tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84354428004643852542024-02-20T03:58:27.186-08:00IM AdventuresTrigirl Shawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07712481139420828878noreply@blogger.comBlogger107125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8435442800464385254.post-12057779026855827242012-08-28T13:31:00.001-07:002012-08-28T13:31:22.317-07:00IM Mont Tremblont Pre-Race TrainingSo, on August 19, 2012, I started and finished my third and final IM distance race! I have to say that given this training year, it was nice to have a rather boring race. My race report will follow, but the training was in an of itself, a trip. Let's summarize it: 2 bee stings, 1 bike wreck,1 "Bob", fog, rain, thunder, heat, humidity, some 800+ miles of biking with lots and lots and lots of elevation, 250+ miles of running, 20+ miles of swimming, gosh only knows how many miles of driving over 3 months and in three states.<br />
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Bees and me are not a match made in heaven, given I swell up like a balloon, and their stings hurt like hell. I got my first sting on my ankle during a "fun" little Adventure Challenge in Wintergreen. It was only 7 miles. But, those 7 miles were literally up and down all the freakin ski slopes at Wintergreen, and included some fun obstacles, the slip-n-slide on steroids being the most fun. There I was, walking in a line of people in the woods, and a bee finds me to sting my ankle. Ouch. Kept going but called it a day a little early given the race was a week after the Rev3 Half-Rev (70.3) in Quassy Connecticut and I was still tired. That sting swelled up my ankle for a week. My second sting occurred whilst I was bombing down a hill on Skyline Drive during one of my longer hilly bike rides. The bee somehow flew through my helmet vent onto my forehead, where it stung me. I knew it was still in my helmet, so I stopped and shook it out, showed the sting to my "training bitch" (who, unbeknownst to me was actually training for the same race, but more on that later) who didn't seem impressed. Put my helmet back on, kept riding. Stopped again at a camp store, and took off my helmet, to find out that I looked like a Neanderthal because my helmet pushed all the swelling up in a band across the top of my forehead. I continued biking, now calling myself "Lil Shawnene" and wondering if my forehead would start swelling out of my helmet. After the ride, it just got worse, the swelling moved down my face, changing me from "Shawnene" to "Asian Shawn" to "ShawnPuffyface" and after nearly a week, back to normal. I think I'll get an eppipen.<br />
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The bike wreck wasn't mine, but I did see it all unfold in front of me during an ill-fated attempt to ride a different route out of Ashland. Things that day didn't start well, flat tire, grumpy riders, and some wet roads, but we pushed on until BrianD decided to try to shove MyKaren's water bottle back into the holder on the back of her seat, while the five of us were riding in a small pack. Needless to say, it didn't end well for him. Front wheel went sideways, he went over like a rocket, Training Bitch ran over his bike and wrecked as well. Lots of drama, but they were all banged up but ok, BrianD's helmet took the brunt of the hit, and we are all glad for helmets. As we limped back towards the car a stray dog started following us, in a friendly manner, on a busy road. So, we stopped and tried to get her to go home, she wanted to stay with us, we didn't want to see her hit. Called the number on her collar, got a country woman, who said the dog was one of her husbands hunting dogs and he would come to retrieve her. Seems hunting dogs are let loose in the summer to get their hunt on or some such nonsense. At any rate, another car stopped, said they knew who owned the dog and left with her in their car. We think that it was dog snatching, but were just glad that the dog was not running on the busy road.<br />
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Bob first appeared after a 50 mile ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway, for which I decided to wear a pair of Tri-shorts instead of bike shorts. Baaaaddd decision. I believe Bob's birth came from sitting weird and pinching the right side of my woowoo area on my seat, followed by an hour ride the next day. Bob stayed with me for the remainder of the training, fluxuating in size from a baseball to a golf ball, and necessitated some 3 trips to the doctor to make sure Bob wasn't infected. Bob did require antibiotics once. I cannot say that I love Bob, and will be glad when Bob goes away, if he will ever go away. Needless to say, every ride after Bob appeared was somewhat painful. Waahhh. Bob did behave for the actual race, and for that I am grateful.<br />
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Garrett County, Maryland is a really pretty locale in western Maryland. It is home to Deep Creek Lake and the Savageman triathlons. It is also home to the Garrett County Gran Fondo which somehow I was talked into doing. It was, by far, the hardest biking I have ever done. Training Bitch and I did the 102 mile route which had 12,755 feet of climbing. Ouch. I was out on the course for almost 10 hours, and it took my sit bones about 2 weeks to recover. I was happy I made it through, even though I did walk up some of the absurdly steep and neverending hills, it was still an accomplishment. MyKaren, BrianD and Carrie all did the 125 mile version, with 16,400+ feet of climbing. Absurd. It was like a bad dream, every damn turn ended with a freakin hill with a grade of 15% or better. I'm surprised I have any cleat left at all on my bike shoes! But, it was good for me to be tested on the bike. I'd recommend that ride, just for the pure absurdity.<br />
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One day, my Training Bitch and I rode up Crabtree Falls, it was a Friday, and overcast with some fog on Blue Ridge Parkway, when we flew down Reed's Gap to begin the loop. We figured by the time we finished, the fog would have burned off. It didn't. The ride up the falls was fine, and once we got to the Blue Ridge Parkway, that seemed fine as well, until we climbed up the hill around between MP 26-25 and saw the line of cloud cover. It was like riding into a horror film. Visibility was about 10 feet in front of us, and of course, us on our tri-bikes which do not have lights, b/c we are too cool for lights and reflectors---idiots. It was a long, cold scary ride down to Reed's Gap and thankfully, the fog and weather kept traffic down to a minimum. We were freezing at the end of the ride, and bought some cheap fleeces to warm our stupid-asses up. Would not recommend riding in the fog without lights or reflective gear. Won't do that again.<br />
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I guess the final weird thing is my mental breakdown during a little 80ish mile ride. I was in a bad mood, I'll call it a menopausal rampage in the making, and early in the ride, got buzzed by an SUV. Happens to us all when we ride. Somehow, that was the trigger for what I can best describe as an out-of-mind experience. It happened close to a stop sign at the intersection of a busy road. The SUV stopped at the sign, I hammered to the stop, and proceeded to scream at the top of my lungs at the SUV driver, hurtling out onto the busy road and nearly getting hit. The SUV stops, the driver and I are yelling at each other, well I was screaming about them almost hitting me, etc. to the point of me spitting as I am screaming out of control at this person. I knew in the back of my mind, I was overreacting, yes, they almost ran me off the road, and yes, it scared me and they were wrong, but I was certifiably crazy at that moment and couldn't stop screaming at them. MyKaren calmed me down, I started crying, the SUV drove off to think that women cyclists are nuts, and it was then that I realized there was an outdoor book sale going on about 15 feet from my screaming fit, with the poor shoppers and staff looking on with horror. Somewhere that day, and perhaps for days to come, someone is describing the crazy screaming woman on the bike as a cautionary tale. If it is a cautionary tale to never piss off a woman cyclist, then I'll wear the shame from my breakdown with pride.Trigirl Shawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07712481139420828878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8435442800464385254.post-61182383782941702072012-01-26T10:05:00.000-08:002012-01-26T10:56:15.046-08:00Angry Starfish-the Tale of the Charleston Half-MarathonA few weeks ago, I participated in the Charleston (SC) 1/2 marathon. I did finish. It wasn't a pretty one. The angry starfish was my prize for finishing. I'll explain, but first some context!