Monday, April 21, 2008

Battle of San Jacinto Triathlon

The water looks deceptively calm here.

Sunday was the Battle of San Jacinto triathlon, an Olympic distance 1500meter swim, 24 mile bike and 6.3 mile run. Jeff and I got up at 4:30 and I had a peanut butter banana smoothie for breakfast. We got to the beach at about 6:00 and I got everything set up. This race was different because it’s a point to point race. So you bike from the beach to the San Jacinto Monument and they have already taken your transition 2 stuff over there.

Everyone kept talking about how cold the water was, so I didn’t do a swim warm up. This was a small tri (only 30 girls total) so only 3 swim waves, they got the men under 40 going right at 7 and my wave started right at 7:10, the water wasn’t that cold, I was wearing my wetsuit and once I got going it was pretty comfortable. We were in the water waiting to start and I could see Jeff and Cherie and Cullen on the shore, I waved, but they didn’t see me. The waves didn’t look bad from shore, but swimming against them was tougher than I thought it would be, but I was doing ok. When I turned, I had to swim diagonally to swim a straight line, the waves really weren’t that bad, but they were annoying, felt like scuba diving in a surge, back and forth, back and forth, and it was making me dizzy. I had to stop a lot to get undizzy. I was really happy to make the second turn and have a short break from that! At this point I was noticing that there weren’t many people behind me, this was a small tri, and I was having some trouble, but still, I’m used to being in the middle of the swim pack, not near the end. The third turn put me back parallel to the shore and getting dizzy again. A few of the waves were breaking over my head when I tried to breathe and I swallowed some salt water, yuck! A couple times I stopped to get undizzy and I thought I was going to puke! I was really wishing for a regulator so I could get under the waves and breathe! This was the toughest swim I’ve done in a triathlon and I don’t think I’ve ever been happier to get out of the water and on to the bike! I still finished the swim in 41:14 my goal time was 40 minutes. I saw Jeff and Cherie and Cullen as I was finishing the swim, they ran over close to my transition area and Jeff was asking how I felt, I told him it was the toughest swim I’ve ever done. He seemed surprised when I said that. getting out of the water
volunteers helping me get my wetsuit off (you can't really see me)
In transition 1, getting ready to bike

Heading out on the bike
Heading out on the bike
Transition 1 was 3:04, a little long, but I was still feeling a little dizzy and sick when I got out of the water. Jeff said that everyone looked pretty beat up as they came out of the water. By the time I got my bike stuff on, I was feeling fine. I knew this would be a challenging bike ride. Somehow in a really flat area, they found all the bridges and exit ramps and had us bike on them. The race packet said “there are 8-9 miles of very challenging hills” I had ridden over the Hartman bridge once before so I knew how steep it was. We rode over the bridge then turned around and did it again! I felt good the entire bike ride, even on the bridge. It was a beautiful bike ride, you get a great view riding over the bridge. The last half of the bike was pretty flat and there was a little tail wind so that was fun too. A couple miles before the finish, I could see the San Jacinto Monument in the distance. I rode into the park and just past the monument and saw Jeff and Cherie and Cullen cheering for me! I gave my bike to the volunteers (I’ve never done that before) and got my transition 2 bag. Bike time was 1:37:04. I was hoping for 1:30 to 1:40 and had told Jeff it might be 1:45 or more depending on the hills and the wind. Another volunteer helped me get my run stuff out of the bag and put my bike stuff into the bag. He was really nice. T2 was 2:25.
The San Jacinto Monument
The run was 2 loops around the San Jacinto park, it was probably the prettiest run I’ve ever done. We ran over a boardwalk over a wetland with all kinds of cool wetland plants, and there were tons of trees and other plants in bloom. A lot of it was on trails and grass, which slows me down a little, but sometimes it makes my legs feel better when they’re tired. My legs were definitely tired from the hilly bike. I started off the first 2 miles at about an 11:45 pace, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep it up, my legs were getting really sore and tired! I was feeling good other than that. Mile 3 was closer to 12 minutes, and just after mile 3 I got to pass the monument and see Jeff and Cherie and Cullen cheering for me again. I passed the mile 4 marker at 47:00 so I was still doing fine, but man my legs were sore! I definitely slowed down on mile 5, I don’t remember what my time was, and not long after the mile 5 marker my stomach started to hurt and I really thought I was going to puke, so I walked for a few minutes, ran for a few minutes, started feeling sick again, walked again, pretty much kept that up for the last mile until about a ¼ mile from the finish when I ran in to the finish, run time was 1:19:16, goal was 1:15. Of course Jeff and Cherie and Cullen were there to cheer and congratulate me! My final time was 3:43:05 my goals was 3:45.

