Xterra Portland, Hagg Lake

I have been racing hard now for 6 months, first with the xc mountain bike series and now Xterra.  My body is feeling fatigue and mentally, I think if is tough to continue on at the pace that I have been going.  We've been venturing to different races at least 2 out of every 4 weekends of each of the last 6 months and sometimes even more.
This week, I got clear about what it means to be a stay at home parent. The light went on for me this week as I was feeling overwhelmed, like I was failing at most everything in my life and unsure at how to remedy it all.  I realized that don't give myself credit for what I, and other stay at home parents do.  I absolutely LOVE being home with my kids, tending to our home and preparing yummy food, but what I realized this week is that I have not even been acknowledging my duties at home as "effort".  Yet those duties are the bulk of my every day.  Instead, I pile on part-time jobs, volunteer activities, training schedules and a pretty extensive travel schedule and when I get overwhelmed I wonder why? 

People ask me all the time how I do what I do.  I've responded by saying that I  can do all of this because I don't work and am home with my kids. But I DO work, and I work hard.  My kids are with me all day, every day this summer.  I do all the bill-paying and book-keeping for our personal finances as well as Trevor's Stone work business, AND I have worked full days on Wednesdays for a local Organic Farm WITH my kids in tow.  Some days flow so well,  and I succeed in fitting in a work-out and something productive around the house.  Many other days my daily plan is diverted or delayed, and like today after spending the afternoon in urgent care with Keller after he crashed on his bike, I get nothing done at all.

Having come clean with myself and the expectations I put on myself, I was overcome with a sense of relief.  I barely trained at all last week, allowed myself to sleep in, missed a couple of swim workouts and put NO expectations on myself for my race performance.  At this point, I had already qualified for both the Xterra National race and the Xterra World's so not only did I not NEED to compete in Portland, I didn't have to expect myself to do very well. 

Keller's 9th  birthday was Friday, which meant party mode!  Breakfast in bed, friends at the pool and snow cones in the park.  So much fun to be had that race prep just had to wait.  We returned home from the pool near 5pm and I swear that I heard the basil in the fridge calling me to turn it into pesto.  It would be brown by the time we returned from our trip......so I just had to take care of that!  We had a lovely pesto pasta and sausage dinner and I froze the rest.  We packed the car fairly quickly, as we only were going 2 hours away and for one night.  We ended up not leaving home until nearly 8pm, and upon entering the Hagg Lake area drove past our camp spot and clear around the lake. Tired and irritable, we somehow managed to stay calm, re-trace our steps and finally arrived at our camp around 10:30pm.

After an incredibly restful nights sleep, I woke at 6 and ate my breakfast of  yogurt, granola and fresh fruit with Mat and Liz outside of our van.  From this point on, time sped up and I don't think that I was productive in any way at all except for the chit-chat.  So many friends and family to see and say hello to, but in doing so, neglected readying myself for the race.  At about 8am, Karen DeWolfe arrives and gasps about this 8:30 am start that we have.  WHAT???  8:30???  I have absolutely NO idea that the race started so soon.  I, having not taken the time to view the pre-race packet for details assumed the race started just like many of the others at 9.  Frantic, as I had yet to have my coffee, set up my transition area, put the number plate on my bike or warmed up at all.  I went into crazy Mel mode, spoke to no one,  chugged a delicious cup of coffee and rushed over to transition only to have forgotten my bike shoes and helmet.  UGH!  Well, I got a good warm up here, sprinting to the van for those things and getting back in time to join Lizzy in a 5 minute out and back on the bike. Just as we returned back, the race director was beginning the pre-race meeting.  The transition area was clear, except of course for myself, Liz, Karen and Mat.  We all looked at each other, struggling  to slather on the Glide and get into our wet- suits.  What are we doing???  Well, we made a fine example of what NOT to do, when preparing for a race.  I sprinted to the bathroom one last time and then down to the lake.  Frantic to get my wetsuit on and get the details of the race as the director yells 3 minutes till the start!  WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME????

Needless to say, the swim was pretty crazy.  My heart was racing from the start and my wetsuit felt restrictive around my arms and chest. I gulped a bunch of water, and the coffee in my gut wanted OUT.  I felt like throwing up and seriously contemplated quitting.  UGH!!  So disappointed for putting myself in this position yet again.  Having not managed my time well nor paid attention to the details of the race I set myself up for failure in the most difficult part of my race, the swim.  I pulled myself together for a bit and actually swam very well between the two buoy's, and the bulk of the distance.  Small steps, AGAIN, were able to get me to that shore and on to my bike, my happy place today.