<div><br /></div><div>The trip to Charleston was fun, Karen and I were hosted by an old friend of mine and her partner, both of which were running the half as well. Karen of course, was running the full marathon. Something about trying to get all 50 states....me, not so much. the weekend was to include the run and then a bike ride the next day.</div><div><br /></div><div>Our friends are both into triathlons as well, and of course our conversations somehow always steered towards training. We all know how it feels to ride long distances on a bike, the girly parts can and usually do, get sore. Evidently, some friend of theirs convinced them to examine said parts by using a mirror after a ride to see what a sore girly looks like. It apparently looks like a squashed eggplant. I cannot think of a worse idea than doing that, but the image stuck in my head, and from now on, I may complain about my squashed eggplant after riding. </div><div><br /></div><div>So, on to the race report. The morning was cold, and I wore my favorite pair of tights. I had conveniently forgotten that they caused chafing in the nether region the last long run I did in them, so I quickly knew that I was not going to have a relaxing shower after the race. But, I toddered along and for the first 6 miles or so, everything seemed ok, except for the chafing. Around mile 6, I started to feel like I needed a porta-potty....a quick duck behind something was not going to cut it. I recalled how, at the DC 1/2, I waited in line for a random potty for 17 minutes, so I vowed to go to the first one I saw. There it was, a random porta-potty, across some railroad tracks, clearly not part of the race. Off I went, across the broken glass field, railroad tracks to the potty. There were only a couple of people before me, so my wait was short. After my business, I realize there is no tp....so I am looking at my throwaway shirt or my $1 gloves as my only options. The gloves went. Thinking I am good to go, I continue onward, only to be stopped after about a 1/2 mile with serious intestinal pains...nope not done yet. Waddle on, walking and running to the next porta--one major complaint about this race is the paltry amount of portas on the course, there was <b>one</b> every 2 miles or so and that my friend is not enough.</div><div><br /></div><div>I stop and wait and just before I get to go, oops happens. Wow, that is not something that I prepared for, but luckily, I still had my throwaway shirt to cover my accident. Clean up myself, dump and wipe and go running again. Like clockwork, I had continued pains, and porta stops, I started feeling the effects of frequent wiping with cheap tp. This goes on until I finish, and then I think I am ok b/c I stopped running. Nope. No stopping. Every 15 minutes I go, now at the finish area where they have all of 10 porta-potties and they have run out of even the cheap tp they had. On to using paper towels. My ass is on fire but I gotta wipe, right?</div><div><br /></div><div>Waiting for Karen to finish the full marathon, tried to eat some food, going to the porta, scraping my ass with paper towels, not my best few hours. Finally, she gets done (it wasn't that long, actually, but I was feeling pretty shitty--ha.) We all four pile into the shuttle bus back to the start and the car. Walking back to the car, oh no.....not done yet! No porta potties in sight! Thankfully, there was a bank, and someone my friend knew so I avoided another "accident" but not by much. Arrgghh. </div><div><br /></div><div>When I finally go into the shower and the water hit me, it was like liquid fire spraying on my ass. I wasn't sure I could even wear underwear, with the chafing that I had from the tights and all the potty breaks. After complaining about my sore ass, it was named the Angry Starfish. Needless to say, I did not do the bike ride the next day. The angry starfish needed some rest.</div>Trigirl Shawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07712481139420828878noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8435442800464385254.post-3205256547257318812011-10-17T15:50:00.000-07:002011-10-18T04:54:28.941-07:00Peru-lat partPeru, Last Part!<br />Ok, so I am in the hyperbaric chamber, under pressurized oxygen, kind of freaking out since it is shut like a submarine. To combat the fear, I am lying on my stomach, with my face as close to the oxygen as I can. I was so glad when the hissing stopped and they opened the chamber and I got out! I felt better already, finally able to take a breath, a full breath! Still a bit dizzy, but the weird wet breathing noise had stopped.<br /><br />Back in the mini-van ambulance to the clinic, where I was put back on the IV for the remainder of the night. They were nice enough to let Karen stay with me, and she slept in the other bed as I lay awake staring at the ceiling, with the freaking IV and old-lady oxygen tubing not letting me roll on my stomach or side, which is where I like to sleep.<br /><br />In the early morning, things got a little chaotic, as the doctor came in to tell me that I needed to fly to Lima and stay there for at least 2 days before I flew home, and that he needed to go with me. No problem, I thought. Well, there was a problem, b/c the stupid idiots from our tour tried to tell Karen that she needed to fly to Lima at 7 am, when I wasn't going to be able to go until 11 am. That caused a lot of angst for me, as I didn't really want to be alone in a Peruvian clinic without Karen around! Finally it all got worked out, and I was bundled into another ambulance to drive the 3 blocks back to the hotel to shower and pack up. I managed to talk the doctor out of making me fly with oxygen, telling him that I hiked for days on 1/4 of a lung, so I thought I could make it on the flight.<br /><br />The flight to Lima was kind of strange, the doctor really meant he was flying with me, he sat beside me and checked my oxygen levels a couple of times during the flight, as well as got us to the hotel and checked it there, and gave me some medicine. Nice guy, interesting talking to him about Peru and his thoughts on the country.<br /><br />Karen had booked us into a nice hotel, well, very nice--JW Marriott--to spoil me a bit. Lima is an interesting place, doesn't rain and is basically a desert. It sits on some very high bluffs made of dirt. Great views, but kind of weird since the bluffs are crumbly dirt. We visited some pre-Incan ruins in Lima, as well as some Incan ruins on the outskirts. We basically had a private tour, so that was cool. The ceremonial sacrifical area was creepy, and there was a place where the sacrifical girls lived until they were selected for sacrifice. A huge honor for the family, not so good for the girls.<br /><br />We walked around Lima a lot, got a strange near tour of the City by a taxi driver, going to a famous museum of Peruvian items, and then he took us to some famous Spanish houses where we were able to touch a book from the 1500s, everything was just out in the open and not protected! We also saw a catholic church with some beautiful tile work.<br /><br />New Years Eve came and we ate at some Italian restuarant, and saw some fireworks over the ocean. I was feeling much better at this point, but Karen had come down with a cold. Our trip ended with the long flight back to Virginia. I was never so glad to get home, and this was the only vacation that I've ever been on where I lost weight!<br /><br />After we got back, we got a copy of the doctor's notes, and then I got kind of freaked out. I was dehydrated (which is why it took the nurses 5 tries to get the iv in) and basically in super bad shape due to the pulminary edema. Lesson learned and happy to be ok! I don't have an itch to go back.Trigirl Shawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07712481139420828878noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8435442800464385254.post-16104294942131333292011-04-19T11:15:00.000-07:002011-04-19T11:29:27.585-07:00Peru Trip-Out of CuscoSo, light-headed and dizzy, which was becoming the norm for me, the group made our way back to the hotel in Cusco, via our bus. We disembarked and upon entering the hotel lobby, a nicely dressed man was waiting for me---the doctor. We went upstairs to our room where he checked my pulse-ox and stuff. So, the reading on the finger thing was 80, and I am thinking it is ok, b/c that would mean I had a B. Wrong. The doctor told me to lay down on the bed and not to move while he went to get the hotel O2. I asked him what the deal was, and that's when he told me that a normal reading would be 95+ and that he was concerned about the sounds in my lungs. Huh? Then he said that anything under 85 required constant O2. Hhmmm, I thought. Maybe that explains my unability to walk up steps.<br /><br />The plan was for me to go to his clinic, just down the block, and get on O2, go to a hyperbaric chamber, and be on intrevenous fluids and anti-biotics overnight, and then to fly down to Lima the next day. Karen and I were not going to Lake Titicaca--the doctor said that he has trouble breathing there, and he was used to 11,000+ altittude. So, off I went on my next adventure.