I'm not sure why, but this was a really fun race, I really enjoyed it, even though the swim was tough and I had a little trouble at the end of the run. The scenery was great through the entire race, and the point to point was different and really well organized. I also had an entire cheering section which was way fun! Thanks Jeff, Cherie and Cullen!

I was sure I was the very last finisher. I didn’t feel bad about it at all since I beat my goal time and I knew mostly fast people entered this tri. It was interesting because before my first couple of tris I really agonized about the possibility of finishing last and how horrible I’d feel, but now when I thought I finished last I didn’t feel even a little bad about it. Turns out there was one guy who finished after me, he was behind me on each leg so I never saw him.

We went over to Cherie and Cullen’s after the race, I took a shower and we went to Kemah for lunch at the Cadillac Mexican grill, we watched the sailboats heading out to the bay for awhile then headed home.


Cherie and I at the Cadillac Grill

Saturday, April 5, 2008

Camp for All Ride



Today Camp for All had their annual fund-raising bike ride. I got up at 5:15 and headed up to Burton, about an hour and a half drive. Camp for All is worth it, it’s a really cool place.

This is from Camp for All's website: Camp For All, located in the rolling hills of Washington County, Texas, is a unique camping and retreat facility that strives to enrich the lives of people with special needs. A not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization, Camp For All works in partnership with special needs groups whose members gain self-esteem, self-awareness and independence by participating in programs that are recreational, therapeutic and educational. The camp provides a fully-accessible environment and programs that are tailored to meet the needs of campers of all ages, interests and abilities.

Essentially, it’s a camp for kids and adults with cancer, cerebral palsy, burns, spinal cord injuries, and many other conditions. Campers get to do activities like archery, cycling, canoeing, horseback riding, nature studies, and tons of other cool stuff. When I worked at Duckworth-Cole, Inc. we did some charity work for Camp for All, so when I heard about the bike ride, I knew I wanted to go up there to do it.

Riders had a choice of 3 distances, 22 miles, 36 miles or 64 miles. I decided on 36 miles. Since there are lots of hills around Camp for All and no hills in Houston, I wasn’t sure I could do 64 miles in such a hilly area. I was excited to ride on some hills today, they really build leg strength and it’s good practice for some of my triathlons in Austin.

It was pretty cold this morning, I was shivering before the ride started, so I got to wear the riding jacket that Jeff got me for Valentine’s Day for the first time. It was sunny and clear and the bluebonnets and other wildflowers were blooming all along the course. It was a really beautiful bike ride. The first 25 miles was hilly, but I was feeling good, the last 10 miles or so were a little tough, there were some bigger hills and a little headwind, so I was happy to ride back into Camp for All at the finish. My quads are fairly sore tonight, so I guess I got a good workout today.

Then I picked up my goodie bag and t-shirt and had lunch. They had hamburgers, chips, potato salad (yuck!), ice cream, and beer. (It’s pretty common to serve unhealthy food at rides & races, last weekend at the triathlon the post race food was pizza, ice cream, and beer) I met some girls from A&M who did their very first ride today, the 22 mile ride, that’s a great first ride! It was such a pretty day that I hung out at Camp for All for awhile and watched some of the 64 mile riders finish.
Cool Camp for All cnavas bag and t-shirt.

Hamburgers and beer after the ride.

This is me with one of the Aggie girls who did her very first ride today.