My legs felt great and so did my bike!  I have been riding my full suspension 26in wheeled bike for the last few weeks, and getting back on my King Kahuna 29in hard tail felt amazing.  This bike is so fast and handles really well.  I was feeling in control around the corners and over the bumpy meadow sections, and was able to keep a really good pace.  The Hagg lake trail is really fun.  It is up and down and all around and did I mention Fast?  Some of the course markings were  lacking in some areas which left me at times confused about being off course and I even blew right through a turn. Lucky for me, Shane Kroth, the race director was in the right place at the right time and was able to get me back on course fairly quickly.  Phew!  I came back into transition feeling strong and received word that I was in 4th place.

trying to pick my way through that run

I left transition feeling strong, but was reminded just how hard I pushed it on the bike at the first climb.  I managed to keep my legs moving and was able to pass quite a few people.  I enjoyed the pavement section where you could see other runners ahead, and pushed myself a bit.  I think my track work-outs are paying off!  My new Saucony race shoes felt great until I came to the grassy, rutted, and off camber section.  Geez, this part was really hard.  It was slippery and difficult to gauge where to put my feet, and I twisted my ankles a couple of times.  The second lap was fun as I knew that I was nearly done.  I came into the finish and saw that my time was 2:21:35, six minutes faster than last year! 

Xterra friends are fun.  Another race, another memory and we grow closer!

Liz, Mel, Karen and Shelley.  The ladies of Team Dirt

Although I had myself a tough swim, the rest of the race felt great and I improved my time on both the bike and the run.  I MUST get myself a swim coach if I want to do well at Nationals and World's.  We'll see where I get with that one.....

The rest of the day was filled with fun in the sun with friends and family by the lake.  Corvallis had quite a showing,  with Karen, Liz and myself all finishing in the Top 5 overall!

Keller experiences Coke in a bottle for his 1st time!  Thanks to Mat :)

We have a few weeks off!  I look forward to some mellow camping at our favorite spot, Waldo Lake :)

Its a happy day!

Xterra #3 Black Diamond Washington

One thing that we have learned from chasing races all of these months is to be open to change.  We always make a plan of departure, with a general idea of what our time spent away might look like, but more often than not, things come up and our plan requires adjusting.  Being open to change, and frequent check-ins between Trevor and I are necessary to keep the stress level down and to ensure that our trips, however they turn out, are fun for everyone.

This weekend was one of those times where our initial plan was entirely thrown out, and we all just went with the flow.  In doing so,  we were relaxed, free, and had experiences that we otherwise would not have had.

For various reasons, we decided to wait until Saturday to leave, and ended up not leaving Corvallis until about noon.  A very large traffic jam in Seattle resulted in our arrival at the lake to be after 7pm.  Ordinarily, I would pre-ride the bike course and take a swim in the lake, but being that it was so late, I declined Trevors offer to do so, and instead insisted that he get out and ride and come back to tell me all about it.  The kids and I hung out at the lake, ate dinner and attempted to fish a bit.  The boys had fun seeing Toby, the race director's 2 boys that they had met weeks before on Vashon.  Toby and his crew were busily tending to the last few preparations for the race Sunday morning but were so gracious in welcoming us. Lake Sawyer park is not open to camping and this rule was strictly enforced even with the 9am race start. We had planned to stay with Mat up in Sammamish, which was another 45 minutes away, but with it being so late, and knowing that we had to turn back around so early in the morning, we were reluctant to get back in the van.  Not a problem here apparently, because in no time both Toby and Patti were quick to offer space to park our van at their place for the night.  Ahh, what a relief. It was well past 10pm before we arrived at Patti and Bills "campground on the sport court."  There were already quite a few racers there, so we quietly pulled in and went right to sleep.

I slept really well despite the mosquitoes that were buzzing around all night keeping Trevor awake :)  The alarm sounded at 6am and I enjoyed a bowl of Nancy's Yogurt with granola, walnuts and raisins on the sport court.  The others athletes were awake as well, and we all exchanged "good-mornings!" 

