Waterfalls

Monday, December 22, 2008

Bring on the HollyDaze!

Christmas is just around the corner and we're busily planning away for the new season. The recent bad weather has kept us inside... lots of trainer time for me and lots of general cleaning on the house. I'll have to snap a picture of our Christmas lights tonight and see if I can post it.

Hmm... will see if I can do that...

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

A bittersweet race...

a short update on my itouch...

Painfully slow swim with currents stronger than me put me behind schedule on day 1... Hit the bike hard but after the big climb I started to black out (dehydration and neck cramping from swim) (freaked out marsha a bit). By the time I recovered I could not make the cutoff so I rode until I wrapped my head around another unofficial finish, and resolved to give of all the next two days. Got in the car around mile 55 with a smile.

Ate well on bike and at dinner!

Day 2 I had a blast on the bike!!! Rocked the downhill, awed by the scenery, ate a ton, grinned all the way across the course. PR for the day and rode pretty relaxed. Another good dinner.

Day 3 I stuck to the plan running 8n2s. It was ugly at times and I really spent my bank but I did it!!! 11:45.

Drew, Marsha, and Robin were an incredibly solid crew and I absolutely could not have done it without them;)!!

2 days later and I'm still in a bit of pain, sad the season is over, bummed about the swim, but thrilled with the bike and run. One last day in Kona with my Ultraman buddies and then we fly home this evening.

I'll rest for a few weeks and wrap my head around it all, then time to get rolling on to the next adventure.

Thank you to all got the support and good thoughts!

Leslie

Monday, November 17, 2008

Happy Birthday Drew!

Hubby is now "in his 40's"... so I got him a nice new toy for his birthday!

Had a really light training week last week. I feel somehwat bouncy, but also very soft. We're going through a spate of really nice weather in Colorado (going to be 76 tomorrow!!!) which coincides nicely with picking back up the training this week... not oodles of distance but definitely hitting all three sports a bit each day and sharpening up the intenisty.

Drew is racing IM Az this weekend... time to qualify for Kona for next season. Think fast thoughts his way, especially ones dealing with running later on Sunday afternoon!

2 weeks until the season is officially over! I'm ready to bring it!

Leslie

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

All ready to go!

Weekend after this Drew is racing IM Az, and then two days later we are on a plane to Hawaii!!!! YIKES and YEAH!!!!!!

I've put in the miles, my head is in the right place, and I'm ready to go!!! I'm still a bit too serious about this, need to reach that place emotionally where it really is about going to play with my friends but I think that is coming. I've been pretty wiped out the past few weeks, and last weekend we put the cherry on top of the training sundae.

Saturday's Rim Rock Run race went quite well! The distance was 1.6 miles longer than I thought so it was 22.6 miles. Drew "ran" the race with me and we stayed solidly on strategy, and felt pretty good throughout it. The first 4 miles was tough (2300ft of climbing in 4 miles) but I did my run 4 and walk 2 and that worked well. I was always happy to hear the watch beep to walk, but I did not walk any of the run sections. The next 4miles were still uphill, but an easier grade and we stuck to the 4/2 and used this to recover a bit. At mile 8 the course turned to long rollers, more down than up. We switched to 8 min run/2min walk and that worked pretty good too. There were still some uphills and I struggled to make the 8 minutes a few times, but managed it. Once we went downhill at mile 19 I ran really easy, but kept the 2 minutes walk to try to minimize post-race aches in my quads/hamstrings.

In the end we finished in 4:47, a 12:42 per mile pace. I was not whupped at the finish and could have kept going at that pace for quite awhile more. I feel like I could have run this race much faster, but the goal was to feel like I could keep going at the finish and I definitely did. That pace would have given me a 5:30 marathon, or a 11:00 finish at Ultraman (assuming I could keep it up).

All in all it was a solid indicator and as we walked the mile back to the car we were talking about it pretty giddily. I'm glad I ran this race because I now feel like I am ready.

Coach is giving me the next 4 days really light and then it's short interval workouts until race day… Sweet! Time to rest, recover, and get ready to play...

One day at a time...
Leslie

Monday, October 27, 2008

Ultraman musings...

Last weekend was alot of long slow distance for me. 2 x 2.5 hours on the bike trainer, 5 hours of riding in the foothills, and 5.5 hours of walk/jog/hiking. Lots of time for me to think about this race.

This race is a biggie for me. It was the start of my ultra-triathlon binge, it is a race that has beaten me three times (the first by clock, 12:44 on the run day. The second by water, a bad swim in bad conditions eliminated me on day 1. The third by sickness... nausea and vomit by mile 30 of the run left me unable to contonue).

This race is an opportunity to catch up with my friends, and a time for me to face the worst of my internal demons. I go into this race filled with hope for a great finish to what has been an exceptional season, and filled with doubt in my ability to beat the clock three days in a row.

The format of the race, 3 days in a row with a 12 hour cutoff each day, is a challenge to me. I tend to do better when I can just keep moving from the start through the finish, the stage race format exposes my nutrition and rest difficulties. The first two days are swimming and biking, and provided conditions are not horribly bad should go rather well. The last day is the run... hot and brutal along a highway through the lava fields. My worst event, in the worst conditions... this is where the rubber meets the road for my 2008 season.

And, that's whats been messing with my head. Can I finish the run in under 12 hours? My training says likely. My head says likely. My heart says I'll give it everyhting I have. The little demons in the back of my head laugh and giggle and tell me there's not a chance. I'm working on ignoring those little guys, and giving it my best shot and no matter what the clock says I will finish and know I did the best I could.

In 5 weeks it will be over and time to rest and recover and to look ahead to miles and miles on the bike... I have just under 5 weeks to shut the demons up and to find that happy place to race from so I can be the best Leslie I can be.

In the end I realize that I am an incredibly lucky girl to be able to go and challenge myself like this in such a beautiful place - surrounded by friends, supported by a hubby who loves and believes in me and by Marsha and Robin who think I'm nuts but love me anyways.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Denver Marathon

Yesterday was the Denver Marathon... really cool course through downtown Denver hitting some nice parks... lots of hills and totally perfect weather. Both Drew and I ran, and then he headed to work for several hours while I did some other training (and whined alot).

Drew had a really good day with an easy 3:08 on very little marathon specific training (he's done a long run of like 1:30 since his 7:20 IMKy marathon)... He's now thinking maybe all that training he did for Boston (he followed a 18 week plan) was a bad idea... Drats. How do I enforce good training patterns when he can go snap off a 3:08?

For me the weekend was good hard. Saturday I split a little firewood, then went down to swim, to pick up my race packet, ran 5, and did a 35 mile bike. Was kinda tired by the end!
Sunday was the marathon. I think the cold I was fighting last week coupled by a good day Saturday made it a good test for running tired.

It went okay, but not really inspiring. I ran 4 minutes, walked 2 minutes from the start (it was a test to see if this strategy works for me). I felt that really slowed me down in the first half of the race, and I didn't feel particularly "fresh" at the end of the race. The soles of my feet were quite sore (ordering yet another new pair of shoes today for the end of the season). It was nice to have the beeping to force my to run in the last 6 miles of the race. My time was 5:45… okay… that gives me a 15 minute "cushion" for the third day of Ultraman but not great. I think I am not fast enough to balance the slowness at the beginning of the race with the running ability at the end.

