..Then I thought about switching off the negative thoughts with mantras..like push, push, push, you can do this....etc..In between the Zen moments, I was cursing the f*ing race and why the hell was I doing this and my competition just passed me going to the finish line at mile 3..It was a sufferfest...I saw H at one point..he was only about a mile behind me and I begged him to catch up with me (little did I know he actually raced the plan and went all out with energy to spare the last 10k)..The last 2 miles of BSLT are torture..now I DO remember that part from the 2 previous years I have done this race..but never the pain the whole run like this...it was a pure test of my endurance..The sun came out of course out on the "energy lab 2" as they call it (energy lab 1 is in Kona)...So then I was frantically looking for sunscreen and taking more Advil. Trying coke, Gatorade, gels anything to keep me going..I finally took a disgusting chocolate Power Gel at mile 12, which they must have had a sale on or something..It was disgusting!! That did my stomach in..it said shut down..no more, I am done..then my stomach was swelling..great..

Finally, finally after about 50 people told me I was "almost there' I heard Mike Reilly say Debi you are done!! Really??? Holy crap that was hard..I felt like crying again but went back to see happy H in, who could have run another 10 miles it looked like!! We jumped into the lake and hugged...

Run time: 2:54

Run time 2007: 2:56

Total time: 7:12...It is a PR for BSLT for me..by 3 minutes..probably my transitions..

I was 6th out of 8 in my AG although there were 12 women signed up so I would rather say I was 6th out of 12, since those women did not show or did not finish! (not sure what the protocol is for that)..

Given the really difficult weather conditions, I would say I did really well. I REALLY wanted to get a better time, especially in the run. I do not know what happened, I probably pushed too hard in the wind on the bike, whatever..it will all come clear to me someday I am sure. I think my BSLT days are over though. The competition there is the best of the best and I am tired of getting my ego beaten up each time I go there..I need to find nice flat 70.3s at sea level, where I can do better..like Beach to Battleship in November!

One really cool thing was to have dinner with a gal from Santa Fe, who was in my AG and got the Kona slot with a time of 5:30!! (But I did BEAT HER IN THE SWIM!)..

P.S. At mile 40 or so, I stopped to take an electrolyte. Some kid was standing there with an obvious new tube in his hand and asked me do you know how to change a clincher? I looked long and hard at him and thought for what seemed to be a minute and said Yes, but I have to go-I am so sorry! He said he understood, he would wait for an official. Oh great, now I have really bad bike karma because I did not help this poor kid change his friggin' tire!! I did mumble something to him about practicing this before the race...I felt guilty the rest of the race and maybe the run was my punishment? Or maybe someday when I need help, no one will stop? It was a split second decision...H told me later I could have gotten disqualified for helping him..I hope this is true..

Thoughts 4 days out from a half Ironman..

There is so much to write about:

1. Did the 5k run with half of the family on Father's Day. Who knew that H would get so fast that he beat 12 men in his AG to get 3rd? And Becca kicked ass to get 2nd place after having a baby 6 months ago. And me? I took one for the team and walked with Haldey in a stroller. Still averaged 13 min/miles..I have been getting sore way deep inside my left hamstring/inner thigh/back when I run longer than a mile lately..not a good sign if I have a race in 4 days!

2. Speaking of races, I am feeling quite prepared for the BSTL half IM this Sunday. I would venture to say that the only thing standing in the way of me getting a PR is ME!! Well, that and the 90+ degree Texas hot humid weather that it looks like I will be racing in..I have trained so differently this year. Fast paced, less miles..we shall see how that pays off. So far, except for the nagging left leg thing, I am feeling faster.

3. Speaking of faster, it is possible to teach an old dog new tricks..I have officially become faster in the swim. At first I thought the totally new way of swimming I was learning was slowing me down but alas..the clock says nope-I am really speedier at least in the pool..I have been swimming since I was 4 years old so after 50 years who knew I could get more speed in this old body? Sure would like to kick the 5 hour half IM woman's ass in the swim..just sayin'....There are 13 women in my AG. Is that unlucky?

4. Speaking of dogs, mine is old. Really, really old..Mocha is 14 if she lives until July that is.. One day I think this must be her last week, the next, we are spending $50 at the Pet Store to keep her eating another day. She pees every night on the kitchen floor now so we bought the "pads" that she is suppose to pee on now so I do not have to mop my floor every morning! Dog owners understand the intense feelings of guilt (damn dog just go already!) and sadness (please live alot longer..please?) and fear of taking the poor old thing to the vet in case there is bad news..Next week we will take her in for a check up if she is still not eating well..Emotionally roller coaster you have me on Mocha!!