We woke the kids, packed up the van and were at the race site by 7.  The parking area was nearly full, but we squeezed in only to get a spot right next to Mat and Rob Jackson from Portland.  It was great to see Taylor Seavey and his parents there as well.  The kids were so excited about their first kids triathlon of the season and were anxious to set up their transition.  Between making their breakfast, us coffee and the chit-chat that comes with the race scene, I again found myself behind schedule with not much time to warm up.  Mat asked if I wanted to bike a bit, but upon seeing me filling water bottles and my transition bag he rescinded the offer.  "You have not even set up transition yet?"  I got myself together pretty quickly, found a great spot in the transition area and took off for a 10 minute warm up ride. By the time I returned the announcer was alerting all athletes to the pre-race meeting.  It was getting really hot, and I was already sticky and dripping with sweat.  Most people were wearing their wetsuits already, but Mat convinces me to go without one.

One last trip to the bathroom before heading down to the lake and I see that Karen DeWolfe is here!  So surprised that she made it, and super excited as I knew that she would love this course.  This girl is one incredible athlete, and today Corvallis would definitely represent! 

The only on wearing a blue swimcap!  Alleck said it was really easy to spot me :)

The swim started out a bit rough and I actually was punched in the goggles.  This hurts just as much as it sounds like it would, but the pain did not last too long.  I remained calm, and just tried to find my own space.  I felt good the entire swim, and was really happy that I did not wear a wetsuit.  The water was so comfortable, and my arms and shoulders felt free.  I swam along side the same group of people the whole time, and although I felt good about this, seeing my swim time at the end has me thinking that I was being too conservative.  I was swimming very calm, and took note of how great it felt......maybe an indication that I could go a bit harder?"  My swim time was 1:15 faster than last year, and I took 45 seconds off of my transition by not having my wetsuit to take off.  Not exactly the results I was looking for, but I'll take it.

I felt great as I got on the bike, and noticed right away that my legs felt strong.  I tried to hammer the road climb as best as I could to get to the trail before all those in front of me.  Still, the first 1/3 of the first lap was REALLY backed up and slow.  The trail was very rocky with tight corners, and once those riders in front of me tired of the rocks the trail opened up and I rode most of the remaining bike leg alone. I was happy that I chose to ride my full suspension, as it made for a much smoother ride.  Although I had a great time, I noticed a few times how mellow I felt, all alone in the silence of the forest.  I had to remind myself that I was racing after all and tried to pick it up a little bit. I came across the river for the second time and was told that I was in 3rd place.  I knew Karen was out there and that there would be no way I could catch her.  I had no idea who the other woman was, but I was comfortable in third.  Next weekend is Portland Xterra and I really want to do well there.  I chose to stay steady, calm and just maintain my position.  No one was telling me that anyone was close, so I assumed that I was pretty far behind.  I stayed hydrated with Hammer Heed in my Veleau hydration system and managed to eat my entire flask of Hammer gel which helped me with the 90 degree heat. 

Trevor gives Alleck a pep talk

That's Keller!  What great form :)

He's ready to kick hard!

Alleck finishes with a smile!

Keller totally rocked it!

I came into the transition to my kids cheering loudly.  They were all smiles as we exchanged words on how the kids race went.  They held the kids race during the my event,  which was a bummer to miss it.  Luckily Trevor captured the excitement with photos and video, and I heard blow by blow from each of the boys on the ride home.  They absolutely loved it!

I headed out of transition and my legs felt awesome!  The more I do these triathlons the less my legs argue with me about running after a bike ride.  It seemed like I was running faster than I wanted too, but it felt so good I just continued on.  Along with me came a 16year old named Ethan that would run with me for most of this leg.  We both agreed that it was way more fun to be with someone so we stuck together.... that was until I spotted Jo Markham making her way around second lap.  I  was happy to see her and yelled a "hello!"  She was having a difficult run and says to me that I will probably catch her.  It took Ethan and I about 5 minutes to make it around the upper loop and as we came through the lap point I said to him, "lets see how close we can get to Jo." At this point there was a carrot for me to chase and this brought an element of fun to the race that before had been lacking.  I really  did not see too many women out there on the course.  My legs continued to feel good, and I made sure to stay cool by dumping a cup of water over my head at every aid station.  This is a little trick I learned from my friend John Klish and it really works!  I never felt too hot or dehydrated.  After coming down the lower loop and onto the road I spot Jo up ahead.  Although I lost Ethan in my quest, I did find Jo!  I had a silent celebration with myself and figured I would just come upon her quietly.  Just then she turns around and sees me.  She stopped at the aid station to drink and I give her a holler.  "c'mon Jo, lets go!"  I headed up the last loop with a little more pep in my step and finished strong in 2nd place.