My strategy for Ultraman is now looking like run easy the first hour (downhill and no sun) and then maybe go for something like run 8 minutes, walk 2 for as long as I can hold the 8 minute run. Then maybe switch to 4 and 2 at the end when I'm really tuckered out… The run day at Ultraman is right on the threshold of my abilties, but I will finish it! Hopefully the clock will be with me and I can be a legal finisher, but even if it is not I want to hobble away from this knowing that I did it as best I could.

For the Rim Rock Run (21 miler through the Colorado National Monument in 3 weeks... An AWESOME race I must recommend to you!) I might test this concept a little with run 4/walk 2 up the first 8 miles of incline, then run 8/walk 2 through the next 10 miles of rolling/slight downhill, and then run the rest (walking only the water stops) as the downhill is steep the last 4.

I'm pretty tired today, and have some foot tenderness I'm not happy with including a bit of facia pain proximal to my left heel. Will ice it this week for sure. This week is pretty easy runs through the week, with a 2 hour hike Sat (and 8-10 hour bike) and a 5 hour hike Sunday (with a 4-5 hour bike) to get some time on my feet but still allow for recovery from last weekend. Next weekend is "running camp" which basically means a high volume running week with very little biking and swimming.

Less than 6 weeks to go for me to Ultraman, and 5 for Drew to qualify at IMAz... 3 more weeks of good focus and then it'll be time to get ready to go play with my friends!

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Taking charge...

This is Leslie and I now have the password to edit the blog.... (insert evil laugh here)

I don't know if I'll do any better at updating than Drew, but I'll try... will see if I can throw in at least some update once a week...

It's October now which my big running month, got to get my body ready and my head wrapped around finishing Day 3 of Ultraman in good form. Gorgeous fall aspens and nice weather have helped!

Drew is trying to motivate for Ironman Arizona... he's going to have a great race... I can feel it!

Other than that we're firewood splitting, TV watching, and watching the sunrise as we drive down the hilll to go to work. Days are getting shorter and the "off-season" (December) is just around the corner after we both rock the end of this season...

Keep on runnning...

Leslie

Hoodoo 500 - Sept 13th

As ya'll know, my big plans are to do the Race Across the West next year, and then RAAM in 2010. So, this season is my last season of Ultra-Tri for awhile… but, I figured it made good sense to jump into a long bike race now and just make sure that this cycling thing is really what I want to commit to.

So, I entered the Hoodoo 500, a 518 mile bike race on a single lap course through Southern Utah. The past two weeks haven't been ideal lead up conditions, with (my favorite local race ever) the 24 Hours of Triathlon (didn’t write a report on it but it was a really good time and an okay race for me) and then a business trip to NYC where I was putting on my first conference… We drove out to Utah Friday morning, got in with just the right amount of time to set up the car, meet my support crew and coach, spin on the bike for a few minutes, eat dinner, and go to the meeting. To set up the car we needed to put my race number all over it, put two yellow flashing lights atop, add a "Bikers ahead" magnetic sign, and oh yeah organize all the food, supplies, coolers, wheels, etc inside.

My crew consisted of my hubby and best supporter, Drew, and a friend of my coach's from Vegas, Larry. This was my first time meeting Larry and he is just great. I found him to be warm and supportive, funny, awake and alert, and just a really kind man. Drew tells me he had some good stories, and as a couple of Civil Engineers they had some good things to talk about as they whiled away the hours of the race in the car. My coach was there supporting another of her people, a really fast and nice guy Urs who went on to finish 2nd. She kept asking if I had any questions, but I reckon I didn’t know enough to know what to ask… I was just ready to get on with the biking! She provided a lot of good tips, and I think she and Larry talked occasionally throughout the race.

I also picked up my ride-along. The "Bow". There is a group of women cyclists who have this bow made of ribbons that travels around the country and goes on bike rides. A few weeks before the race Deb, the co-RD for Hoodoo, had the bow riding with her at the Tour of Utah which is a week long tour on the same course as the Hoodoo. She asked if I would bring the bow with me on the race, and of course I would never turn down the good luck. The bow was attached to my seat post, an fortunately had seen all the course before because I'm afraid on this ride she got a slow tour looking at my bum.

The race started with a neutral 8 miles Saturday morning. Brian (Deb's hubby and co-RD) rode us out and we had the usual morning chatter. Finally we got to the real start and the fast guys just took off. We there was a slight grade and I settled in and tried not to look back to see if I was last. We hit a road ("Hwy 9") that I thought we were supposed to turn on, but it wasn't really the T intersection I expected. The guy ahead of me went straight, I got stopped by a light, and a guy rolled up next to me. I asked if we should turn or go straight and he said in very accented English "go straight". Okay, light changes, we go. A few miles later the other guy is coming back at us. Drats. I call Drew and ask if we should have turned at 9 and he said yes, so quick Uturn, a reminder to myself that this will be a long day, and back we go. Up and down and then psst… Flat tire. DRATS! I'm still a few miles away from where I can meet my crew so I try calling again, no cell service at their end so I leave a message, take a deep breath and change the tire. Repeat a gain slowly. It's a long day. At least I've got the bad luck out of the way now. It's a long day.

Finally meet up with the crew and we settle into the bike race. They give me a walkie talkie, which is kinda cool because as I go up this 3ish mile climb I hear "You are almost at the top. Looking good". I think I like this thing! (Note to self, make a mount for it on my handlebars for the next long race). Go through Colorado City but I don’t see any interesting people there (I was looking… since the town has been in the news a lot recently). Get a nice long flat downhill, and eventually make it to the first CP. I see one other crew a lot, turns out they are the Finnish guys sisters and he speaks very little English (I wonder what he thought about out little getting lost earlier).

After the CP there's a 5ish mile climb and some kids go by in a convertible and throw cheeto's at me. Made me laugh! Michelle has this thing about eating cheetos in long races and I wondered if it was a sign!

The miles pass. Many climbs, most long (20-30 miles) and gradual. Lots of pee breaks. Bryce canyon, gorgeous. I see some racers on occasion, enough to not feel too isolated. I did the first night downhill alone (pretty steep and fast) and we decided from then on my crew would sit behind me on downhills. Scary stuff going that fast without much light. Somewhere in the middle of the night on a long climb I decided to take a nap. An hour in a sleeping bag on the side of the road. I didn’t sleep, but I did rest and it felt good. In the end I'm sure it didn’t hurt me, but I'm not sure it helped. Finally daylight came again and more of the same.