<br /><br />At the clinic, they gave me a bed to lay in, some old lady O2 (the nose clip kind) and then the poor nurses jabbed me 5 times to get a vein--evidently I was really dehydrated, didn't know that-- to start the IV drip. It was ok for a while, but time moved very slowly and thankfully Karen stayed in the room most of the time. She did leave to go eat and bring me back some food to eat. As the night wore on, things got weirder--Carlos our guide stopped by once shortly after I arrived, and promised to come back-he didn't.<br /><br />The doctor made arrangements for me to go the another clinic with a hyperbaric chamber, we left around midnight in a van that was an "ambluance". They brought a gurney, but I walked out on my own, thank you very much. At the chamber clinic, I had to put on PJs, since nothing metal could be in the chamber. Karen slept while I lay in the air-tight, kind of freaky chamber. It is like a sub doored tube--no handles on the inside and clear plexiglass for about 2 feet so the occupant can see out. It was weird--hissing O2 came from the bottom, and I was trying my hardest not to freak out b/c I was trapped with no escape. The plexoglass fogged up and I could see where other occupants had written on the fogged glass---kind of really freaked me out.Trigirl Shawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07712481139420828878noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8435442800464385254.post-80858735062464597762011-03-16T07:37:00.000-07:002011-03-16T07:54:00.998-07:00Jungle Days 2 and 3Ohhh, poor me! My insides were unhappy, resulting in multiple trips to the bathroom. Much to my chagrin, the water is shut off each night at 10 pm. Let's just say that being unable to flush was not a good thing at all. I was up all night, sick and sitting on the toilet. The snoring from next door was incredible, never have I heard such loud snores from what sounded like 10 people. If this family had a dog, the dog would have snored as well. I am sure the noise from our side, while not snoring, was not much better. Sorry!<br /><br />Day finally dawned and I felt worse, the intestinal issue moving up to my stomach. I hate feeling like I am going to throw up, and the mixture of that feeling plus the need to sit on the toilet made for a really bad time. Karen tried to get me something to drink, but I really couldn't drink or eat anything. I felt like crap. Finally, I puked in the trash can and slept a little. I was miserable, but at least it was kind of nice in the room, not hot, small breeze and I could see the jungle outside of the room. Karen brought some ginger ale and crackers which I nibbled on, and then some chicken soup, which I could not eat. It was bright yellow. The color alone made me gag.<br /><br />Karen got to go on a little hike, and pond boat ride, and took some good photos for me to see. I could not stand up but did rotate between the bed and the hammock. Finally, in the late afternoon, I took a shower and felt a teeny bit better. Still could not eat anything but crackers, but did try to drink ginger ale. The snoring family left, so night 2 was better and I got some more needed sleep.<br /><br />By Day 2, I could actually get up and showered without any problem. I ate breakfast and walked around the big lodge a bit. Even after 2 days at sea level, I was dizzy and winded when I climbed to the second floor. I knew this was bad, and told Carlos I needed to see a doctor when we got back to Cusco later that day. It was really unfortunate that I got super sick in the jungle and we had such a short time there, as there was a lot that we could have done there. They had biking, hiking, kayaking, canopy climbing, etc. that Karen and I would have loved to have done. But, all I saw was the view out of the room. Oh well.<br /><br />We left early to go back to fly back to Cusco. The boat ride back was much faster, given we were going with the current and the bus ride back was much the same as the one out to the boat launch. Bright orange dirt road, many unfinished bridges, people on motorcyles, people doing laundry in the water. We went to an ice cream place in town, and then flew out and back to Cusco. Not a terribly exciting town.<br /><br />The minute we landed in Cusco, I got dizzier. We were to leave the next day to go to Lake Titicaca, several thousand feet higher than Cusco.Trigirl Shawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07712481139420828878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8435442800464385254.post-39700200824012081042011-02-22T10:27:00.000-08:002011-02-22T10:48:45.349-08:00Christmas and Jungle Day 1Sooo, back in Cusco for Christmas eve and day. Slept in sort of, and away Karen and I went to walk around town to see the Christmas parades. It was kind of neat, all the surrounding villages get dressed up in costumes and march around the main square. Very colorful and interesting, most seem to make fun of the Spanish, but at the same time, are deeply Catholic. We watched from a second floor coffeshop and then it began once again to rain. A Peruvian woman who said her name was Paula, latched onto us, trying to sell us some carved gourds (yes, we did buy some). Anyway, she wasn't as obnoxoius as others and we negioated what we thought was a pretty good deal; $50 for 3. They are pretty intricately carved and a nice reminder of Peru.<br /><br />I managed to make it through a good part of the day, but as the group decided to continue walking about, I got too tired and went back to hotel to sleep. At this point, my breathing sound was freaking me out a bit, so I asked Karen if she could hear it. She said yes, but that it had happened to her and it was no big deal. I may be able to use that line for the rest of my life.<br /><br />The group went out for dinner on Christmas day, and then out drinking and dancing. I didn't even eat dinner and laid around trying to rest and sleep. The next morning, we left for the jungle, another travel snafu as we weren't even sure when we were leaving or what we could or should bring. We landed in Puerto Maldonato in the early afternoon and were met by our jungle guides. We were bussed to their company headquarters, given some fresh fruit juice and water and then a tour of this snake rehab center. Very interesting. They also had humping turtles, a small cheeta-like cat and lots of snakes. Got to hold a boa and had my photo taken. Down at sea level, I thought I'd feel better, but not really.<br /><br />We drove around Puerto Maldonato for a bit, not much to see but unfinished bridges, dirt roads, an unfinished highway, lots and lots of motorcyles and scooters and the usual unfinished buildings. We finally drove off into the wild, down dirt roads to our long boat canoe for the boat ride to the jungle encampment. The boat was about 30 feet long, and about four or five feet wide, wooden with one of those long handled motors that can be raised in shallow water. The ride was interesting, passing multiple unfinished bridges, as well as several families doing laundry in the muddy creeks. The boat ride was fine, we were fed lunch once we were underway, and the trip was pretty and interesting, but very, very long. The river was kind of high, with quite a bit of flotsam such as trees and large branches. Thankfully, we didn't see any dead animals or bodies. As the sun began to go down, we were not near the lodge, and then the trip became an adventure. One guide was in the bow with a light, shining on the stuff the captain was to miss and there was a lot of trees and large pieces of debris in the water at this time. I was slightly nervous, because although I knew I could swim, I wasn't sure if things in the water would let me!<br /><br />Finally we arrived safely at the lodge. We had to climb up an embankment and walk a bit to get to the lodge, and I nearly passed out trying to walk up the slight hill. I was really getting tired of the not being able to breathe thing. The lodge was very neat and we ate a nice dinner immediately. Afterwards, we were shown to our rooms, which were partitioned off under a large roof, with two beds with mosquito netting, a hammock, and a seperate bathroom. The walls did not go up to the roof, and they were quite thin. There was a family next to us that had the loudest snores I have ever heard and all of them snored. As I struggled to sleep, I realized that it was not just the snores keeping me awake....my guts had started to roil.Trigirl Shawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07712481139420828878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8435442800464385254.post-39377950786299812802011-02-17T06:21:00.000-08:002011-02-17T06:45:13.170-08:00Inca Trail Day 4The final day on the Inca trail was an early one; the porters scratched at our tent at 3:30 am and before we even could get out, they started taking the tent down. It was early, it was rainy and we were hustled out of the tent to breakfast before we were even really awake. So, breakfast up until this morning was pretty hearty--not so on the last day. We got one pancake and that was it. Not a lot for an entire morning. Everyone at the camp (there were probably over a 100 people) was crammed into the bar/restaraunt building to wait for 4:30 since the checkpoint didn't open until 5am. So, we all sat there, stood there, waiting to get going. Evidently, since it was Christmas eve day, the porters all wanted to hustle down the mountain to catch early trains to get back to their familes--which I understand, but really? 