5. I do not know how I ever had time to work. Honestly..We have been running around like chickens for weeks now. I do not remember the last time we were home, by ourselves, resting just being retired! This retirement stuff is not for cissies! If you work, you can go and tell yourself that all that other stuff does not really matter and it does not get done. If you are retired, you see every little shitty thing that needs to be fixed, mowed, cleaned, gone through, organized..the list goes on..on top of that you gain weight so then have to train more so you can eat more while retired. It's hell-I am about ready to go back to work just to get a break!

6. Speaking of weight, I have started my modified liquid diet today until race time. This includes chicken noodle soup, ensure, bagels, pasta, spaghetti sauce, etc..I am trying to keep my "problem" on the run that involves many trips to the bathroom or bushes, to a minimum. It has worked in the past...hope it works this time...I hate those bushes..

OK, so tomorrow we are off to Lubbock. Hopefully Mocha survives another kennel trip, my mother in law feels better and my house gets cleaned magically while I am gone. Well, actually we have someone cleaning it and the windows (I could not stand them another day)!

I am ready, well trained, for this race. Bring it on!! Left leg be damned!

Next week my 3 best friends from childhood are coming to NM for a week so we will run around the state while I am a tour guide and be silly middle-aged women who think they are still 16 years old!

Ironman Lessons Come in Handy..

Now this is where IM training/racing comes in handy..this morning..running...We embarked on a 1:40 min run, at altitude near Heron Lake, near the cabin...

They told us the trail was 3 miles total..I tend to believe people who work at these State Parks that they probably know from the map how far the trail is. Silly me! So anyway,we took off thinking OK we will run the 3 miles then run along the lake to make up the rest...

I had felt a little shaky since our workout yesterday on the track. We did Speed Work w/Coach Eric...My leg started hurting about 3/4 of the way into a "pyramid" (it just sucked and was hard, etc)..I opted to stop before said soreness became an injury..So I was tired to begin with then we hightailed it up here last night..I was grumpy, tired and went to bed fairly early.

4:30 AM-I hear our beloved 14 year old geriatric dog coughing and stumbling about downstairs.Now she can't go outside without us carrying her down the stairs..40 lbs of dead weight down 2 flights of stairs..it is hard on a good day..At 4:30 AM I went down to find one thirsty dog and who obviously needed to go outside. So there I was, well not exactly "dressed" for the outside, carrying my old dog down the stairs in the dark, who by now seemed confused as to which way was the door..not a good sign. I let her out and she did her business only to take off down the road instead of back to the house. I am calling her, in my "nightwear" to no avail. I had to take off barefoot..and you get the picture.. It wasn't pretty as I chased after my senile dog to get her back inside. We finally made it. After many more trips downstairs, I finally just lifted her up to the couch and said "Go night, night!" Like a child..

I could not go back to sleep for anything. Then I got hungry..Damn! So up I was at 5:00 getting oatmeal and coffee and pissed! After an hour of this, I got so sleepy, I went back to bed...did manage an hour more of sleep or so..

Fast forward to our run by the lake: We start out and I just do not feel good. I start to get light headed, hungry (not a good sign at the beginning of a run)..I ate a Power Gel, to no avail..Walked a bit and the ground started spinning. I am not doing so good, I think I may need to stop I tell H. He slows down. We are in the middle of basically nowhere on a trail that is unfamiliar. I do not want him to get too far ahead...I eat another Power Gel, more water..Still feeling like crap,I am walking. As we continue to walk, H says hey let's just walk the rest of the 3 miles then call it a day. I obviously agreed, since by then I was barely able to walk...Time ticked by..1.5 miles...halfway there I think..I eat a THIRD gel and more water...I am starting to feel a little better. By now we are jogging down the hills, walking up....We get to some kind of turnaround at 2.7 miles. Hmmm. me thinks these folks so not know how far 3 miles are..Slowly we picked it up to a run and soon we were at almost 6 miles and back to the ranger station. We decided after my 4th gel, that my tank was full and we could keep going. So we did..The whole 1:45 minutes, slowly mind you, but done..

It just proves my point of Ironman: You can be feeling like dog doo-doo one minute, ready to quit...fix the problem and feel great in an hour! Honestly you can!!

America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride..

