Wildflower '07

Second hardest athletic event I have ever completed. (I think it'll be a while before I can top the Birkebeiner ski marathon from February, but this was definitely the hardest triathlon ever for me). As we all kept talking about how challenging the bike course was, all I could respond was, "yeah, but how beautiful was that 360 degree view from the top of Nasty Grade?!"

The swim was a little choppy, but I felt really strong, so I was surprised when I found out my swim split was actually pretty slow for me. Oh, well. I got on my bike and then it got really bad.

I'm sure you heard that it was hilly. You heard right. Nasty Grade was a single climb that took me 29 minutes of stand/spin/stand/spin in my smallest gear to summit. We had driven it the day before, so we kind of knew what to expect, but it's different on your bike than in the car.

Once you are up there, though, all around you can see rolling hills, wild horses milling around under trees, deer foraging... That made it worth every pedal stroke, if you ask me.

I still haven't checked my official time, but TriNick txt'ed me that I had a 36 min swim; 3:30 bike; 2:21 run, so I must be somewhere around 6:30:00. Which is my PW (personal worst) for the half iron-distance, but I'm just happy to be alive right now.

Before I left Minneapolis, I had to decide which wheels to bring, and since I already had a cog set on my disc I just brought that. Huge mistake. I should have transferred a cog to a 404. But being inherently lazy, I just threw my disc in the box. So I was one of MAYBE 20 or 30 people who had disc wheels on (out of 9000).

The gusts were downright adrenaline-gushing-frightening. Even the steady non-gusting wind had me swerving all over the road. I kept apologizing to people. I had to sit upright and ride the brakes all the way down the hills, because if I picked up any speed over 30 mph I'd start losing control of my bike. Each of the 3 times I heard the ambulance I knew I had done the right thing by braking the whole way. When I coasted into transition, my brakes were screeching, because I literally had no pads left. It was ugly, but I was still alive. Praise God. And this time I really mean it!

I was so happy to be on the run, which was also hilly, but also very scenic as it was a trail run. The cheering was really nice from the spectators, and it seemed like the run was over pretty quick. Well, if you think 2:21 is quick. It seemed faster, just like the swim did. Hmmm. I need to manage my technical equipment better.

Anyway, the weekend was fun mostly because I got to meet so many of my blogger buddies. Iron Kahuna was the ultimate host. Thank you, friend.

Here are a few pics:

First we had to get on the plane. Before that, TaconiteBoy had to relinquish his "bludgeoning tool".


TriMama and IronJenny salute you with a toast. Um, we seem to have a lot of these pictures... ;-)

IronKahuna takes us for a walk on the pier where he was a lifeguard.


Then he took us to see his friend who has a nationally syndicated radio show. His name is Hugh Hewitt and he suprised us by interviewing us live on the air about triathlon and current events. It was fun!


Iron Wil and Curly Su at camp.


TaconiteBoy and Trimama set up their bikes.


Trimama on a warmup ride.


Greyhound on the ride. We cruised over to the other camp to see the other TriBloggers....


... and this is who we found!!! Bolder and Roman and the other RaceAthletes.


At Bolder's camp we saw this tent, which was Neoprene Wedgie's, that had a sign on it that said, "Iron Kahuna and Iron Wil - where are you?" It had a poster and a Sharpie marker on a string asking for our cell number to hook up with us. He came over later, so we got to meet him, too.



Iron Wil and I posed for a picture of CAF athlete Sarah Rinertson. Yes, I do know I look like a giant next to her!

Iron Wil hanging out in the RV.

Stronger demonstrates how to be the most popular girl at camp.

Greyhound wakes up to enjoy the sunrise. Check out our campsite. Thankfully there weren't any bears around. Boomer did say he heard wild pigs, and sure enough - there were candy bars that were half eaten with the wrappers still on, etc...

TriBoomer and me at camp. I just love this selfless, kind, natural born leader.

Curly Su out on the run course of the Oly. This is one of the sweetest and cutest (and talented) girls you will ever meet! I would be so proud to see Ally grow up to be just like her.

Stronger rocked the Olympic course. I think she looks so much better than the girl she is walking next to...

Kahuna, IronJenny, Stronger and her brother Chris wait for Iron Wil to cross the finish line.

It was a really fun weekend, but I think I don't need to camp again. That part was a lot of work. I loved getting to meet some of my favorite bloggers, though. I really enjoyed all of you and hope we can all meet up again for a race in the future. I'll make the hotel reservations... ;-)

Trail Mix

Yesterday was the 25K Trail Mix - it was a beautiful day, even though the two-loop course had us twice running up the back side and down the front side of the ski jump... you really only want to ever do that once, if you know what I mean. Have you ever seen the event in the Olympics called ski jumping? Well, we have one right here in the Minneapolis suburbs. It's steep. It's where the Trail Mix is held.