3:30am?<br /><br />Finally, we all left and then waited at the checkpoint for a bit until we could all get through. Day 4 was mostly downhill again, so I was able to keep up; not that I could breathe. At the Temple of the Sun, the sky unzipped and the rain intensified to the point of absurdity. We could not see Machu Pichu from there, and of course, there was no sun. Rain, rain, rain pouring rain as we walked down the mountain past some other ruins and then finally into Machu Pichu itself, well past it to the final checkpoint. The rain was hard and sideways. We huddled under some cover with a bunch of other tourists and hikers, trying to decide what to do. Finally, most of us agreed to brave the rain and get a truncated tour of Machu Pichu, a couple of our group elected to go down to the Aqua Caliente (town) to dry out. <br /><br />I wish I could say that Machu Pichu was the best thing I ever saw, but I didn't see much of it since it was raining too hard to see. The Incans had cut slots into the walls and drainageways for water removal, and the water shooting out of these slots was more like a fire hose than not. The water was coming out so hard, that it shot out more than 10 feet and would have knocked a person over. Water was pouring down the steps like mini rivers and the rain just kept pounding. Our guide, Julio, said he had never seen it rain this hard. Still, it was a pretty location, and the buildings were cool. We scooted off the mountain down to Aqua Caliente and met up with the others at a restaraunt at about 10 am. We were told we were not going to get lunch until 1 pm and we were all very hungry. Our trip guide, Carlos, was supposed to meet us at Machu Pichu, but he was a no show, and he didn't show up until close to 1pm. We all had to buy food early or we were going to be very grumpy.<br /><br />Walking around the town was still hard for me, I couldn't climb steps or go uphill and the sound of my breathing was getting weird. Since I was on antibiotics for my brief stint of diaherra, my ears got sunburned, adding to my happiness. The town was very touristy, and of course, it had a craft market packed with the same crafty things. Finally, and I do mean finally, we got lunch (pizza, ok but not great) and then really finally, we got on the train to begin our journey back to Cusco. The train was cool, an old train that had been redone and was very nice. The ride was slow, but better than walking! At the station, we transferred to a bus and then back to Cusco. I was beat. Carlos had prepared a nice Christmas eve meal, with a cooked turkey and we ate a lot and I crashed. Karen and some others went out to see the festivities on the town. There were lots and lots of fireworks, and they said it was almost like being in a war zone with everyone shooting off fireworks in large crowds.<br /><br />I slept and listened to my bubbly breathing.Trigirl Shawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07712481139420828878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8435442800464385254.post-17870120928433788992011-02-03T10:37:00.000-08:002011-02-03T10:58:34.423-08:00Inca Trail Day 3The 3rd day of hiking dawned a bit rainy, but not drenching. We were awakened, as usual, by a porter scratching at our tent, with hot cocoa tea and a small basin of hot water to wash in. At this point we learned to get up, packed and out the tent as fast as possible, or the porters would begin taking down our tent around us! Having done that, and visited the seatless toilet, we ate a nice hot breakfast and began our day of hiking. The rain, unfortuately, did not stay away for long and soon we were again hiking in it.<br /><br />The third day was the longest distance--I think it was 10 miles--but a mix of up, down and level hiking, through some valleys and across some ridges and then down miles of steps. I was still feeling like shit, without the ability to catch my breathe, and, while the downhill and level trails were ok, any uphill was agony. We again, hiked until around 2 pm before we got to our lunch spot, another camp area which would have looked out over some good views, but which was just more clouds. As soon as we got to the spot and took off our packs, the rain started in earnest. Lunch was good, as usual, with hot soup, an entree and tea/water. The bathroom was again seatless, and about 1/4 mile down a path, I struggled to get back up to our dining tent. I was beginning to feel like I had a fever. The rain poured, and then really poured, when our guide, Julio, said we needed to get moving, so we could make the final camp site in time for dinner. Off we went, into the absolute drenching downpour. This was our lot for most of the remainer of the day, as we started down the thousands of steps for this part of the trail. Water was running in rivers down the stone steps and its a wonder no one slipped. Thank god for hiking poles. I was able to keep up with Karen going down the steps, which made me feel like less of a loser. We passed a couple of more ruins, one right after we left the lunch spot and another some hours later. I chose not to hike up steps to one of the ruins, chosing to sit below a rock overhang and rest. I was beat at this point, and feeling worse by the hour.<br /><br />After the break, we descended through a rain forest part, in the rain, and down more steps. Porters were running down the steps with their huge packs, like it was nothing. Pretty impressive. The last couple of hours was the hardest for me, I was feverish, and tired, and dizzy and just wanted to lie down. I began to be a bit concerned as I was really feeling bad.<br /><br />The last camp site is the same for everyone, it was packed, and there were some hot showers and a restaraunt/bar. As we finally got there, the rain stopped and we could see the river valley and surrounding mountains. Very pretty. I crashed for a bit before dinner. As I lay there, I could hear a couple of porters talking behind the tent, one guy kept reciting the names of the porters, like he was counting them, I presume to know how the tip was to be divided up. Weird. Karen, along with some of the others in the group went to the "bar" and had some beers, I rallied enough to walk down there, but didn't stay long. The last meal was followed by the tip ceremony, where we as a group gave tips to the cook, the porters and the guides. It was kind of strange, Julio was translating and I swear he didn't translate what they said correctly. Not sure why. More partying ensued, not for me, I was trying to sleep and feeling like shit. Sometime in the night, it began to rain again.Trigirl Shawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07712481139420828878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8435442800464385254.post-76110375962674027682011-01-25T09:22:00.001-08:002011-02-03T10:37:19.426-08:00Inca Trail Day 2 50 StepsDay 2 on the Inca Trail is the hard day. It's the day that the climb up to Dead Women's Pass occurs, and that means 4-5 hours of hiking uphill, sometimes very steep uphill to an altitude of over 14,000 feet. So, the day again started out cloudy and rainy. The uphill hiking started right away from camp and again, right away my head was pounding, legs weak and I was gasping for breathe. Nearly last in line again, I struggled up to the first set of ruins of the day, very cool wayside for travelers with what was probably a great view, but was covered in creepy clouds. After resting a bit, we continued up and up and up to bathroom break stop on a relatively flat area with some more campsites. There were women selling candy bars, Gatorade, water and other treats, which they lug up every day (I saw them go past me earlier in the climb). I bought a Snickers bar and used the squatter. Thankfully it was a sqautter not a seatless toilet!<br /><br />After the break, more climbing and more gasping and I was really struggling badly just to move forward. Kind of made the IM seem easy. Lunch was at another camp area, with lots of food. I really just wanted soup, and was not really hungry. The uphill was relentless, one could look down and see the trail snaking along the side of the mountain and the porters and other hikers making their way up. I was losing it badly at this point, and nearly broke down as I tried my hardest to walk a bit more quickly. Not happening. Finally, I decided to break it down like an IM run, just get from point to point and not think about the whole. This led me to decide on 50 steps at a time. So that's what I did. Walked 50 steps and stopped for air, walked 50 steps and stopped. Sometimes counting in Spanish, sometimes in English, but moving forward 50 steps at a time. This of course, led to my thinking about how 50 is a good number for many things and I thought about all the things 50 could mean: 50 seconds, 50 steps, 50 minutes, 50 hours, 50 days, 50 pounds, 50 runs, ect. Now it makes no sense at all, but it did on the mountain!