The scenery was absolutely gorgeous. The miles just passed by. I wasn't moving fast but I was really having fun. It was hard to eat solid food, got my gag reflex up, but we tried to get nibbles into me as often as possible. I thought about everything and nothing. This is the best part of the deal for me. I had flashes of good riding, flashes of laziness, and generally just rolled along. Finally we were at the "last" 30 mile climb before a big drop-off and then 85 miles of "easy to downhill" to the finish. The climb was pretty fun for the first 25 miles but then it was dark and I was tired and it got endless. At some point (Saturday I think) my breathing got all weird, I was breathing rapidly and shallowly. It didn’t seem to bother me, but was just strange. On this climb of climbs I would stop and just hang over my handlebars for a minute, then get back on a pedal some more. The guys were following me in the car and would get out and see if I was alright and I was, just pooped. I'd ride. I'd stop. I'd ride some more. Finally to the top and Larry says the next 6 miles are short steep climbs with downhills between. I think I screeched at him "WHAT, I thought I got to go DOWNhill". (The section wasn't actually that bad). I added all the clothes I could and we headed out and then started down a 20 mile 8% grade into a town. I was shivering so bad my front end was shaking, but I was flying down this hill. A couple of deer came across the road and fortunately I was too tired to react. Instead it was more of "huh, glad I missed them".
I thought about stopping when we hit town, I was cold and tired and ready to be done but Larry bounced out of the car in town and said "Great, it's easy from here, take off some of those clothes and lets get going" so I did. It seemed easy and warm, and then 5 miles later I started climbing again. WHAT? That's not easy! The map showed a slight grade but this was not slight. 30 miles took over 3 hours. The last 5ish were downhill and froze me solid. All I could think about was that it was 2am, I was cold and tired, and we had a 9.5 hour drive back home and no one had slept. Stopped at the next turn and I just was done.

So, I called the race a 471 miles (on my bike computer) and 42:08. I learned a lot and I am really excited about the next two seasons when I focus on this bike racing stuff. I am going to go back to Hoodoo next year I thing, with specific time goals in place for the checkpoints, knowledge of the course, and some decent hill training and I'll see about finishing with a good solid time.
This season still holds Ultraman. So, in two weeks I go to Tampa for some long ocean swim training. Then October is running month (200 miles, one marathon, and one big back to back weekend). The November is Ultraman. Finally the monkey will get off of my back!

Thanks for reading my stories… I'm really looking forward to the journey to Annapolis (where RAAM will end in June, 2010) and if you keep reading, I'll take ya along…

Keep the rubber side down and a smile up,
Leslie

Monday, July 21, 2008

Where's Drew? - Part II - Quebec

So you've read Leslie's rather short race report (short for her). I'm going to give you a little more from my perspective - support crew.



This was quiet the whirlwind trip as is standard practice for us. We got in to Quebec City around 10 or 10:30 pm and the race director for the double had promised to pick us up and there he was. On the way to the dorm/apartment (I know, pretty basic, but it saved us a ton), leslie was trying to confirm how to get to the race course and all from the dorm since we were not going to have a car. The race director, Jean Guy, just ended up taking us to the race site, how cool. He then walked us to the swim start and the bike transition. On the way back to the dorm, he stopped at a grocery store so we could get a couple things to eat.


Well, morning came early, I believe the sun was up at 4:30 am, felt like 11 am. Anyway, leslie put her bike together and we headed down to the race course so she could swim and ride a little, I ran along side on the way there. What a nice bike trail. So the St. Lawrence river is a huge, long river and has maybe a 10-15 foot tide, who knew? Well, we got to the swim site and it was on its way to low tide, I'll show you some pictures during the later to give you a perspective but note the trees and where the water is in this one. Leslie went out and eventually got in deep enough water to swim a little then did a few laps on the bike before we started to head back to the dorm. The intent was to run back and she would ride of course, but very quickly it was all about food. We stopped a pizza place and sat outside which then turned into a walk back to the dorm basically but the weather was just about perfect.


Our friends were due in from Pittsburgh and we were going to have a casual dinner and get all caught up. Well they didn't end up getting there until 10 pm or so, so we went and dinner at a little pizza place at the corner. They have this item called a poutine, that in our opinion just rocks! It basically is french fries with cheese curds (big ones like buffalo mozzeralla slices) smothered in brown gravey, Ooooo!!!!! Anyway, the next day thursday was the pre-race dinner and introductions. Not much interesting here, except that leslie was kind of feeling like a little fish in a really big sea.



Next day, Friday, was the race. We got leslie down there early but with the sun up at 4:30 am it felt late. They lined the athletes up by country and they walked across the bike trail and then were given a few minutes to get ready to swim. Because you swim down stream and the water seems to edy out, pushing you back up, it was expected this would be a fast swim. Well for the leaders it was pretty fast. For leslie, it got a bit challenging with 4 laps to go. Anyway, she came out of the water 5 minutes behind Astrid (a former world champion and course record holder) and 3 minutes behind Syria from Great Britian. I was very encouraged by this. On to the bike, and things seemed to be

going quiet well. Astrid only had a one lap lead at best, but didn't really look comfortable, might be how she always looks. Anyway, I'd ask leslie what she wanted and she'd just grin. So I had to just start handing her anything to eat and drink, so that she would. I would say that this was the best I've seen her eat and drink on the bike in a long race in long time. It took a few hours for us to notice, since we were trying to get food, drinks, and keep track of Wayne and others, but at some point I was at the lap counter table and Leslie had 2 or 3 laps on Astrid. Then after it got dark and had rained at least a couple times, it was very apparent Astrid was not riding very well. Syria was just no where even close. Well, after many pee breaks, it was time to get off the bike and run. Leslie had a 7 lap lead on Astrid. They were riding 9 to 10 minute laps at the end so I figured Leslie was over an hour ahead. Our plan going into this race was for Leslie to concentrate on getting a double marathon time as close to 12 hours as possible.


Why? The whole goal for the year is get to Ultraman Hawaii and finish and this was on of the big tests. Well the week or so before we were coming up to Canada, Leslie got an email from the Ultraman folks saying they had concern about her running and not finishing on previous occasions and wanted her to prove she could do it in under 12 hours. Sure they said they had others they were requiring a qualifing time from but this is a first for them. I was not happy about this, it really irritated me, still does. It just crushed Leslie's spirit and quiet frankly spit it the face of what Ultraman is all about, or at least what I thought it was.


Anyway, we were thinking that at the end of the bike she would sit down, maybe take a 20 minute nap, and generally get as refreshed as she could then get out and run without any stops or breaks, because we knew the run was not going to be easy if she wanted that 12 hours. Alright, it wasn't going to be easy no matter how you looked at it. Well, that whole plan didn't happen. Leslie wanted to stay in the lead and get as far ahead as possible since Astrid has the course record and supposedly can run. Leslie was racing!!!!

First marathon was 6:11 or so, pretty good considering a few bathroom breaks, so I figured that she might be able to even split the race and 12:20-12:30 would be good enough to get in Ultraman since the format is different. Here the race is continuous and in Hawaii it is more of a stage race and you get to eat, sleep, rest after 12 hours each day. At this point, Astrid was still 5 1/2 laps behind or so and really did not look like running was something she'd ever done (i.e. really looked like she was going to fall over), let alone look like she was going to be able to make up the deficit. So this was a big festival, they had the double but also an ironman, 1/2 ironman, an olympic, a duathlon, a 50k run, and a 100k run which all started on saturday morning and ended up being on the same run course about the time Leslie still had a marathon or so to go. I think this helped her a little, if nothing else gave her something else to look at and focus on. So somewhere around 27 laps of 42 for Leslie, I noticed Astrid talking to her crew and in the medical tent. Come to find out that her crew was telling her that she wouldn't make the cut off of 32 hours and shortly there after she dropped out. The race director came out and started talking to Leslie every few laps telling her she could finish, and Leslie was like "I'm going to". (I have a picture somewhere showing the director with leslie)






Well, the long story short, Leslie won!!! Leslie is World Champion!