This is me with Mark, Maggie, and Becca - all fellow triathletes. You can see downtown in the far horizon. Tac Boy started out with Trimama, then made a cameo appearance (maybe 30 seconds) to run with me, then scooted ahead toward Marz_Racer - not sure if he ever caught him. You sure must have had a lot of social obligations Tac - everybody said you ran with them for a while, before running ahead!

I averaged a little over 10 minute miles, which was good considering it was so hilly. But this was 15 miles, and Wildflower is only 13, so it was good training for that race, which is only a couple weeks away.

The best part - I almost forgot! I got "recognized" by a fellow blogger! Julie was working the volunteer desk at packet pickup... So nice meeting you, Julie! She's the one who runs ultras... ;-)

Way to go John!!!!!

My friend and ski coach (whom I have blogged about many times) completed his first Ironman as a professional today. Proudly representing the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, John Shelp finished in 9:48:12, good for 32nd position overall.

swim: 56:26
T1: 4:29
Bike: 5:08:34 (21.78 mph)
T2: 2:47
Run: 3:35:54 (8:14 minute miles)


http://ironman.com//events/ironman/arizona?show=tracker&y=2007&race=/events/ironman/arizona&bib=13

I don't even know what to say, I am so proud of him. John's faith has not waivered one moment during his year-long battle with cancer. I am speechless, and just want to cry, so I will quote our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ:

You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. (REV 2:3)

God bless you, John. Your friends back home were also with you all day today. We love you, Micki and the girls, and are so proud and happy for you!!!

Springtime in Minnesota

Easter weekend. It was freezing. Something about Ally's parka detracts from her Easter dress. But we found all the eggs the Easter Bunny hid and then joined our friends for a beautiful Easter service at Plymouth Covenant; followed by a fabulous brunch at Greg's house.

So we were still biking inside because it was too cold. Trimama, Tac-Boy, Tim, Irongirl Nyhus... we are all being really good sports about training when the weather has jsut sucked. Maybe in a few days it will warm up.

Well, here we are a few days later. It isn't better, it's worse!!!

At least the kids like it. And it's supposed to get to the mid 50's this weekend. Yeah. Right. Heard that one before...

Tile Project Complete

The basement kitchen tiling project is essentially finished... just a bit of accessory tweeking/ shopping needed... and maybe some fabric for the window by the sliding glass door.



Before/After view from partway up the stairs.

Before/After by the bar.

Before/ After view into the kitchen. I think the cholocate colored paint is much warmer than the pale sea green I had in there before.

These two paintings were made for me by my friend Kris King. He's an amazing artist, and the colors/ textures are perfect down here. The one on the left is a man playing guitar, and the one on the right is a dove with an olive branch in his beak. The table was made by my girlfriend Stephany. It's the island of Florianopolis, Brazil, where I did an Ironman last year. It's so beautiful. She even used real pieces of sea-glass in the waves of the ocean. The bike and run courses are dotted out in gemstones.

The reason there is hardly any artwork in my new house is because I want to actually know the people who've created what's on my walls. Most of the stuff from my last house is in the storage room, although there are a couple of pieces that I can't part with which were painted by strangers... so please feel free to contribute! I promise I will put whatever you make me in a great location, where it can (and will certainly) be appreciated!

Deadwood; Still winter?; long run

Deadwood, South Dakota

I am all signed up for the Deadwood Marathon, in the hills around historic Deadwood, pictured above. It's a trail run, and we run up 13.1 and back down 13.1. I hear it's really beautiful. Holly, Chae, Brooke and I are pumped up and ready. I got my plane ticket and reserved a room in the famous Bullock Hotel. It's supposedly haunted - it has even been featured on Unsolved Mysteries! I booked room 313 - one of the spooky ones. But no one will commit to staying in it with me. (Chickens!) So we also have a room in a quaint old hotel about a half block away, which is as close as my girlfriends say they'll get to the Bullock. So here's my question for the day:

Would you stay in a haunted hotel room?

Still Winter? Arghhhhhhh....

OK, so I did get to go on a couple of outdoor rides. They were a little chilly, but that's better than (yet another) indoor spin. But this weekend it was only 38 degrees and raining, and even I have standards... ;-) So Laura, Bob and I rode what was HOPEFULLY our last indoor ride on Saturday. Snow is in the forecast for tomorrow and Wednesday, but hopefully that will be the end of it. Nice helmet, Bob... tee-hee.