Raising the Bar really puts on a top notch event, with a vendor area that offered plenty of post race food and drink and lots of friendly people.  The location was ideal in offering shade for the athletes to gather.  We hung out for most of the afternoon swimming, fishing and recapping our day while Matt Betts and Trevor went out and enjoyed the trails.  They arrived back with all smiles and one flat tire! 

The ride home was filled with laughs and reggae music.  We were eager to get home so we drove straight through, stopping to pick up a pizza once we arrived in Corvallis.  We all gathered on the couch to watch the Olympics and enjoy our 10 o'clock dinner.

Keller races with fire. 

We head to Portland tomorrow for the 4th regional Xterra event, and then look forward to a few weeks off.

Life is good.

The adventure to and from LaGrande with a race in between

                                                               The Adventure
We left Corvallis just in time to catch the prime Friday five o'clock traffic in Portland.  I-5 came to a stand still just before we got to I-205, so we quickly changed course and got on I-205.  Moments after my sigh of relief that we managed to get out of that mess, we found ourselves in the same exact position on this freeway.  Hot, tired and hungry, the kids began to complain about  this and that, but really they were just plain hungry.  It was about 6pm, and we had been in the car for 2 hours, but traveled only about 70 miles. 

We barely made it over the 3 lanes of stopped traffic to the exit, but figured we should stop for dinner and wait out the traffic.  A large church parking lot off the freeway offered a pleasant dinner stop complete with a tree for shade, a curb for sitting on while we cooked our dinner, and a big open space for a few games of hide and go seek.  By the time we got back on the freeway, the traffic had lightened up and we continued on. 

Although our plan was to get all the way to Echo, Oregon, just an hour away from LaGrande, we decided to stop in Hood River for the night and save the bulk of the drive for the morning when we could enjoy the beauty of the Gorge.  This also gave us the opportunity to stay at the Tucker Park Campground along the Hood River.  The campground was full of bikers, wind-surfers and kite boarders who all came to Hood River to enjoy the outdoors so we felt right at home. We picked our spot right next to a gigantic rock where the kids challenged each other and themselves to find the fastest route up and down.  Trevor and I enjoyed a beer while timing their climbs on the stopwatch. It was fun to walk around the campground and pick out the "choice" sites right along the river.  Next time, we'll know to get there just a little bit earlier!

Mike's Ice Cream shop in Hood River.  YUM!

Beautiful Hood River

The drive along the Gorge is amazing.  Windsurfers and kite-boarders, cliffs and rock formations.  We listened to old time fiddle music while we made our way to Morgan Lake in LaGrande where the race would be held.

Trevor's folks and our 2 nieces drove from Missouri to visit us for 10 days.  They timed the drive so they could meet us in LaGrande and see the race.  This was pretty exciting for us all, as we had not seen the girls in a few years and they had never before seen a triathlon race.

I did not sleep one minute the night before the race.  I managed to stay calm, and rest my body although my mind just raced about this and that.  Nonsense really, but I just could not shut it off.  No time to fret about a lack of sleep, I clumsily readied myself and tried to appear cheerful to everyone around that was anxiously watching my preparation.

                                                                      The Race

The horn sounded and we were off.  I positioned myself on the right, but made sure there were people on both sides of me.  I felt great at first, had my own space and really don't think that I was knocked into by anyone.... that is until I decided to stop and look around a bit about 300meters out.  Once I broke my rhythm it was hard to get it back.  That little voice inside my head kept telling my to lift my head to make sure I was on track.  After rounding the last buoy I knew I was headed home and forced myself to keep my head down.  It helped that I was swimming next to a guy who was about my pace.  We swam the entire 600 meters or so together which helped me remain confident that we were on course.  I figured that I had a lot of catching up to do, but when I hopped on my bike, my legs just did not feel that great.  Not sure if it was due to the elevation, the fact that I was due to start my period, or the lack of sleep the night before.  Regardless, I gave it all I had but it did not feel too good.

I was surprised to find Lizzy at the base of the first major climb. We exchanged a few words and she asked me how my swim was.  "Apparently not that bad if I am here with you now."   I was happy to have caught up with her so soon, since she is such a strong swimmer.  This gave me a bit of confidence that maybe I was not too far behind the leaders.