<br /><br />With the rain now pouring, and the wind picking up, my slow 50 step mantra got me up to Dead Woman's Pass--and I wasn't the last person in our group! Of course the rain was pounding and it was super windy, so once we all made it up, we skeddadled down as fast as we could to our next campsite, down in the valley. We could see the colors of the tents as we hiked down the steep and slippery steps and slopes. I seemed to do ok on the downhill, but my freakin back started to kill, so about 2/3s of the way down, Karen took my pack. Bliss.<br /><br />Camp was chaotic, many campsites and lots of activity. The bathroom was seatless. Arrghh. The clouds hung low and intermittently rained as we ate another huge meal and sat around playing cards until nearly 9pm. The porters were pissed, as the dinner tent is their sleep area, but we didn't know that at this time. I took a nap as soon as we got there, so I actually rallied a bit and played some cards with the group. Sleep was fitfull, my head kept pounding.Trigirl Shawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07712481139420828878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8435442800464385254.post-17474762646258474972011-01-18T12:18:00.000-08:002011-01-18T12:43:55.745-08:00Inca Trail-Day 1Morning dawned, well not so much dawned as a lightening of the gray and rainy sky, on the day we were to start the 4 day hike on the Inca Trail to Machu Pichu. I awoke with a need to go to the potty, and promptly began taking anti-biotics due to, well, you know. Breakfast was good, more cocoa tea (I was getting a bit tired of it at this point) and an egg with bread and jam. After that we waited, as usual, waited for the bus that was to take us to Kilometer 82, the traditional start to the trail. We waited some more. After an hour or more, the bus arrives and we get all our gear loaded and off we go into the rain. <br /><br />We finally got to the beginning of the trail, and it was raining, raining, raining. We all get under these open-aired shelters and our trail guide, Julio, went through the 4 days in summary. The place was packed with tourists and porters. The porters were stacking up our porter bags and weighing these piles of stuff, some were carried by blankets knotted at the chest, others were carried by traditional shoulder straps, all looked super heavy. Finally, we start down by the river to begin the trek. Oops, not yet. There was a passport check, which we all had to go through, along with our trail permits. Several people had incorrect information on their permits, I was male, Karen had the wrong passport number, and one of our group, Jenny had mysteriously aged a decade. Finally, we all get through the checkpoint and start the trek.<br /><br />We crossed the river and then there was a steep, but fairly short ascent. I nearly passed out at the top. I finally realized I was not in good shape and took a Perivian altitude pill, which seemed to help. Or, maybe it helped that the trail was mostly level. The rain stopped after about an hour or so, and we hiked past some small and then a large set of Incan ruins. The ruins were pretty cool, so much still standing and so organized looking. We were told that many of the ruins along the way were way stations, military outposts, or food storage places. <br /><br />At lunch (around 3 pm) we had our first taste of expedition trekking. The dining tent was set up, and we had a huge lunch, with salad, soup and entree. All very good. We also had our first use of the porcelin pit for a bathroom. We called them squatters and came to prefer them to the alternative. The last part of Day 1 was a climb up to camp 1, from another checkpoint. I nearly passed out on that climb as well and stumbled into camp 1, very discouraged and dizzy. At the camp, there were a couple of families living in their adobe huts with no glass in the windows and no indoor plumbing. The toilet was the 2nd variety we found along the trail, a toilet bowl with no seat. We hated them.<br /><br />Dinner was again a lot of food, and most of the group played cards for a bit before dinner. I slept. The trek was not turning out so good for me.Trigirl Shawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07712481139420828878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8435442800464385254.post-7701520492600535772011-01-12T10:17:00.000-08:002011-01-12T10:41:46.965-08:00Peru Trip #2Monday (12/20/2010) dawned with the promise of biking and hiking. Carlos the guide was late yet again, so we were late leaving for our downhill biking as we made our way to the town of Pisac and eventually to the town of Ollantaytambo. As we were going to start the Inca trail on Tuesday, we had to pack for the trail. This should have been a simple task, we were to be given porter bags for our clothes and sleeping bags and the total weight of what we could bring was to be no more than 8 kilos or 15 pounds. Well, getting that message to us proved to be very difficult and confusion reigned for more than an hour before we got all packed and ready. The porter bags were late, Carlos did not convey to us what it was that we were to do in a way that made sense to any of the 12 of us, so we basically unpacked, repacked, unpacked and repacked until we got it right. He kind of forgot to tell us about the weight limit and that the remainder of our stuff would stay in the hotel storage. Arrgghhh.<br /><br />Downhill biking from outside of Cusco was fine, I was able to fly down b/c it doesn't require effort. Still had a hard time breathing, but kept thinking I'd feel better any moment. We biked down to Pisac. In Pisac, we wandered around yet another open air market, with people selling the same stuff they did in Cusco. Carlos did get us into the back of a jewelry store to see how they make silver stuff, which was kind of neat, but kind of weird. We saw our first cooked cuy as well as some live ones in their little cages. Guess it makes sense to eat Guinea pigs, they are small, they don't eat much and multiply like crazy. Still, seeing a skinned and cooked one did not make we want to eat it.<br /><br />We waited until 2 pm before lunch was handed out, and then another 20 minutes before we got to eat it. We had breakfast at 7:30 am. Hunger is not something I expected on a guided trip. Our comfort level with Carlos the guide was fading fast. After lunch, some chicken-vegetable-potatoe mix, we hiked up to some ruins, the name escapes me. The hike was harder than it should have been, and again, I should have been paying my lack of breathing a bit more mind, but I thought it would all be ok. So, I was the last person up to the ruins, and gasping for breathe and dizzy. Oh well. The ruins were impressive, the terraces for crops, the buildings were all still standing and in good shape. Amazing that people who could build such things did not have a written lanuage!<br /><br />We toured the ruins and then hiked downhill back to the bus, much easier for me downhill. We then continued for about 2 hours to Ollaytaytambo, where most people stay before starting the Inca trail. As we drove, it started raining. Not a good sign. The town was ok, our hostal (which is really a small hotel) was clean, but sparse and we walked around the town a bit before having our dinner at an italianish restaurant next to our hostal. The food, well, I got pesto pasta and have never seen such pesto, and not in a good way. Lots and lots of it, and it was not paste-like, but sauce like. Not the worst thing to eat, but not the best.<br /><br />Our porter bags could not go with us on the bus, because it was too small. They finally arrived at 9pm, when we were all ready for bed. Again, the group was kind of becoming leery of the professionalism of the trip.Trigirl Shawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07712481139420828878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8435442800464385254.post-9371985396120264432011-01-05T08:12:00.000-08:002011-01-05T08:48:00.165-08:00Christmas vacation 2010-Peru Part 1As it turns out, Martina Navratilova and I have more in common than the obvious (you know, my stellar tennis skills!). But, more on that later. Peru, well....it was an interesting trip and to really bore you, I'll write about it in a number of posts. <br /><br />Leaving Richmond was not an issue, except that Shelley didn't get the message that we were having pre-trip massages and arrived at our house to drive us to the airport early and then nearly drove off with out us! All our flights were good, and the flight from Atlanta to Lima was not too bad. We arrived in Lima around 1 am and then had to wait until 4:30ish for our flight to Cusco. The airport is nice enough to have benches that one can sleep on, so we dozed after trying our first Spanish food ordering. Karen got ice cream, which ended up being a cookie tube with some ice cream inside for 7 soles. I got a cappacino. We napped until our flight and then off to Cusco.