So I'll leave the details of the awards and after to a conversation you can have with Leslie personally. The general gist is she got a standing ovation.


The next couple days after we went to Quebec City and saw the city and went in a bunch of shops and went whale watching. I was a little sceptical about the chances of seeing a whale, I don't anyone I've ever talked to that went whale watching ever saw a whale. Well we did!! A bunch of them too. I managed to get a couple shots which seems to be a challenge because you never know where or when they are going to surface.




Well, that's the short story I guess. Ultimately, Leslie sent her results in the Ultraman and they have invited her. So we will be heading to Hawaii for Thanksgiving one more time..........To finish!!! and kick its ass.



Remember..............


Ciao

Where's Drew?

Okay, So I haven't been so good about writing like I said I would be. So I'm going to do a whirlwind wrap up of the things I've done since the Boston Marathon. Oh and our cool dog Gretchen wanted to say hey.

You read Leslie did the 18 hrs of Fruita and was pretty happy with how that went. The next week Leslie decided we needed some speed of some kind so we jumped into the Highline Canal 10k. This should have been a fairly nice day and solid training. I ended up having trouble really getting into the mood, maybe just a little to low profile to get worked up about. The gun went off and I was in front with some other guy. Just before the mile mark some kid (I say kid because he was easily 10 years younger than me) came by with his ipod jamin'. That was the race basically, from there I increased the gap on 3rd and he increased the gap on me. It was a rather deceptively uphill course for the first 4 miles or so but it ended up being a good hard effort. I finished 2nd overall, 1st in the 40-49 age group and ran 38:55. I was a little discouraged by the time but not too badly.
That was May 10th, the next week was the Davis Phinney ride on May 17th and then Leslie thought it would be good to get a medium distance had run in. So Sunday the 18th we ran the Colfax 1/2 marathon. This was interesting, I was hoping to run around 1:21 or so and I ended up at 1:25:05. I was 4th in my age group and 13th overall. I was in a tie for 3rd/4th for the first 3 miles then settled down and ran in 4th through 8 miles and right on pace to do something under 1:21. Then I just seemed to not be able to drive through well or something and started fading a bit, one person a mile or so. Then 2 or 3 guys came by and I just couldn't stick with them. It ends up that if I hadn't faded the 1:21 would have put me in 2nd in my age group and 4th or 5th overall. Oh well, can't have it everytime I guess.
Two weeks later, June 31/July 1 was the opening of the triathlon season for me. Leslie went to Dirty Kanza and I went to Show Low, AZ for the Deuces Wild triathlon festival. I like this race, its warm...........ok its hot usually and good honest race courses, plus they give kind of cool finisher medals and have a huge raffle that Leslie and I have yet to get anything good out of. Saturday I did the Olympic triathlon in 2:15:57 for 3rd in my age group and 11th overall, that actually was a slight improvement over 2007 but only a few seconds. My run split was 2nd overall. Sunday I did the Xterra. The mountain bike course has a stretch of big river rock that starts out ridable but if you are close to anyone ends up being a hike-a-bike to the top, then its pretty fast back to the transition with rather wet/muddy culvert crossing. Anyway, I went 2:21:40 for 4th in my age group and 22nd overall, my run was 3rd overall. I ended up riding around 5 minutes slower than 2007 and the only idea I have is in 2007 I crashed pretty hard and I subliminally didn't want to do that again. Oh well!!

The next two weeks was about training and doing a stroke & stride. On June 15th I did the 1st race in the 5430 series, this actually the first time I will have done all three of these races. Anyway, the 5430 Sprint had almost 1200 people if I remember correctly. I went 1:19:07 which got me 42nd overall and 9th in my age group, rather humbling and amazing how many people are really fast and I'm barely even close. This was a 1/2 mile swim, 17 mile bike, and 5k run and was semi happy with how things went speed wise, although it has become very apparent I've lost some speed on the bike, I only average 23.1 mph for this short distance. Just 2 or maybe 3 years ago I was over 24 mph still. Could be the long distance training, I hope.


Another stroke & stride and then Xterra Buffalo Creek on June 21st. I like this race because the course has a fair amount of climbing which really helps bring me in contention with the downhill Kamakazi's. Leslie and I both did some volunteer work for the race director, trying to improve our karma or something like that. Stuffed race bag, painted some signs, and leslie ended up directing bikes on race day. I had a pretty good day going 2:50:07 for 5th in my age group and 44th overall. To put it in perspective I did this race in 2005 and went 2:42:59 for 2nd in my age group and 19th overall. Yeah, I probably rode a little cautiously in a few places like I did in Arizona but this was only the 2nd time I'd been on my mountain bike this year and it really was just a chance to race, build some strength and keep me honest.

This week, June 29th was the week all the other races were kind of gearing toward and ultimately Ironman Louisville at the end of August. Buffalo Springs 70.3 is normally just one hot, breezy race that I know I should be able to do pretty well at and yet I always struggle for some reason. Oh yeah, I think that's why I like doing or something like that. Normally in the 90's, breezy to windy, and with a few hills to slow things down a little, and almost no shade on the run. This year was totally different. It ended up being very windy and at times it always seemed to be in your face and it rained almost the entire bike and part of the run. When we left it was basically sunny. I had a decent swim 31:27, probably aided by another first. Everyone ran the first 200 yards out of the beach area. I didn't know that was an option but I sure got in on the deal. I thought I was riding pretty strongly into the wind and even down the very wet and slippery hills on the bike but only managed a 2:50:42 (I'm usually 2:40 here and last year I was 2:36 or so). So out on the run, I felt pretty strong through the first 2 hills, running stride for stride with some other dude and passing many. Well comming up the second hill I lost touch with my running partner and ran into an old friend we made at Great Floridian in 2000 (I think). I ran up on him but we really were running the same pace somehow. I moved on past him at the turn around and really thought I was moving pretty good, especially with the overcast skies, wind/breeze, and rain. I ended up finishing in 5:11:35 for 24th in my age group. I think I may have really worked hard on the bike and that took it out of my legs for the run since I ran 1:46. When I looked at the top guys in my age group and others it seems that everyone had a tough time on the bike because their times weren't out of control and yet their runs should have been faster because of the cool temperatures. Overall I guess I feel like I'm on track but we'll see when it really gets hot in July and August.

I guess since this is getting rather long and I still have more we'll go to part two in a few.

Ciao Drew

I'm a World Champion!!!



Just got back from the Triathlon De Levis Double Ironman World
Championships and I'm exhausted, but cannot stop this big grin on my
face...
I am the 2008 Double Ironman World Champion!!!!!

Quick report here, and then more details this weekend...

At the dinner the night before the race they introduced the athletes.
The other gals were Astrid Benohr and Suraya Oliver and got long
introductions as they are both top multi-ironman distance athletes
(google their names, I did before the race and it was scary!). They
introduced me, "Leslie Holton... she's done ironmans"... well, okay
I've done a bit more than that but I am certainly the baby at this
sport and the race fodder!

