A Price to Pay

I am 36 now and in the few weeks since I turned 36 I accomplished my first Olympic Triathlon down at UC Santa Barbara. My time unofficially was 3 hours and 9 minutes. For those of you unfamiliar with the distance of an Olympic Triathlon they are as follows. 1500m swim (.92 mile) 40k Bike (24 miles) and 10k run (6 miles). Good to be alive. Good to be alive were the thoughts racing through my head after the race. In the couple of hours I was up before the race and just before I kept thinking I should probably not do this right now. You see since Friday I had been fighting a cold. I felt OK but I knew it was coming. Saturday I had even lost my voice. I also knew that running this event would most likely make me worse which of course it did as I am writing this blog in bed where I have been ever since I got home Sunday night.

The race went well but I took it easy. Of course the swim was my main concern having to swim nearly a mile. The water temp was fine actually but the longest part of the swim had me swimming with the waves coming in from the right side which is where I breathe so it was very disruptive. In the parts where the waves were not bothering me I was fine. I of course made up time in the bike and a lot of time on the run.

As with many athletes my adrenaline and will took over and I managed to will myself through the race and after setting a bench mark of 3hours and 9 minutes I can only improve from there.

As the title suggests - as with everything there is a price to pay and for me it means I am going to be in bed at least another day and I am going to be very busy the next few days catching up.

On March 21st we had the March parties at the ranch. As always it was a blast. I made dinner for everyone and we even went to one of my mom's horse shows.

Last Thursday a few of us went on a leisurely ride to the coast and back up Tunitus Creek. I have to admit the more I do these things the easier it gets. The trip was great. It included a stop at the goat cheese factory, a picnic with some artichoke bread, a little nap at the beach, and even a Margarita for a night cap. The whole ride was 67 miles which I have not done since high school.

Boston is now less than 3 weeks away and hopefully I will feel better enough to resume training tomorrow.

On a Mission!

Last year when I turned 35 I was treated to a very special birthday. This year I was on a mission to beat that or come close. Well lets just say I had a great time trying.

For my actual birthday I had my family over and I we made enchiladas with cupcakes and ice cream.

For my birthday run I took Hallvard to Castle Rock on a nice sunny day. We did just under 10 miles that day. A great run. Speaking of runs this week was a big one starting with Castle Rock, On Saturday I ran the Angel Island 25K. I originally planned to just take it easy but som eone bumped me on the way up and after that it was on.  I ended up in 6th place overall and 4th in my age group.  I guess us 30 somethings have no lives. More importantly I made a breakthrough.  Very early in the race I found myself in mu usual spot between the lead group and the intermediates.  When this guy bumped me I suddenly remembered my coach telling me it is not enough to maintain the Status Quo - YOU HAVE TO IMPROVE.  So with that I turned it on and caught up to the lead group by the end of the race. I also battled the guy that bumped me for most of the race which is something I never do.  I ended up beating him by a minute.

On Sunday I did an 8 miles along the Bay Area Ridge Trail with the Tri Team and on Tuesday Hallvard and I ran 20+ miles along the Castle Rock, Sanborn, Saratoga Gap and Long Ridge. Phew!!!

By doing this I completed the series of runs that knocked me out in December and I feel fine.  I am stronger than ever.  My weight is good.  I am on pace for Boston.

On Sunday after the run about I brought together my family with my new Tri family and about 15 of us went wine tasting with lunch and dessert. 

We went by Hallcrest to pick up some wine and had lunch.  Then we ended up going to Bargetto for dessert and chocalates.

Afterwards we went to downtown Santa Cruz and had pizza and pasta and I even picked up a new hat.

We had a blast!!!

Well that is all for now.

Coming up I have a wine ride, the Bearathlon, and March Parties at the ranch (another busy weekend)

B

Catching Up!!!!

I know it's has been a while but February was way too short. Over the month I achieved my goal weight and finished my rehab.

For Valentines day Nico and I took Chris to the Cliff House and then we took my grandfather to a crab feed in Galt.

Over February I also made a new family. My Tri-family. They are awesome. The best part is I have all these people I can train with pretty much anytime. Coach Reto is great and really supportive and even has a line of clothes that I really like.

Did I mention I completed my first triathlon. That's right I finished the Stanford Treeathlon in 1 hour and 16 minutes. 15th place in my age group and 80th overall (out of 500+) not too bad.

Needless to say I am feeling really good about myself right now and with Boston around the corner I have a very busy upcoming race schedule including: Angel Island 12k (F2R Club), Dare to be Fit 5k, UCSB Triathlon Championships (Olympic Distance), Boston Marathon, Big Sur Marathon (Relay), Wildflower Triathlon (Olympic Distance), and the Bay to Breakers. Phew!!!!!!!!!!

All that in addition to the Kaiser Half Marathon I did on February 1st with the Tri Team and the Jenny's Light Charity 5k I did on March 1st.

Best to keep busy. No wonder I made weight,

Now to build some muscle.

Tomorrow is my Birthday (36) and Sunday we are going on a wine tasting picnic to Hallcrest and Loma Prieta. I will let you know it goes.

B