<br /><br />Cusco at 8am was interesting, got a taxi ride to Hotel Prisma and discovered the crazy driving in Peru. Lanes are wherever and horns are the means of communication. The drive through Cusco was informative, and I can best describe Cusco as old, but still unfinished. Many, many buildings are not complete, with pillars and rebar sticking up on the top floor as if the next floor is under construction, but of course it is not. Dilapidated adobe brick buildings set next to new sort of shiny buildings. Roads both paved and not. Very chaotic and unorganized looking.<br /><br />After checking in and sipping our first cup of cocoa tea, we set out for some breakfast at Jack's. More cocoa tea, and a satisfying breakfast in our belly's we wandered out into Cusco. Wow, we were not expecting to be so accosted by Peruvians selling all manner of trinkets, paintings, sweaters, scarves, carved gourds, etc. We made the mistake of looking at Pepe's paintings and then were swarmed by a lady selling sweaters, another guy selling paintings and two girls with baby lambs or llamas who thrust the baby animal into Karen's arms and tried to get us to take a photo, which they would then demand money for. Thankfully, a policeman scooted them all away. We eventually learned to keep walking and say No gracias or No quiero very firmly. Peru is for sale people, one trinket at a time.<br /><br />We did small stints out into Peru the first day, walking around for a bit and then napping in the hotel. We walked around a good deal, venturing up the hill to the artist area where we were again accosted by people selling themselves for photos...this time two old ladies and a grown llama. I made Karen take their picture and pay them....Ha. Everything is negoitiable, and we also learned to low ball the price of what we would buy. We had dinner at Green's Organics which was very good. Of course we got there at 6 and while they were open, we were the only diners for most of the meal! Crashing for the night by 9 pm, we both slept a bit fitfully and I awoke with a killer headache. Should have begun to pay attention at this point!Trigirl Shawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07712481139420828878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8435442800464385254.post-58345274368047075832010-08-13T10:55:00.000-07:002010-08-13T11:03:53.598-07:008/13/2010Ahhh, taper. The sweetest word. Only wondering when that may begin! MyKaren, as well as Lynn, Sharon, Rick E., Molly and Jill all went to Morgantown WV to participate in the Mountaineer tris. Molly did the Olympic, Rick E did his own aqua-velo and the rest of us fools did the 1/2 IM distance. Gotta say that it was the best 1/2 IM I've had. I had a nutrition plan, and stuck to it like glue and was amazed at how much better I felt! The swim was in the foggy Monogahalia (sp?) River, sooo foggy no one could see the few bouys they had out, I swam very zig-zaggy as a result, but still had a good swim for the first time in my wetsuit since IM last year! The bike was going to the be scary part, but they had to change the course to a 2 loop deal at the last second due to recent chip and oil on the back part of the course. Climbed up and over Mount Morris 4 times total, but it wasn't steep so it wasn't bad. Bike course ended up being 2 miles longer....oh well. The run was along the Mon as they call it, nice and flat and most of it on cinder surface so it was not too hard on the old legs and feet. I posted my best 1/2 marathon time in an 1/2 IM ever. Stunned to say the least, but very happy. I actually broke 7 hours! Barely, but I was thinking I would not be able to do that ever.<br /><br />So, "taper" week means only one workout a day, but still a 4 hour ride tomorrow, and a 3600 meter swim, and a 1.5 hour run. Some taper.Trigirl Shawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07712481139420828878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8435442800464385254.post-30598959581846991322010-07-30T11:23:00.000-07:002010-07-30T11:30:59.524-07:00July 30, 2010Gosh, IM Canada is about a month off, and I've been too lazy to write anything. Of course, nothing has really happened that was worth recording. So, I thought I'd just do a little update on my attempt to do a race each month....7 months, 7 races so far:<br />January - Swinging Bridge 35K-trail<br />February - a 10K trail race in Pocahontas (small race, cannot remember the name)<br />March - Shamrock 1/2 Marathon<br />April - Crossover 15 K<br />May - Run Like A Girl 8K-trail<br />June - Corporate 4 miler<br />July - the 3 Cul-de-sac 5Ks<br /><br />Of course, August is the big one, plus the Mountaineer 1/2 IM distance. I also did the Chris Green 2 Mile Cable Swim and got swum over worse than any IM event by the crazy fast swimmers. Plus, I did most of the Mountains of Misery 100 miler (well, around 72 miles of it) that was hard.<br /><br />So, training has been good, ProK is a great coach, and I am very happy with the switch. As for my thoughts on the race, well who the heck knows! It will be a long day. I certainly get more race experience for the entry fee than most! <br /><br />After Canada, who knows, but I need a race a month to accomplish this little task I've set myself up for! For sure there will a race report.Trigirl Shawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07712481139420828878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8435442800464385254.post-55273108282847187852010-03-05T08:18:00.000-08:002010-03-05T08:24:53.680-08:00March 5, 2010Gosh, getting sick has really taken me back in fitness. Not that I was all that fit to begin with, given the off season, but I am really struggling with everything now. Finally got back in the pool last week, and after 200 meters, my arms were dead tired. Sad. Running is sslloowww, and I mean slow. I swear I am barely shuffling along now. I had a 10k race last weekend, and I ran my version of hard for 5 miles, then fell apart....my time was 1:06....not a stellar time at all. Sure it was at Pocahontas but really? I cannot seem to get my lungs or legs to work. I am pretty discouraged.<br /><br />On Sunday, I ran a little over 10.5 miles, took me forever, and I felt tired the whole time. I am running the Shamrock 1/2 and then the C'ville full, and pretty much feel like both are going to be awful slogs. Certainly not any PR,unless one can PR in the worst way. Ha! Oh well, I guess I'll just have to suck it up and do the best I can, even if my best keeps getting worse. Whine. Whine. I just wish I could improve in something. Maybe I will, it is after all, only March!Trigirl Shawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07712481139420828878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8435442800464385254.post-22211087112738182082010-02-17T11:37:00.000-08:002010-02-17T11:44:08.572-08:00Snow, Drunk, SickWell, its been a bit since I last wrote. In that time, there's been more snow, I got really drunk, and then I got sick. Not necessarily in that order, oh wait, yes in that order! A couple of Saturday's ago, MyK and I went to a movie with some friends. Sounds fairly tame, right? Wrong. After the movie, came dinner, with drinks, and then someone got the crazy idea to go to a bar. And, I for once, said OK. As far as I can remember, I had a Cosmo, several glasses of wine, a couple of beers, and at least 4 shots. I may have been able to drink that much in my heyday, but not now. I was toast. I danced. I think we got home around 2 am, and when I stumbled out of bed at 8, I was still drunk. Needless to say, I didn't run that day, nor have I really run since. It took me two days to feel even half-way normal, and then I got this stupid cold thing that has put me on my butt. 9 days later, I am still coughing my lungs out, and my nose is all red and sore from blowing and wiping. Fun times. Meanwhile, the snow has come again, and again. Kind of neat, since we don't get much snow here in the south, but kind of ready for green lawns.Trigirl Shawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07712481139420828878noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8435442800464385254.post-74145224557056087932010-01-30T09:50:00.000-08:002010-01-30T10:02:12.957-08:001/30/2010Snowing, snowing, snowing. Great googly moogly....the weather people have been correct 2 times this winter! Its a miracle! Ok, even though I have decided NOT to do the 50 K, I somehow still found myself out in the beautiful snow....as it fell....with wind....for over 3 hours, running, already today, and it is not yet 1pm. MyKaren, BeB,Twila, and Jenny met at Reedy Creek for a little run as the snow fell this morning, and we were not the only crazies out. I ran a little over 3 hours, MyK and BeB ran close to 4. It was nice, and pretty, and cold, and windy and wet, and hard. We ran east on the fire road to Belle Island, the Lost trail, the fire road, up around the top of Belle Island, the canal walk to its end, over the Mayo Bridge, the floodwall, and the fire road back. Crossing the river was freakin cold, my right ear was completely frozen! Running as it snows is nice, but very cold. I kept getting ice crystals on my eyelashes, across the front of my legs and chest, and my whole head was white. The ice crystals on my eyelashes actually began to impact my vision, so I had to clear them away, which made my fingers cold. Oh, well what the heck do I think will happen when one runs in the snow?