Slept pretty good, and Friday morning arrived all too soon.

SWIM: The swim was in the St Laurence river, 12 loops. The tide was
high when we started and dropped enough to expose 30 feet of beach by
the time I finished. Each lap was a different challenge with
different circulating currents sweeping us around. Finished the swim
and was 5 to 10 minutes back.

BIKE: Quick(ish) transition and onto the bike. Passed both gals in
the first lap. Astrid looked strong but Suraya was clearly not
feeling good yet. The bike course suited me well with 1.2 miles on
lightly rolling road with a kicker at the end (a steep hill that was
about 20 pedal strokes standing up hard) and then 1.2 miles back on a
super sweet in the aerobars bike path. Really good sweeping turns at
each end. 92 laps. I could see folks on the opposite side of the
course as I was riding and tracked Astrid each lap. I tried to ride
steady and easy but with a rabbit like that it was fun to see what I
could make up each lap and I ended up having just a blast oon the ride
grinning like and idiot even through the 3 short storms that blew in.
The storms actually changed the winds, which were strong and
relentless, but just added to the fun. After dark set in it was
harder to keep a consistent pace, and other riders became just
headlights but finally it was done and I hopped off the bike.

RUN: I had planned a slow leisurely maybe even a nap transition but
Drew told me I was 7 laps ahead of Astrid so instead it was a quick
change and go. The run was out and back, 2k total, 42 laps. I tried
running the middles and walking the ends. After a few hours Astrid
hit the course and it was a question of whether she could hawk me
down. She did not pass me in the first marathon, though she caught up
a bit each lap and we did get a chance to chat. She said she left too
much on the bike trying to stay close... The sun came up, things got
hot, life got hard. Astrid quit after 28 hours or so when it was
clear she would not make the cutoff. I was not allowed a pacer
because I was in the lead. My guts turned over, settled down, and
turned again. Finally it was 5 to go, then 4, then 3, 2, and the last
lap where I cried most of the way because it was over and I was so
darned happy!

AFTERMATH: Finished the race and all I wanted was a Pepsi. Nope.
Drink only these sealed water bottles, got escorted to the drug
testing room, chug more water til I could produce 100ml. Strange
formal surreal process of drug testing where I had too pee in front of
a witness and create my A and B samples that will be sent off to the
lab. Crazy!!!

Won the biggest heaviest trophy I have ever seen. When the drug tests
come back clean I'll even win a prize purse!

Whew... it was a really really special week!

Leslie

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Dirty Kanza

Last Saturday was my second trip to Kansas for the Dirty Kanza mountain bike race… a 200 mile gravel road thang. This year I had the added challenge of Drew not going with me (there was a conflicting race in Az he really wanted to do) but the bonus of having done it once before and the race director's cell phone number in my pocket in case I broke myself or my bike…

So, I tossed the K (my old Kestrel CSX) into the trunk and headed out Friday morning to Kansas. Not too bad of a road trip, took my iPod and played the tunes loud and sang offkey… a good mix of country, alternative, and hardcore. Checked into the hotel, put a bike computer onto the K, and did a little test ride on the end of the course to check my setup. Quick packet pickup, some takeout, and I closed the curtains and pretended it was late enough to go to sleep.

Finally 5am rolled around and I flipped on the TV. Weather forecaster was babbling about storms, hail, etc. east of Emporia. Hmm. Look outside and it looks good so fill the camelback with ice and roll to the start line. They announce that they may hold the race a few hours, but hold on. Chat with some other racers and say hello to the gals who are there. I think there were 5 of us this year!!! A few of them said that they were inspired to come out because of my finish last year… shucks… I know the truth! It was this horribly bloated picture of my finish where I look like someone who would barely be able to leave a couch. They saw that and thought "If she can do it, I sure can!". In any case, it was great to see some more women there!

The RD came back, said it was a go, and before I had time to freak we did our rollout. We rolled through town with a police escort to the start of the gravel where the pack exploded. Lead men took off. Several speed groups formed. I tried to remember to ride my own pace, and became a chatty girl hello'ing and babbling to the folks around me, I figured as long as there were folks around I would have entertainment. We kept chasing the storm, black skies with lightening ahead of us… but only a few occasional splatters of rain. It ended up being just a perfect weather day with the skies staying overcast, a moderate wind, and enough humidity to give my attitude braids a big fuzz.

Up, down, nice gravel, gravelly gravel. I kept a sharp eye on my map because I did not want to get lost. But, of course, I did. Around mile 40 there was flagging at a corner and three guys just ahead turned right. It seemed a mile early on my map, so I waited for the next group to catch up and kibitzed with them. They thought it was the right turn, so I followed along. Nope. Two miles later we were supposed to turn left and there was no left turn to take. We were only 8ish miles from the checkpoint, a little town with the ubiquitous water tower that we could see from that distance so we generally headed in that direction. I followed along in the pack of 8 now, and tried not to stress. When I stress things go badly… can I keep up with these guys? How lost are we? Crap a hill, I dropped a bit… push it. Oh, a downhill, nice, but don’t go ahead. Crossed an asphalt road so we knew we were getting close and I really wanted that rest stop and the guys all stopped to pee. Um… a little jealous here! We finally rolled into town and I could use the facilities, re-lube, and get the map for the next section.

One of the gals was there already and was about to head out so I said I'd roll with her. Few miles out of town we hit a big water crossing. Whew, that's chilly and now my socks are soaked Eventually she went ahead and I settled back into my own pace. Some guy groups came by and I'd chat a bit, they'd roll on, then stop to eat or pee or whatever and I'd go by again. One of the benefits of riding alone is being able to totally settle into my own pace. One of the drawbacks was the cows. Some poor cow was stuck in the road and none to happy about it. She charged the guys ahead of me, and they stopped to figure out how to get by and I could slide by with them. Whew. Nice to be around people this year! Eventually the section slid by and I hit the mid-way checkpoint. Sweet!

Lots of people around resting, eating, and trying to decide whether to keep going. This is a risky place if you have a support crew because you're tired, it's hot, and it's pretty easy to quit. Not an option for me. The gal I'd left the last CP with talked herself out of continuing. I tried to get her to go, but nope. The RD had water and a cooler of cola and best of all a box of homemade ginger cookies. WOW! They were awesome! Settled my tummy and tasted great. Here's my total guy story. He said his girlfriend Michelle made them. She was racing, on a redline, did I meet her? Now here's the basic difference between men and women. I met her at the start. She was this totally positive and upbeat gal wearing combat boots… yup, doing the race on a MTB with combat boots. What kind of bike??? Don’t know, but I sure can tell you her footwear! Anyways, I ate and drank a nd changed my shorts and then headed out for the 3rd section.

This section was kinda just there. I was tired, but not oofed. The miles slid by and again I was around several guy groups, but they kinda leapfrogged me. Saw one group of 4 make a wrong turn and tried to yell at them to get their attention but no luck. They caught back to me about 10 miles to go and I apologized for not being able to yell louder. Saw on solo guy go straight at a turn and did get his attention so that neutralized my karma. I finally rode back into the CP at mile 155. Very cool here… it was still light out! And, I was not last!!! Changed my jersey, talked to the cookie maker Michelle who had dropped at the half, set up my lights and headed out.