The bike course was rough.  In 17 miles there was nearly 3000 feet of climbing, which on this day felt really hard.   The descents were steep, loose and very rocky.  I'm pretty sure I felt each and every rock and root and at times worked hard just to hold on the the handlebars and stay on my bike.  I wished that I had ridden my full suspension bike for this course, but had to deal with what I had.  I would get close to the women in front of me on the climbs, and then we would hit a big downhill portion and I would fall behind again. I could never quite get there. At one point as I climbed up to the top of the ridge, the sky opened up to me.  I knew that whatever was to my left was spectacular, as I was at 5500ft, but the trail was so rocky and rutted that I could not take my eyes off of it.  Finally, I could not ignore the temptation any longer and I guiltily took a quick peek.  It was absolutely incredible, as I shouted out WOW!  The LaGrande Valley, lush and green surrounded by mountain peaks. Although I only caught a glimpse of this view, the excitement fueled me for a while. When I came bouncing down the meadow and nearly bounced right off my bike, I told myself over and over to be light on my bike and hang on, advice I gleaned from pro-rider Adam Craig's write up in a magazine. Soon enough, that part was over and as I came back down to the lake Trevor was there to tell me that I was in 4th place.

The run course was equally as difficult as the bike. For some reason the course was changed from last year and sent us down this steep gravel road only to have to turn right back around and climb back up. This goes against my trail running philosophy of not ever doing out and backs, but rather loops.  How boring!  But, I bit my tongue, kept my legs moving and took this opportunity to eat a Hammer gel Tropical with caffeine.  I remember reading once in a friends blog that she loves the caffeine gel's late in a race and I needed something to get me through this one.  It was getting hot, was really dry and my legs still just did not seem to be moving so well.

Having so many people on the course I knew was a huge pick-me-up.  Mat's parents were both out there, Trevor and the kids, Lizzy's friend Sarah and my in-laws.  I would be feeling pretty low and tired and then I would hear one of them cheer for me and I began to feel strong again.
I worked hard to catch the women in front of me to take over the 3rd place spot.  As I was on my 2nd lap around the lake,Trevor rode along side me on his mountain bike.  I was so fatigued that I said nothing until I blurted out, "where is she?"  He thought that I was asking about the girl in front of me, and said "not far at all."  I responded, "oh shit" because I was wanting to know if I was being chased.  I really did not want to get caught on the run, so  I picked up my legs and pushed as hard as I could around that lake. About 2 miles from the finish I saw a women up ahead of me. Assuming that she was in 2nd, I picked up the pace to finally catch her with about 200 meters to go.  I would later find out that the women I passed was actually on her first lap around the lake, and I in fact finished in 3rd place.  Although I was a bit disappointed by this realization, it was good practice to push my body till the end. I think I usually would settle into my place and do just enough to hold it. Today though,  was a race until the end.  Although the field was small, with maybe 100 participants, those that did show up were very strong. 

The kids participated in the Kids Duathlon, and we all had a blast cheering them on.  Keller decided that it would be good practice to wear his clip less peddles, so had to change shoes twice.  He stayed positive despite being the ONLY ONE that had to change shoes.

Alleck was the youngest participate in the long course, and finished his race in a sprint.  He was so happy just to be out there, and rode sections of the trail that only the day before he swore he would not.

The best part of their race was all the support out on the course.  We all spread out, and cheered them along.  This was the longest race that they have done, and it was really hot!

As Alleck crossed the finish line, the rest of the kids gathered around him and cheered.  One new little friend that he met picked him up while he congratulated him.  It was about the cutest thing ever to watch these red-faced kids debrief with each other about their race.

kids "long course" podium.

                                                      The Adventure Continues.......

We drove to Baker City that evening and enjoyed dinner at the Barley Brown Brewery with my Aunt Arlene.   She graciously hosted our large crew in her Farm House, and she and I stayed up way to late catching up.

Then next morning my cousin Marty and his kids taught us how to fish.  They came with poles galore and we all worked together to catch grasshoppers to use as bait, just like we did when we were kids!  We fished the pond for Bass and caught 5!  The kids were ecstatic and insisted that we eat them.  I was a bit unsure since this "pond" is really the watering hole for cattle, but a local neighbor assured us that as long as we cooked them through, it would be just fine.  I brought our stove out of the van, and before long the fish were gutted and cleaned, fried and eaten.


Catching a fish.  A dream come true!

This is how they roll in the country

A camp stove, a plate and a stack of forks.  We made it work!

Many more adventures await as we head out to Black Diamond where the kids will participate in their first triathlon of the year!

The first Northwest Regional Xterra race on Vashon Island

We returned last night from a quick trip up to Vashon Island, Washington for the first Xterra race of the Northwest series.