It was...I think..true...

Now I have not been everywhere and as someone mentioned, Jackson Hole is pretty spectacular and then there is Alaska of course-but do they have century rides like this? I do not know.

We left on Thursday after a swim lesson with Coach Eric, where we learned to reach and pull. Wow-talk about sore arms! It is hard work getting faster....better pay off! We drove the long 9.5 hour drive to Barstow, CA, where my head hit the ever so fluffy pillow at the Hampton Inn there. I love the Hampton. The fluffy beds, the big "free" breakfast in the morning, all of it..H & I are in the habit of just getting places..so we eat in the car on the fly. H is in charge of "car meals", well all meals for that fact. We managed to fit both bikes in the car, without both wheels, with plenty of room in the Pre-Ass for all our other sporty stuff and suitcases..This makes for better gas mileage. We found that dragging the bikes behind the car affects the gas mileage like by about 10 MPG. Got a good night's sleep in Barstow and woke up to a sunny California day to make the last 7 hour drive to South Lake Tahoe. It took us longer than we thought but the drive was beautiful through several mountain ranges. Of course I forgot my camera..grr..so was going to take flip videos, which I had with me, but that seemed too much trouble so alas I have no real documentation. Except my cheesy Blackberry pictures, which after seeing IPhone pics-mine look like they were taken with one of those brownie cameras I use to have as a kid..

Got to Tahoe around dinner time and it was raining. Apparently had been raining and cloudy for about 7 days. We read that it only rains a few days a year and we happen to hit right in those few days I guess. We could not really see Lake Tahoe or the mountains and did I mention it was cold? Around 38 in the morning and 50s in the day. Waking up Saturday to more rain, we managed to squeak out a run for about an hour before the rain started up again and it rained..and rained.. and rained..well you get the picture..I spent alot of time cleaning our bikes and at the local grocery store, gathering food for the morning and beyond..We ate dinner at one very busy Italian restaurant, where the food was, meh...ok..

3,000+ people descended upon South Lake Tahoe, populations 23,000 for this ride. So it was a very busy little place all day Saturday as folks were going stir crazy in the rain. I must admit I was a bit grumpy thinking about riding 100 miles anyway and in the rain? I don't think so. The weather forecast was somewhat encouraging for Sunday. Rain in the afternoon-OK so we have to be done by the afternoon, that is all.

6:15 AM-that is the time we started AMBBR, as it is called. We rode the 1.5 miles from the Best Western, where we stayed there (OK place, GREAT pancakes for breakfast made up for the crappy cell service and no wireless Internet-certainly not the luxury hotel it was cracked up to be)..There were the 3000 plus cyclists at the start, staggering to begin but still a clusterf&*#k for much of the first 50 miles or so...H and I wore our Outlaw jerseys but who could see them under the 5 layers of clothes we had on? It was friggin' cold in the 30s but we are Outlaws and we train in the winter here so we can take it, right? Really was not so bad and hallelujah, it was cloudy but no rain! We were so happy about this. I would not have gone in that pouring down stuff, which would have made for one long trip for no reason..

This ride was so well supported, I do not think we will ever be treated any better on a century ride. About every 15 miles or so there was a rest stop which had bars, fruit, cookies, pretzels, Cytomax, etc, etc...There were drop bags at each stop so you could lose the layers and layers of clothes you had one, which we did...Bike pumps, bike techs, everything you could imagine were at these stops and tons of porta potties..I can't say enough about those support areas...We stopped at the second one and hung out for probably 30 minutes just to hang out! This was after the first "hill" out of two hills on the ride. My antiquated Garmin only held a charge for part of the ride so here is the first bit of elevation:

So the hill was right at the beginning, which was good because it warmed me up enough to peel clothes...

The views from the top of this pass were...well I can't even describe it except to say mountains behind a beautiful clear blue Lake Tahoe, with the sun peaking out from the clouds finally was well, breath taking..

After around mile 33, we did an out and back on the most beautiful bike trail I have ever been on. It went right past a river/creek that was as clear water as I have ever seen. I kept say Why this really IS the most beautiful bike ride! Oohs and ahhhs abound here. It was a bit technical trying to keep from running into the person in front of you. Well imagine hundreds of cyclists trying to fit on one little bike path for 5 miles or so and well, you get the picture. People were polite and all and no run-ins which could have easily happened.