Long Run

Sunday it stopped raining long enough for Laura, Mike K and I to get in our long run. I logged 20 miles and felt like a million bucks throughout as well as afterward. Don't you just love when that happens?! Every one of us needs to have that long run or bike where you just feel great and strong. It really charges up your batteries and rekindles your confidence. Mike is a guy on my running club who is the same speed as I, so we have been running together for 3 or 4 years. He doesn't believe in God, (and I do) so we always have these conversations that really make the time go by fast. It was the first time Laura has met Mike... I hope we didn't drive you crazy! (did we??)

I love peer pressure!!!

Holly, one of my "lifer"s (see Momo's post) and running buddy just called to say she wants to do the Deadwood Trail Marathon on June 3rd. It's in the Black Hills of South Dakota, (!) Thirteen-point-one miles uphill and then 13.1 back down.

Resting place of Wild Bill Hickock and Calamity Jane; real cowboys and real Indians. Close to Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse.

I looked at my newly, actually-written-down training calendar, and that weekend is scheduled as my last long training day before IM Zurich.

So I said, okay, sounds fun.

Anyone else feeling weak to peer pressure? It'll be fun! Come on - how often in your ENTIRE LIFE will you go to South Dakota on a whim?

Boston; First outdoor ride

We took the kids to Boston for Spring Break - it was great! Bobby is really into history and it was his choice that we come here for vacation. We saw lots of historic sights and did a lot of walking, Everthing in Boston is close by, but being a city-vacation we did use lots of different kinds of transportation: plane, train, taxi, trolley, ferry, and foot, as Bobby pointed out on the way home.

Below we found Paul Revere's gravesite near Boston Common... perfect place for a family portait. (?)

This is a photo I took in Salem - the architecture is so quaint. We didn't actually meet any witches but the kids thought they saw a ghost at the birthplace of Nathaniel Hawthorne. Did you know that he changed the spelling of his name? He added the "w" because he was so ashamed of his grandfather (spelled Hathorne) who was one of the judges presiding over the trials that accused (and ultimately put to death) 19 innocent people during the Salem witch trials.

Of course the hotel pool was a hit every night. Here Ally is being a swimming fashionista.

I took this picture below because if I just told you all there was such a place as "Bunghole Liquors" none of you would have believed me:

Below is Bobby by a cannon on the USS Constitution. Amazing that ship is 209 years old and still seaworthy. They still take her out at least once and up to several times a year. Those cannons pull back 4 to 6 feet when they are fired... those sailors really needed to have their sea legs! We saw a few sailors before we boarded for the tour, and we thanked them for serving and the kids wanted to get their picture taken with them. While we were on board, we noticed they too had boarded and were engaged in a ceremony to re-enlist. I am just so grateful for the brave souls who look out for the rest of us. I love America, and being an American, and feel so blessed that only by the grace of God was I simply born here and that was all it took to be entitled to enjoy the freedom we have here, which was and has been ensured by the sacrifice and commitment and conviction of these folks and all who went bravely before them. Made me a little weepy watching them voluntarily re-enlist.

Here is Ally at Paul Revere's house, reading about his historic ride telling of the charge of the British soldiers.

Here we are having dinner in an old Boston restaurant just across the street from Faneuil Hall.

It was a busy and interesting week of history, science, architecture and most importantly: family time.

I did try to train while we were gone, but it just didn't pan out. It only took 3 strokes of the pool before it was time to flip turn, so I lasted all of 5 minutes and gave up. Then I ran on the dreadmill for 3 miles one day. That was it. But I enjoyed the rest time and my life doesn't need to revolve around triathlon. I figured I'd jump back in upon returning. So on Saturday I squeezed in 3 workouts to try and catch up. Today is Sunday, I'm pooped, and I have been drinking water, eating well, and playing with the kids. I am commited to a real, actually planned-and-written down schedule starting tomorrow.

We rode outside on Saturday... finally!! It was about 60 degrees or maybe even warmer. There are eight Zurich IM triathletes in this picture. Taconite Boy is third from the right; Marz_Racer is on the far right; Steve is fourth from right; Cliff is front and center in white jersey; Eric is 5th from left; Terri is 4th from left; I am 3rd from left; Tim is second from left.