<br /><br />I think in the hours that we ran, it snowed about 4 inches. It's defintely coming down pretty hard. Good thing we have enough milk, eggs, and toilet paper!Trigirl Shawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07712481139420828878noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8435442800464385254.post-85762341691043273462010-01-25T13:06:00.000-08:002010-01-25T13:16:51.320-08:001/25/2010So, winter training is coming to a close this week at the new place. Not sure if I feel ready for real training to begin, but don't feel completely out of shape either. Next week will bring a new training regime and group to train with, and I am looking forward to it...at least for now. I can't even fathom IM training right now, 2 hours on the bike seems long as does an hour of swim lessons, but at least I've run some long runs. <br /><br />I am considering, not sure how seriously, doing or attempting, the Holiday Lake 50K, but I have not yet signed up. I am not sure how this happens, but I keep signing up for things I had no intent on trying...first half IM, then IM, and now, perhaps the 50 K. What is going on! I think I have just lost my freakin mind.<br /><br />Somehow, unless something physically prevents me, I see myself on the start line, in the dark, with other crazy people, attempting to run further than I have ever run, on a trail or otherwise in mid-February. Or, maybe not.Trigirl Shawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07712481139420828878noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8435442800464385254.post-64906753825701166712010-01-20T15:34:00.000-08:002010-01-20T15:51:19.393-08:00Swinging Bridge 35K ReportSo, after the crappy weather training for the 35K, the day dawned beautiful, not hot, not too cold, not raining! ProK, MyK and our dogs all drove to the wonderful cabin at Bear Creek on Friday afternoon, and we relaxed and cooked my favorite pre-race meal as we waited for the remainder of the race crew and family members to arrive. They did so, but we had eaten already and we fed them the ground beef/feta/mushroom/pasta dish that I love to eat pre-race, along with salad and garlic bread. The gang numbered 8 adults, 2 kids and 4 dogs. Thankfully, we were in 2 cabins so it wasn't crowded.<br /><br />Trail races are very low key deals, sort of milling around, a few announcements about flagging and markings to look for to stay on the trail and then off we went. Running nearly 22 miles on trails takes some time...for me quite a bit of time, but it was a nice run nevertheless! I pretty much ran with Jill and Lynn, and was a bit surprised that the first aid station took us over an hour and a half to reach, we thought it was at mile 5, but it was more like mile 6. Shortly after the aid station, the front runners started showing up...Tyler was running 3rd overall, and Bryan looked strong. I was also surprised when ProK sped by, close on the heels of the front women, running 3rd at about mile 14 or so. On and on we ran, and finally reached the turn-around point, with some people who manned the aid station, they were very nice. The food was not quite IM standards, but still, with M&Ms, pretzels, coke, and animal crackers, it was better than most! I Gued my ass off, taking and eating all 5 of them that I brought with me. As we approached the last few miles, my freakin back started seizing up, and it was hard to run. I had hoped to finish in 5 hours, but didn't quite make that goal. MyKaren ran back up the trail and met me with a little less than a mile to go. I struggled to the finish, in 5:11. I was tired, but other than my back, I was not as beat up as I normally am after a long run like that.<br /><br />Turns out its good to be old...I came in 1st in my 50-54 age group, of course there were only 2 of us. ProK came in 2nd, as did Tyler. MyKaren came in 4th of the women, and I am very proud of her!<br /><br />Next up? I think its the Shamrock 1/2.Trigirl Shawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07712481139420828878noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8435442800464385254.post-56954793810480844632010-01-11T06:28:00.000-08:002010-01-11T06:46:25.686-08:001/11/2010Cold. Cold. Cold. That pretty much sums up this year so far! We had a wonderful New Year extravaganza with some crazy friends at the beach in NC! We got a road ride in on roads and areas of the Outer Banks that I had never visited, and also got a New Year's Day trail run (yes, a trail run on hilly terrain at the beach--who knew?). We also had some spirits, food and Wii competitions, and great company!<br /><br />Since we are "training" for the Swinging Bridge 35K, MyK and I left on Saturday so we could run long on Sunday. The weather turned cold, and windy, which made it very cold. Sunday morning, it was 19 when we left our house for a 3+ hour run. MyK, ProK, Lynn, Sharon, BryanD, Jill and I braved the cold and actually showed up and ran. We made it about 3 1/2 hours. Running in the woods wasn't bad, the wind was cut enough to where it was cold, but not uncomfortable. Then we crossed the Nickle Bridge (Boulevard Bridge) and the wind screaming downstream across that bridge was freakin COLD. I actually got an ice cream headache from the wind freezing my sweaty head, and one side of our nostrils got frozen shut. Good stuff. The bad part was knowing we had to cross back under the Lee Bridge. The trip back was just as cold, the only difference was that the opposite side of our heads and nose got frozen. It was all OK, when we were done and eating breakfast with hot coffee!<br /><br />My off season training continues to kick my butt, Mondays and Thursdays are especially hard, as I have 3 training things those days. Swimming is back so Monday I swim in the morning and then have spinning and weights in the evening. Thursdays is an am run, with the spin and weights in the evening. I am struggling with trying to get my training schedule figured out so that the sessions are evenly distrubuted. Its a work in progress. So, Tuesday is track, and ProK decides we will meet indoors. Sounds good, right? Wrong. Running the stairs at UR Robins Center is not easy. I almost puked or passed out, perhaps it was both. Can't wait for tomorrow....<br /><br />This weekends run was a taper one, but just as cold. There were a bunch of us, along with the usual suspects, we some newbies. Somehow the run became quite an adventure, including some rock/cliff climbing and off trail explorations. Good stuff and it was fun to branch out a bit. Most ran about 2 hours, I only got in 1 1/2 but felt that was what I could do on that day. Next weekend is the 35K. I am worried about making the 5 hour cut-off. Oh, well, if I do, great. If I don't, I'll be fine. Right?Trigirl Shawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07712481139420828878noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8435442800464385254.post-27562426807389296882009-12-31T07:12:00.000-08:002009-12-31T07:26:32.939-08:0012/31/2009Well, the last post of 2009! The year has been busy with a race nearly every month, beginning with the New Year's Day 10K and ending with the Bear Creek 10 miler in early December. In between, I did a 5K (Forest Hill 5k); the Monument Avenue 10K, the Capitol 10 miler, Kinetic 1/2 IM, IM USA, VentureQuest, and Turkey Trot 10K. Of all the races, the Capitol 10 miler was probably the hardest, because I went into it thinking I did not have to train...I was wrong and paid for it with sore legs for a week. IMUSA was great, even though my bike time was terrible, I still finished in under 16 hours. All in all, it was a hard year with all the riding in the Blue Ridge Mountains in some pretty interesting weather, rain (sometimes torrential downpour, hail, winds, bears (well, only once bear cub). I also really enjoyed the LP torturefest in May, some hard riding in cold windy and rainy conditions, with a long run thrown in to boot. The eating and drinking that followed the training with fun people made torturefest a great trip. <br /><br />I am thankful for the ability to do all the races, and training, with only