The light faded and it was now Kansas dark. A few farms around, but no lights except the lightening in the distant storms. Went around a lake and got lost. Way lost. No clue where I was on the map lost. Shit! The map is relative, easy to follow if you know where you are but no road names to try to figure out where you are if you don’t know. Tried my emergency call, but no answer. Crap! Looked around and saw headlights approaching and it was 4 guys who were also lost. They pulled out compasses (note to self, figure out how to use a compass, and by the way I learned that town names are printed on a map so up is north… who knew?). We headed back up hill and then there were 2. Where'd the other three go? Crap. We talked it out, and headed back down the hill. There was a flat. All sorted out, back up the hill, made a turn over a bridge and then a steepish hill. Crap! Wait for me!!!! Huffing and puffing and tired and lost. They slowed down on the downhill a nd I caught back up and we finally found the marked turn we were looking for. I asked them to point me on the map and said I'd see them at the finish because I needed to stay at my own pace.

Followed their taillights through the dark. Their support drove up and they stopped and chatted a bit. Something about a big dog ahead. Oy. I went ahead, they passed me, and then they waited at a corner. Apparently an angry dog was in the next section and they waited to escort me through so I wouldn’t get eaten. I almost cried at their thoughtfulness! Fortunately there was no dog and at the next corner we were 8 miles to go. They went ahead and I kept their taillights in site. I thought I did. 4ish miles later there was a turn but there was still a flashing red light ahead so I kept going. Got to the freeway and realized it was not their flashing taillights. Drats! Missed another turn. Finally made my way into town and to the finish…

2nd place female (found out today that the first place gal whomped the course in 16:07!). Won a sweet hiking pack and a white cowbell trophy. 19:28. 2.5 hours faster than last year!!!! All in all I'm quite pleased with my finish. Two days later I'm still tired but the aches and pains are fading. I really really love this race, but I'm not sure I'll be able to go back the next few years because the timing is too close to RAAM. (Next June I'm going to do the 1000 mile race that covers the first third of the RAAM course the first weekend of June). But, if the date moves back a few weeks again I'd do it in a heartbeat! Great course, great people, solid challenge. Love it!

The K is retired now for the season since my next race is the Double IM on July 5th. Time to pull out the Raven and see if all this mountain biking will translate into strength on the road. That's the hope!!!

Keep the rubber side down,
Leslie

Davis Phinney R2V


Hi ya'll:
Not a race report, but a ride report. Last Saturday (May 17th) Drew and I and a bunch of folks I work with did the Davis Phinney ride to raise money for his Parkinson's organization. It was an amazingly perfect weather day, a gorgeous ride, and I fought back tears through the first 20 miles watching this man I admire ride his bike and knowing that in some way the work I do has enabled him to ride again. 20 miles in the ride broke up a bit as we hit the hills but for the first 20 it was quite the pace line...
There's a news video linked below. In it you can see how deeply his Parkinson's was affecting him weeks ago before he had deep brain stimulation (navigated by the technology we develop here). And, even better you can see how solid he is now. And, about 1:08 into the story there is a shot of him with his arms around two gals in Medtronic jerseys... The one on the left is me...
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/video/16332397/index.html
Pretty cool!
Leslie
I'll add in my two cents here. I always think its interesting how people given the opportunity to talk with celebrities feel they have to have big tough questions for these people. I think many of them are happy just to do their thing and talk about the weather if anything and not be hounded with questions, be just a regular guy. When I ran the Boston Marathon I kind of got the impression that Lance really wanted to just run his own race and not be distracted by people asking him questions during the race. Some celebs are hard to pick out of a crowd when they aren't in their element, like athletes, I think these guys kind of like being recognized. For example, I and a buddy and his wife went to the Altanta Olympics to watch track and field for the week. We were sitting up in the stands during one of the early rounds of prelims I think, and I noticed a guy at the end of our row (maybe 10 or 12 seats away). I asked my buddy to double check and indeed it was. At the end of the row was Dave Johnson, the decathlete (from the Dan & Dave pair). Anyway, no one around him recognized him until we went down and asked for his autograph. I guess my point is, I think Davis likes being out on his bike and I just happened to be right up front when the ride rolled out. I had planned on riding with Leslie in the middle or back of the pack, but everyone seemed to be afraid to be up front to start. Well we rolled out and a couple miles in I was 4th man back (we were riding in pairs for awhile) talking with a legend and then next thing I know I'm riding next to Davis, Andy Hampstein was in there also. We talked but not really about anything specific and it wasn't like I'd planned any questions for him, but I really got the feeling he was happy to be on his bike and I think he really appreciates the support he is getting.
Anyway, til next time

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

18 Hours of Fruita

6 miles of pretty sweet single track, midnight start, as many laps as possible in 18 hours, 6 solo women, this somewhat inexperienced mountain biking gal among them...

The race was really fun, but I am a total chickensh*t in the dark and it ended up being way more a long training day then a "race" for me. Although I do spend quite a bit of time on my MTB in the spring it's mainly training for gravel grinder racing. I don’t ride much single-track and it's easily been 6 years since I rode it in the dark.

The race started with a short run up the beach to the bikes. I started in the back and figured I'd let the crazies out front. Up a steep hill and then onto the single-track. Wham. 5 minutes in and I'm already laying on the ground. Couple of nice bruises, but shake it off and where'd everyone go? Get on the bike and get after them. I was really tense at night and over steering and just death grip on the bars. I spent quite a bit of time talking to myself "Stop being a chicken", "Relax you moron", "Don’t fall into the lake", "Come on, easy now, you can do this", "Big hill… ugh", "Don’t freak… RELAX", "Chicken chicken chicken".

Somewhere in the second lap I started to get passed and I'm sure that folks were confused by the muttering, slow gal. The other racers were great… only a few meanies (like a guy who came up on me in a twisty narrow section at night and just started screaming "Trail trail trail"… I got off and out of his way at the first opportunity but he just passed by with a hmmph noise…). Most of the racers were quite nice and I tried to be as minimal of a moving obstacle as possible throughout the race. As the race went on more and more realized I was riding solo and were quite positive and supportive as they sped past.

Around 5:30am the daylight started to show and I finally was able to relax my grip a bit. My hands, shoulder, and arms took a beating though in the early hours. Got in about 6 hours of good riding, and then started to get tired. My quick drinks between laps started to get longer and I started really watching the clock. This style of racing was a big change for me, short steep hills, twisty turns, a fun sweeping banked section. There were 6 big hills on the course, 4 major (that I only managed to ride up occasionally) and 2 minor (that I went into an easy gear and worked hard but consistently made it up) along with a whole lot of texture. I'm much more used to a steady state pace, and as the hours ticked by I could feel the mental and physical debts ratcheting up. Finally it was 5:15 and I knew I had only two to go… they were two of my faster laps all day.

Finished in 5th place… not that it really matters because from the beginning I knew I was in over my head as far a racing went. All in all, a really solid training day. If I did it again I would want to do some training at night, and a good amount of single-track riding so that I could actually race it. I never felt like I was really "on" and working the course, so much as getting through the laps. It was a fun challenge to be so out of my comfort zone and just do as best I could to survive.