Below is an interesting Before-and-After picture: This is why I felt so weak on the 52 mile ride yesterday, well, besides actually BEING weak from not riding as much as I should have been... On the top is my derailleur and chain. It's a little dirty, no? When I pulled that black thing out today it looked like a worm - only it was made of bike grease, salt, and sand -- all held together with hair. Gross!!!!! As we rode along yesterday, I imagine it kept picking up more snow-plow salt and sand from the freshly thawed roads. I kept getting more and more tired and started asking people if I had a flat tire. So it was only HALF my fault that I was slow and getting dropped. Oh, and maybe that I ran 17.1 before the ride. But I toughed it out and was so excited that I didn't quit and go home that I ran another 2 1/2 miles after the ride with Tim and Jesse!

Before; After

Spring Break!; Tile Project; Family Drama

The kids are on a two-week break from school. We leave for Boston on Monday, which should be a lot of fun. Bobby asked to go to Boston because he loves history and wants to see the Freedom Trail, especially Paul Revere's house. He was enthralled by the American Revolution in school this fall and has talked of going out east for months, so I hope it's all he has cracked it up to be in his mind. He does actually have a couple ancestors who were Minutemen. My dad's family (the Morgans) came here in 1710 and several played some pretty interesting roles in Colonial history (founders of Morgantown, WV, and Wilmington, DE as well as the first Episcopal Church here). They also were the very first white settlers west of the Blue Ridge Mountains; Civil War historical figures, the Westward Movement, etc... If I weren't so lazy, Ally and I would be card-carrying members of the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution). Maybe going there next week will inspire me to get our paperwork filled out for it. Anyway, this week has been a flurry of shopping for clothes (they keep growing!), planning the trip, tying up loose ends around the house... can't wait to be on that plane.

My girlfriend (who created the mosaic for my basement kitchen floor) finished last week, and we installed it for three solid days: laying the underlayment, re-mortering a second layer to house the glass tiles, then grouting. It looks amazing. I have a carpet guy coming out on the 26th to re-align the carpet to the new edge and then it will be officially finished. I'll post a final picture when that is done. I am so proud of us for taking on and actually completing this huge project. Neither of us had ever laid tiles before and I admit there was quite a learning curve, but the gratification of knowing we had the gumption to attempt this is very satisfying!

Way back when we first had to pull up the carpet and lay these sand-colored tiles.

Here is Stephany laying the final tiles along the edge by the door. There are literally thousands of 3/4 inch glass tiles on the floor. About half of them are hand-made art glass that people use in stained glass windows.

Here we are grouting - last step!

The wave pattern goes from the sliding glass doors around the kitchen counter and ends before you start to go down the hall. About 45 linear feet total.

Many of you know I gave up alcohol for Lent. I'm not sure if my uber-soberness has made me more sensitive to (and irritated by) drunkenness, but after last weekend, I could see giving up alcohol for life. We were wakened in the wee hours Monday morning by my husband's ex-wife (the mom of my step-kids) telling us to go retrieve my 33-year-old stepdaughter from jail. She was arrested for beating up her husband, public drunkenness and disorderly conduct. It's all so unattractive and unladylike it's just hard to understand. And rather than being embarrassed and ashamed by it, Marnie's just blaming her husband, blaming the alcohol (like it just pours itself down her throat?), blaming the stress of law-school, blaming the stress of working at the Capitol, etc. How about a little personal responsibility? All I can say is "ick". Actually, as the step-mother, I can't even say that.

In the mean time, I am excited to take my family to Boston; I have my plane ticket for Wildflower; I love my Bible-study "small group" that I meet with once a week.... the stuff I am actually sort of in control of is running smoothly.

My step-kids are coming over for dinner on Sunday. As usual I will just bite my tongue, smile politely, BE polite, and know they will go home after a few hours.

Today our friend Momo is at her cousin's funeral. That whole situation has me a little sad, too, so those of you who pray, please pray for Momo to find comfort and understanding on this difficult day.

OK Go - Here It Goes Again

Best Dreadmill Workout

One week later

OK. We've had a chance to forget a little. Now we're mad. That Only-Half-of-the-Birkie we did last weekend bleepin' conquered us. That can't ahppen!!!

So we are going back for next year to do the whole thing. Dang-it-all.

After that, we're going to try this:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=toughguy2007

Whatever happened to...

Has anybody heard from Ridinfences lately? I had her blog on my sidebar as she was doing Wildflower, but it seems her blog has been deactivated... I miss her!

Stuck on an escalator

This is just so funny... on so many levels...

American Birkebeiner Race Report

What a trip. Everything about it was extreme. I have a deep, deep respect for Birkie skiers. Just let me put that out there first.