minor mishaps, like the endo I did on Buttermilk where I thought I'd broken my wrist. Fun times. Otherwise, I was pretty much mishap free! That's a good thing! <br /><br />I am hoping that 2010 will be a good one as well, and maybe I can complete IM Canada with a better time than Placid. Happy New Year to everyone and may 2010 be the best year yet!Trigirl Shawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07712481139420828878noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8435442800464385254.post-90233727063069428222009-12-25T19:03:00.000-08:002009-12-25T19:20:17.359-08:0012/25/2009Merry Christmas. Here I sit, on my couch watching cheesy Christmas movies and writing this on my new laptop that MyKaren got me! So, we enjoyed the snow, which fell last weekend and we actually had a white christmas, if the leftover snow counts. Anyhoo, it was nice to have snow so early that MyKaren, Lynn, Molly and I decided to go for a nice snowy trail run last Sunday. After the rainy run the weekend before, running on snowy trails sounded like it would be fun. <br /><br />I had no idea what to expect, I was thinking it would be a bit harder than normal, but had no idea just how hard it could be. The trail had been walked and run on, so there was a narrow sort of beaten down path to follow. First it was not bad, as we ran on the Buttermilk west and onto to the Boulevard bridge. It was sloppy, but crunchy. We got to the bridge, and it was closed to cars, which I have never seen. The only auto on the bridge was a crazy duo in a pickup that was racing up and back to "plow" the bridge. We ran on the bridge itself, since the sidewalk was unpassible, and as we got to the south end, the plow truck came roaring back and started to fishtail. I thought we were going to watch it go over the edge, but of course it didn't.<br /><br />The north trail was waaay sloppier than Buttermilk which made it harder to navigate. We slipped and slid our way on the trail, Lynn stepped thigh deep into a drift but no one fell. It wore me out big time since no step was firm and sloppy. We ran one loop and it took 30 minutes more than normal and I was dead tired. Afterwards, tired and cold, we went for hot chocolate at Crossroads and then home to collapse. This trail running is hard!Trigirl Shawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07712481139420828878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8435442800464385254.post-27034310981092960992009-12-17T06:48:00.000-08:002009-12-17T07:01:52.059-08:00Weekend Training When RaininaNow that enough time has passed since the training whilst raining debacle of Sunday, I am now prepared to report on that event. Kidding, it wasn't traumatic, well, not really. ProKaren, MyKaren and I all went shopping on Saturday in NoVa with our winning gift certificates from the VentureQuest race in the fall. We managed to spend our prizes and got some socks, gloves, and other cold weather stuff. The only hitch of the day was the lunch at a Spanish/Mexican place, where PK and I got the same spinach-mushroom quesadella. I thought it tasted a bit off, but not off enough to scare me. As it turned out, we both felt kind of gastro rumbly that night, so I was a little scared of our scheduled run on Sunday.<br /><br />Sunday dawned...rainy. We bucked up and took off for Pocahontas anyway, planning on running around 3 hours. As we started the run, it was cold, and drizzly. After a bit, the drizzle turned to sprinkles, and thence to rain, followed by the final downpour. PK and I both were not feeling great in the gastro department, but we persevered and kept running. We pretty much stuck to the Old Mill bike trail and then Fendley Station which are not easy but at least are not single-track.<br /><br />As we slogged on, and of course pretty far from the start, I began to notice that I may need to go to the bathroom. Then, the need became quite significant. I didn't want to have a double-glove moment in the woods, but I was becoming concerned. At this point we were by the campground on the single-track, but of course the bathrooms were all locked....With no options I had to do as a bear does in the woods...in the cold pouring, pouring rain. Not my favorite moment, but thankfully there was no one around at all to witness it.<br /><br />Always bring tp. You never know.Trigirl Shawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07712481139420828878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8435442800464385254.post-54327163781710116652009-12-08T08:53:00.000-08:002009-12-08T09:12:06.450-08:00Bear Creek 10 mile race reportOh, the beauty of the woods, the trees, the slight dusting of snow, the gurgle of the creeks and streams....the sound of stomping feet, the mud, crossing the gushing creeks, and the swamp. Bear Creek once again outdid itself as an off-road adventure. It snowed pretty much all day Saturday as we drove to the state park and our cozy cabin. Not that it stuck much on the roads, but it did look very pretty and dusted the ground very nicely. Our group this year was 6 racers, 5 dogs, 4 non-racers (one being Wolverine) in 2 cabins. Staying at the cabins and eating/drinking with friends is the real fun of Bear Creek 10 miler...well, the run is fun as well!<br /><br />We had a fabulous dinner on Saturday, some beers, some puzzling and then an early bedtime. It was cold on Sunday, pretty darn cold, but sunny. We all bundled up and drove to the race start with just enough time to pee one last time. Then with little fanfare, we were off.<br /><br />The trail was almost immediately slippery and muddy, that should have clued us in as to the conditions when the real trails begin. For the first several stream crossings, I foolishly tried to find ways across to keep my feet dry, making one good crossing decision, but then one bad one which cost me several minutes. I pretty much ran by myself, for the first part, then the gaggle of gals caught up to me as I knew they would. I don't care how many times I run this race, the way out (first 5 miles) always seems to take forever! We finally got the last 2 mile section before the turn-around and were passed by the front runners, who at this point were 4 miles ahead of us...not sure how they run that fast. Tyler was smiling and in 3rd, and told us to enjoy the swamp. We quickly found out what he meant, as the next mile was slogging through some pretty serious mud. I finally gave up on trying to keep my feet dry, when I stepped mid-calf deep into the mud crossing a small creek. At the turn, I took a gu, and set off just a minute or so ahead of Sharon and Lynn, with Jill right behind me. Karen was about 2-2 1/2 miles ahead at this point on the way to a PR of 1:51.<br /><br />I tried to pick up the pace a bit on the way back and managed to pass a couple of people as I went. Slogging through the mud and splashing through the creeks made the return trip a negative split, but my overall time was 7 minutes slower than last year, which was slower than the year before, etc. I finished and was glad for it, the girls were minutes behind and everyone looked happy. Somehow this race convinced Lynn and Jill to sign up for the 35 K in Janaury. Somehow I was convinced that I, too, could do the race. So I am now signed up to run 21.7ish miles in the dead of winter....what the heck am I thinking?Trigirl Shawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07712481139420828878noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8435442800464385254.post-50382125553269410212009-12-01T09:19:00.000-08:002009-12-01T09:28:05.412-08:00Trail running, etc.So, I've been running my longer runs off-road on the weekends as well as doing some mountain biking which has reminded me how much I love off-road stuff. I love the smell of the fallen leaves, the quiet of the woods, even in the city, the songs of the birds, the rustle of the squirrels, chipmonks, etc. I love the solitude of trail running. I was running on Saturday morning, along Buttermilk and Belle Island, and I was completely alone, and it was great! I did not see a single person for the majority of that loop. The weather was a little crisp and the river was a little high, so it was roaring along in the background, but I didn't hear a human voice or even cars or planes. As I huffed and puffed up and down hills, all I could hear were my footsteps and breathing. I think that is a pretty darn cool thing about Richmond, I was running in the City, but in the woods and by myself!<br /><br />I'll be running the Bear Creek 10 miler this coming weekend, which has continued to kick my butt for several years, and I am not getting any faster, but I love the race because it is in the woods. Last year it snowed the night before, so the run was through the quiet snow and that was great! I hope to continue to trail run and mountain bike through early next year, and I encourage everyone to get some trail time!Trigirl Shawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07712481139420828878noreply@blogger.com0