Both shoulders, both hands/wrists, and my triceps are sore today. The rest of me is pretty good muscle-wise. While I'm overall tired, my legs are not at all muscle sore. I am a bit bruised though… I did not hurt myself but I did fall a half dozen times and the bruises added up to a colorful Leslie in the shower this morning.

Here’s a picture in the sweeping bermy section:6 miles of pretty sweet single track, midnight start, as many laps as possible in 18 hours, 6 solo women, this somewhat inexperienced mountain biking gal among them...

The race was really fun, but I am a total chickensh*t in the dark and it ended up being way more a long training day then a "race" for me. Although I do spend quite a bit of time on my MTB in the spring it's mainly training for gravel grinder racing. I don’t ride much single-track and it's easily been 6 years since I rode it in the dark.

The race started with a short run up the beach to the bikes. I started in the back and figured I'd let the crazies out front. Up a steep hill and then onto the single-track. Wham. 5 minutes in and I'm already laying on the ground. Couple of nice bruises, but shake it off and where'd everyone go? Get on the bike and get after them. I was really tense at night and over steering and just death grip on the bars. I spent quite a bit of time talking to myself "Stop being a chicken", "Relax you moron", "Don’t fall into the lake", "Come on, easy now, you can do this", "Big hill… ugh", "Don’t freak… RELAX", "Chicken chicken chicken".

Somewhere in the second lap I started to get passed and I'm sure that folks were confused by the muttering, slow gal. The other racers were great… only a few meanies (like a guy who came up on me in a twisty narrow section at night and just started screaming "Trail trail trail"… I got off and out of his way at the first opportunity but he just passed by with a hmmph noise…). Most of the racers were quite nice and I tried to be as minimal of a moving obstacle as possible throughout the race. As the race went on more and more realized I was riding solo and were quite positive and supportive as they sped past.

Around 5:30am the daylight started to show and I finally was able to relax my grip a bit. My hands, shoulder, and arms took a beating though in the early hours. Got in about 6 hours of good riding, and then started to get tired. My quick drinks between laps started to get longer and I started really watching the clock. This style of racing was a big change for me, short steep hills, twisty turns, a fun sweeping banked section. There were 6 big hills on the course, 4 major (that I only managed to ride up occasionally) and 2 minor (that I went into an easy gear and worked hard but consistently made it up) along with a whole lot of texture. I'm much more used to a steady state pace, and as the hours ticked by I could feel the mental and physical debts ratcheting up. Finally it was 5:15 and I knew I had only two to go… they were two of my faster laps all day.

Finished in 5th place… not that it really matters because from the beginning I knew I was in over my head as far a racing went. All in all, a really solid training day. If I did it again I would want to do some training at night, and a good amount of single-track riding so that I could actually race it. I never felt like I was really "on" and working the course, so much as getting through the laps. It was a fun challenge to be so out of my comfort zone and just do as best I could to survive.

Both shoulders, both hands/wrists, and my triceps are sore today. The rest of me is pretty good muscle-wise. While I'm overall tired, my legs are not at all muscle sore. I am a bit bruised though… I did not hurt myself but I did fall a half dozen times and the bruises added up to a colorful Leslie in the shower this morning.

Here’s a picture in the sweeping bermy section:

Next race is the Dirty Kanza 200 mile gravel grinder at the end of the month… I'm really looking forward to it this year and I should be prepared to "race".

Still grinning tiredly,
Leslie

Friday, April 25, 2008

Boston Marathon

Well, what a cool race. Everyone saying "you got to do the race", seem to be right.

I'm pretty sure this is the first marathon I actually trained for and put in long runs and such for. The distance was no problem and I was on pace to run my goal of under 3 hrs through 14 or 15 miles then things went down hill, literally and figuratively. I had a little goal of attempting to be around Lance Armstrong for picture if it worked out but not to mess up my race to do it considering he was shooting for 2:45 or something faster.

The race - I had picked up from the folks we were staying with that it was in my best interest to go out easy and really quiet a bit slower than my goal pace for the first 10 miles and then work the second 10 miles. I went out at what felt very slow and very easy, that got me 6:30 at the mile. Hmmm, if I hadn't held back I probably would have been sub 6. I stayed relaxed and tried not to work the uphills to hard from there on. The 5k was right on pace (maybe not a good thing, but I thought so), the 10k was getting 40: something, which was right on pace or lets say within my capabilities. To run under or around 3 hrs it was.....lets just say a little fast.

Oh, so about 3 or 4 miles everyone I was running with just seemed to slow down, almost stop. Yup, they were all running behind Lance or next to him. Long story short, I ended up being near Lance til 12 or 13 miles, at one point I was one person away. I'm pretty sure I didn't get any pictures with him, since everyone else knew the pictures were at 15k and I didn't and positioned themselves accordingly, I was probably 20 feet behind him. So no pictures.

Anyway, I hit the half mark in 1:27, which I was happy with. Then the downhill at 15 was brutal. I ran the uphills after that just fine and felt fairly strong, now I wasn't sprinting up them, but I also wasn't going to be negative splitting the second half. The downhill after each uphill just killed me and by the end, my quads were really sore. I think I may have been just trying to conserve and not blow myself out, like at the start, but I think that ultimately just translated into going slower.

Well, I didn't make my goal but did manage to still get a qualifying time, so I'm thinking I may try it again next year. Leslie usually rights her own little race reports and did one for this even though she just spectated so enjoy her perspective.