Laura's post is here... but she's going to be adding to it.

First, the entire race was almost canceled due to lack of snow. We woke up race day anticipating 14-18 inches of Last-Minute-Blizzard and saw 1/8" dusting. So there was really no snow as far we could tell. For a ski race... but we head off to the start anyway.

This was the walk down to the start. Note the conditions.



The start line. Truckloads full of snow had been brought in from Whoknowswhere. We guessed from other businesses' parking lots because it was all sandy and full of gravel. Imagine putting 6 foot long skis on your feet and hiking around the beach. The first 1 or 2 miles were this way.




The race was shortened from 31.7 miles to 15.6 miles. It was supposed to be only 23k, but I am here to tell you we skiied past the 23k marker, then the 24k, before finally we saw signs for 1000 meters, then 500 meters left... Omigosh. It was the longest 5k at the end. Spectators kept saying, "one more k! you can do it!" for the last 5k. If you can imagine being told this after 15.6 miles of constant elevation change. I was ready to start crying. Laura and I hardly spoke the whole race. Periodically we would glance at each other and try to force a smile and word or two of encouragment, but that was all we could. Many of you out in blogland actually know both of us and this is a pretty revealing detail in itself...

So the start is like skiing in sand. We were thinking, "what were we thinking?" until we got into the woods, where the conditions were mostly good. Except for the sheets of ice which was the story for most of the downhills (the thousands of skiers ahead of us had "snowplowed" because it was icy for them, too, as it had rained and frozen a couple days earlier). One man was at the bottom of a hill with the emergency team, shaking and freezing under blankets - rumored to have broken a hip, so we were actually REQUIRED to walk down this one. We prayed for him and for ourselves. It was unsettling.

So the condions overall may have been dangerous, but lets talk about this "constant elevation change". In all fairness, we were told in advance it was hilly. And yes, we were maybe a little cocky when we signed up and kept saying, "oh, come ON - we're Ironmen! How hard can it be?!" But my Garmin recorded it all. And now I want to apologize to all the skiers whom I probably deeply insulted with my "oh come on... comments". I'm sorry! I get it now! It's really, REALLY hard! ;-)

I don't know how to directly load the elevation page from my Garmin, but here are a few of the details.

Total distance: 15.6 miles
Total "climbs": 55
% Grade of easiest climb: 4%
% Grade of steepest climb: 35% (not a typo)
number of climbs above 10% grade: 26
number of climbs above 15% grade:18
number of climbs above 20% grade: 11
number of climbs above 30% grade: 5

yes, there were 34 climbs steeper than a 15% grade. With skis on your feet.

% grade of easiest downhill: -4%
% grade of steepest downhill: -37% (not a typo)
Number of descents we took off our skis and just walked down: 3

One of the few times we did exchange words was to say that we almost never had the chance to "skate" ski, like we had learned. It was: bomb-and-try-to-stay-alive for the down hill, then march-the-herringbone uphill, then bomb downhill... In all honesty, I can't say for certain if I would have been able to finish a full-length Birkie.

This is our finish photo. It took us 2:38:51. Then we got in the car and drove 4 hours home in a blizzard that actually took the lives of seven in Wisconsin. I'm glad to be home, glad to have done (even the shortened version of) the Birkie, and glad to have ski season OVER!!! ;-)

Six words

Hardest. Thing. I. Have. Ever. Done.

But I'm alive to tell about it! ... tomorrow... ;-)

I'm going to bed...

Birkie Update 1:40 pm Friday

OK - we are heading up to Wisconsin tonight whether the race is on or not. The forecast calls for snow now, so we are going. If it's canceled, IronLaura, Jeff, Greg and I are going to ski anyway. Watch for pictures!

Birkie Update 2:14 p.m. Thursday

Jeff is at the Expo right now, getting his race packet and there is a poster that says that due to lack of snow the race will be canceled UNLESS they get sufficient snow tomorrow. The forecast calls for 40% chance of flurries. I don't think that will be enough. If it IS enough though, the start will still be pushed back to 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, and the course will be shortened to 23K.

We can't move to the frozen lake like we did for the Mora Vasaloppet because it's been melting for two days and it's just a sheet of ice and puddles.

Guess this is a lesson in "be careful what you wish for"... I didn't REALLY want it canceled...

On a brighter note, we started our swim workout this morning with a timed 100 yard sprint. I did 1:09 with a wall-pushoff! Then at the end of the workout (55 minutes, 2500 yards) we timed another one and I did a 1:10.

Guess triathlon season can kick in if skiing really is over...