Around mile 70 was lunch. Now this was no ordinary lunch. As you came into the lunch area, there were about 200 folks cheering you in just for lunch! Out of the 3000+ cyclists, 1800 were Team-in-Training peeps. These folks are really organized!! Spectators abounds for these motivated people, many of whom I assume were doing their first century ride..We saw people from all over the country as the jerseys had TNT, with where they were from..I finally got to sport my Outlaw jersey and of course had some great compliments about that!

Lunch..well what can I say? What wasn't there to eat? Now I am not one who can eat alot on the bike, or my stomach rebels but I had to have the vege sub and chocolate brownie and chips..just had to...I have never seen so much food in my life! We stayed another 30 minutes at this beautiful rest/picnic area right on the lake, sun shining at this point, full on sunshine...wow!

Now by this time I was getting a bit tired. My legs felt fine, I was just tired..So we stopped at one of the many quaint little coffee shops along the lake and I had an espresso, which seemed to kick me into another gear for the rest of the ride. H & I were pinching ourselves asking ourselves if the happy police were going to come and take us away now!

Miles 80-86 were a bit tough as we had another long, long, slow climb. I was getting grumpy by now-at one point when there was about 2 miles to the summit, some (I am sure well meaning yet out of shape looking) volunteer told me it was 7 miles to the top. I had no Garmin by now and well, I was not a happy camper!! I was very happy he was wrong!

Finally at mile 86 wheeeee!!! We flew downhill the next 12 miles or so..It was exhilarating! As we sailed back into S. Lake Tahoe town, there were alot of those "grate" thingies on the side of the rode. So heard and yelled alot of "Grate!" warnings... Just as I thought wow I wonder if these things are really all that dangerous?, I watch as a lady gets caught in one, right in front of us and goes flying over her handle bars and face plants..Holy chit! We stopped..I went back and told her not to move her neck, as I remembered one of our Outlaws, who recently broke her neck and neck immobility when it happened probably saved her from being paralyzed. Well, this woman was having none of that as she tried to get up. I told her You snapped your neck, I saw you..please do not move! But she was insisting she wanted to finish the 100 miles. One guy told her..I think it counts you are at mile 98 or something. The sag people arrived immediately..I told them it looked like she snapped her neck as she face-planted to me (her face was bleeding too)..so figured they would take it from there, as there were also tons of people there to help here up..Oh well, I tried! I hope she is OK. We did see the medical helicopter take off soon after we finished so maybe she got airlifted out..Will never know I guess...

That kind of dampened my finish to the 100 miles. I was getting tired by now anyways. My legs were beginning to feel the distance although surprisingly not so bad. I was so glad since the longest ride I had done recently was 72 miles and that was in April. H & I rounded the corner at the finish line and there were all the roaring crowd again-you would think we just finished the Tour' de France, the way they were cheering. It was awesome!! I think it took us about 7 hours bike time but who knows..H accidentally zeroed his bike computer and then there is my whole Garmin issue! Anyhow, I deem it a 7 hour century!

Just to make sure we got enough to eat..they had quite a spread at the end, by the pool at the hotel/casino host hotel. There was pasta galore, salad, marinara sauce, more pasta, bread sticks, etc...Seriously, you really got your money's worth of food and support at this beautiful ride!! We ate, then rode back to the hotel, where I collapsed after a bath and Kentucky Fried Chicken's new grilled chicken dinner. It was fabulous!!! We ate on the beach, a bit cold and windy but at least we can say we were on the beach at Lake Tahoe!

I slept like a rock...

Conclusion: The America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride was spectacular. Would do it again in a heartbeat. Great support, food, roads, very organized..the views-well it was ridiculous!

To top it off we stopped off south of Las Vegas on the way home and spent the night. The next morning we did a 1.4 mile open water swim in Lake Mead, equipped with our own Formulaic as a tour guide. He is going to to IMCDA in 2 weeks so just happened to know all the buoy inside swim info and took us through a great swim in a stupendous lake. I am jealous they have this in their back yard! Johnny Tri was there too. Was so great to see these friends as the last time we were all there was the horrible Rage in the Sage half IM last year, in which I was totally traumatized but met great people! The swim yesterday was so much more pleasant. After the swim, we met up with Formulaic's wife and brand new baby son-11 days old! Very very cute and little and Kelly looked better than I did and she just had a baby! We had a great lunch and said goodbye-see you JT at BLST in 3 weeks!

So I have a new found confidence in the swim and bike. Now I just need to get that same energy on the run and I am there-watch out Lubbock!