Drew and I headed to Boston on Saturday so he could run the Boston Marathon for the first time and I could chill and have fun... And I did!
We arrived late Saturday after some plane issues... missed the big dinner but met up with Joe Bator and his most lovely wife Julia and the rest of their house guest clan. They have a beautiful place just a few miles from the marathon finish line... and I must say if you ever get an opportunity to be their house guest... DO IT! I met a new breed of people there... Marathoners. Now, I've run my share of marathons, but I am not a marathoner. These folks have their spring races, their fall races, (and in one guy's case a marathon a month for the last some 60
moths). They can compare and contrast the courses, the schwag, and the
feel of races across the globe. I guess I have met a few Ironmaner's, and maybe my hubby is one now, who are the same but different. It's not will you do an Ironman this year, but which one(s).
WOMEN'S OLYMPIC MARATHON TRIALS/ SATURDAY So, the plan was to wake up Sunday and run over to see the trials. I was a bit nervous about this (running with Drew who knows how slow I am, and Joe who suspects it) but they were nice to me and we did a scenic run over to a point on the trials course where they passed by twice per lap. First lap they went by and some gal was off the front, then there was a big pack (with Deena Kastor in it), then a second pack and the dribbles off the back. I spotted my now new idol who we call "T-Shirt Girl" about third from last. This gal was running strong, but was wearing a plain white tshirt and a pair of shorts and looked like someone I would line up next to at a 5K and think "ah, maybe... we'll see how fast she is". Here's her pic:
http://eliterunning.com/photos/index.php?g2_itemId=130586
Second and third lap they came by and things were about the same. The gal off the front was pulling away (up to 2 minutes at one point), Deena and the fast pack were together, the second pack was breaking up, a few women dropped out, and tshirt girl was slowly picking people off the back.
Fourth lap Deena put her foot down and broke up the field. She was slowly reeling in the lead girl and carnage was happening behind her.
Tshirt girl was hanging strong and still looked solid. We moved to the finish line and Deena made the pass and finished first. The lead gal got second. Tshirt girl finished strong, looked like any old runner girl, and would have put Drew in a hurting if he was trying to beat her (Drew is my measuring stick for fast... There are really fast people who can beat him, fast people like him, normal people after that, then people like me in my runner speed categories).
We jogged back (well, Drew and Joe jogged and I tried not to redline) to Joe's house afterwards and they hosted a gorgeous brunch for an interesting and diverse group of runner types. Star of the lunch was something Julia made called Strada... this egg and bread, cheese and bacon casserole of heaven. Then Drew and I headed to the expo (HUGE!
With much fun stuff) and came back to a fabulous dinner that Joe made (meatballs to die for were the star of this meal...). Lemme tell you, these guys can just plain cook! An early evening because the marathon is the next day.
BOSTON MARATHON
Drew headed out race morning to catch the bus and I caught a few extra Zzzz's and then got in a really nice 4'ish mile run. I love the combination of hills and lack of altitude in Boston. I actually felt strong running and enjoyed it. Joe, Michael (another spitting spouse) and I walked down to the finish to watch the race. Very cool! My cheeks were sore that night from grinning as I soaked in the atmosphere, watched the pretty runners, winced for the ones who struggled at the finish, and generally had a blast. We found a spot on a grass mound where we could see both the TV and the road. This was great because we saw the coverage of the Women's and Men's fields on TV, watched the wheelchair athletes come in, and then saw the sprint to the finish as the lead pair of women came in. Then the first place male. The finishers started as a trickle and turned to a steady stream. Joe kept track of Drew and Mary (Michael's wife) and Lance on his blackberry.
First report Drew and Lance were running close together at the half...
2:50 projected finish. Lance came by (looking quite buff in the chest and arms) with his crew of pacers. Drew's finish time slipped a bit (he said it had something to do with the up and downhills...) and at final report was to be something like 3:12. We scanned the crown from 3:10 on looking for a red shirt. There were a lot of red shirts! Finally he came by and we screamed an yelled. 3:19. What a great and fun day I had!
The difficulties began there and I won't bore you with the details but Drew forgot where to meet us and we missed a flight (the only on time flight of the weekend). Of the 7 flights we dealt with 1 was cancelled,
1 was on time, and 5 were late. Hmm...
But, that cannot quash the fun weekend we had. I'm motivated to run, and Drew requalified for next year so we get to do it all over again then and I cannot wait!!!
Leslie
WUSSING OUT UPDATE
So, I was supposed to go do this 340 mile mountain bike race in Iowa this weekend, but the 13 hours each way drive, and the forecast which calls for rain and cold wussed me out... so it's a training weekend instead and I'll be racing solo at the 18 hours of Fruita (MTB) the following weekend instead. WUSS!


Ciao for now
Drew & Leslie

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Oh yeah, so the tasks at hand. For starters this spot is going to be a "what are the Holton's doing now" thing.

It's been kind of crazy for the last 2 weeks or so. Of course, didn't get interviewed or make the short list for Evotri. Then I proceeded to get slammed at work on proposals (I digress). So I've been in a kind of forced taper for Boston. Boston is on Monday, we leave Saturday, and I'm not feeling exacty speedy. So we'll see how Monday goes. Last week our oldest dog (best we can tell maybe 21 years old), Trixie, took a turn. She stopped eating, even her favorites, then almost couldn't stand up on her own. Long story short Leslie was a bit down most of last week, but seems to be doing good now. This week Leslie has become a little concerned over the conditions of the TransIowa race course which we are scheduled to do on the saturday after Boston. I guess someone test rode part of the course as training and what should have been a 2 hr ride ended up being 4 hrs. Yesterday Leslie decide it best to enter the 18 hrs of Fruita, which is 2 weeks after Boston. Not sure if I'm going to do Fruita as well or support her til the sun rises and then go off and do my own training or race in the solo division. Well, I was going to add a picture here but my computer is having issues, so I'll do that next time.

Thanks for check in on what we're doing.
So thank's everyone that voted for me. Guess I wasn't that popular, so I didn't make the top three to be interviewed. So now we're on to the task at hand and solidifying the majority of the season.

Drew

Friday, March 21, 2008

Making the Team: 2008 - Voting extended

So everyone thanks for the votes so far. If you thought you missed out. You thought wrong. Apparently some other competitors had issues getting the link code to work. So the deadline to vote for me has been extended to next Friday the 28th. Spread the word I'm still in it. That's http://http://www.andrewholton.blogspot.com/ when you click on the Logo down below. Thanks again

Friday, March 14, 2008

Making the Team: 2008

So this is my first blog ever. No particular reason why I suppose, maybe I'm getting old, maybe its too high tech (not really), maybe its more fun reading about other peoples lives.

Here it goes….I've been a runner, biker, duathlete, triathlete, and just plan competitor for a long time, 25 years or so. For a long time, it was all about trying to win and get sponsors. Then it became about leading by example and the best way to lead is to be in front or close to it, and win. Now as I look back at everything I've done it seems that it is all about wanting to compete, to be competitive, and lately it is all about how far or hard I can push myself physically and mentally.

I qualified for the Duathlon World Championships in Tasmania, Cancun, Italy, Germany, and Spain and had a blast being part of the team and representing the USA. My marathon times have qualified me for the Boston Marathon for many years and this year I’m going to go see what all the hype is about. I got the itch to qualify for the Ironman World championship a few years ago as a result of my wife subliminally hinting to longer and longer distances (i.e. “I’m doing this, you should too”). I've been oh so close many times to qualifying. Qualifying for Hawaii is my current nemesis.

I’ve never been coached outside high school and college. I think I do a pretty good job of planning my training and racing, and everyone knows I love to race……maybe too much……I’m sure a real coach would crack down on me. This year I’m planning on mixing things up like usual and doing Boston, two 70.3 races, a few Xterra races (to keep things interesting), and two Ironman races. That gives me 3 shots to qualify for Hawaii, fingers crossed.

I’m 6’-2” and 160 lbs soaking wet. Nutrition has been a challenge for me for a long time. I’ve always been about lean, fast, don’t waste time, and that whole minimalistic concept. That worked great for many years of short and fast and even a few marathons. But, it doesn’t work so well going long. To me it doesn’t seem like it should be so hard to master this art but I just don’t get it right.

But enough about me. Triathlon uses up pretty much all my free time and basically everything I do outside of work is to get in shape, get stronger, improve technique, or anything related. My wife and I have talked about how we can give back. I think we have a great idea, we’re not sure how to go about it yet, but keep an eye on this blog and hopefully it will happen soon.

Triathlon is what I do, it defines me, I live and breath it, and would probably be lost if I didn’t do it. Hope you enjoy what I write about from here on….


Thanks for reading! If you think I should be the next
fully-sponsored member of Team Evotri,
please write down the URL of this web site (that's http://www.andrewholton.blogspot.com/ ) and have it ready for
voting when you click the EVOTE button below. Thank you!