The week leading up to the Vashon race our 2 Bing Cherry trees ripened and were bursting with delicious cherries! So..... the Norland crew turned into Cherry farmers for the week... picking and sorting, then selling our "crop" at the end of our driveway.  What begun as an exciting and fun happening ended up becoming quite a large and stressful chore. We picked morning and night for 7 days, and although we had a ton of fun selling, gifting and processing our cherries, the task spread us thin.  Mama (now that's me), got just a little bit sleep deprived and stressed out..... not exactly how I like to go into my first race of the season.

My little entrepreneurs braved the rain, and served their customers well.

I wouldn't say it was always "helpful" to have the kids' help, but.......

We decided to wait until Saturday morning to leave, which gave us until late Friday night to pick the trees clean.  Trevor was INCREDIBLE to say the least.  He stood high up in those trees and picked every last cherry while I sorted, boxed and set them out to sell. It is moments like this that I realize just how lucky I am to have Trevor as my life partner.  Without any words of judgement, he senses my stress and jumps right into help.  He knew that I would be up in that tree until the job was done, thus making our departure that much more stressful and delayed.

Until nearly 11pm I stood in the kitchen and made  muffins and puff pancake batter for our morning breakfast. Preparing food is one way that I deal with stress.  I knew that I needed to start thinking about my race, but I just could not quite begin to pack until I had our food taken care of.  I laughed at myself here,  seeing the ridiculousness in how I operate and I encouraged Trevor to laugh along.  It was well past 11 before we got to bed, still not yet packed, but I was so tired I did not even care.

I woke up at 6 and first began packing for the race. Just one day, one night and one race to pack for, AND it was FINALLY SUMMER!!!!  I did not have to pack any rain gear or extra anything, and this felt so easy!   We have the packing down to a science and this went really fast.  We all sat down for a breakfast of pear-puff pancake and exchanged our excitement for this adventure.

At 8:30, our travel buddy Lizzy Gruber arrived and after loading her gear, we were off.  We were out of town by 9:15.  Liz entered our family so smoothly, and helped to buffer the mama duties that come with traveling with children.  The boys enjoyed reading to her in the back which gave me an opportunity to catch up on some much needed sleep.  I woke from my nap and felt amazing with an overall sense of calm.  This was going to be a good trip.

Alleck, Lizzy and Keller get silly

The Ferry ride from Point Defiance in Tacoma was a bit shorter than we had hoped, maybe all of 25 minutes.  It was a beautiful sunny day, and the water was calm and clear.  We all had fun looking for wildlife in the water, and Keller says that the highlight of his weekend happened here.  We saw a seal playing right in front of us!  As cool as they were, Liz and I were a bit uneasy about the many Jellyfish that we spotted all around us of various sizes and colors.  Apparently, we would have company on our swim.......

Checking out the Jelly's

Its a beautiful day to be on the water

We made our way to the Vashon Island Ranch Hostel, where we would be camping for the night.  There were already many Xterra athletes there excited to be starting the season on Vashon.  As I looked over the results from last year, it occurred to me that many of my Xterra "family" that I came to know and love last year, I had met here on Vashon last year.  It all felt so good to be back, and the kids were just as excited to see everyone as I was.

After setting up camp, we headed to Dockton Park to check out the course.  The water was cool, but really felt amazing.  There was quite a current and yes, BIG jelly fish to swim with.  Luckily, the race director was there to put our fears at ease but informing us that the big, flat white Jelly's don't actually sting.  Phew!  It was just the orange ones with the long tentacles that we'd have to avoid and there were plenty of those too!

Liz and I rode a lap of the bike course and both felt pretty confident that it would go well.  The course was beautiful, with views of  The Puget Sound and Mt. Rainier that called our attention but plenty challenging with pitchy climbs and tight corners.

Trevor brought his road bike and explored the island while Liz and I took the kids back to camp. We made dinner, played soccer with the kids and did some final race-day prep on the bikes.  Finally, Mat Signoretty arrived and we all enjoyed catching up with him.  We were in bed by 10:30 and agreed on a 6am wake up.

I put off waking until 6:30, and by the time I got up Mat and Liz had already eaten and were eager to get going.  I  wanted to give the kids as much time as possible to sleep, but in doing so, again put my morning routine off a bit too long.  We arrived at the race site in plenty of time to get warmed up, but my breakfast did not feel digested.  I was surprised that I was not the slightest bit nervous, but merely excited to be out there on such a beautiful day.   The water looked amazing.  Very clear and calm, and with a swim at only 800 meters, I was feeling confident.

I ran for about 15 minutes, rode my bike for about 20 minutes, stretched and went to the bathroom one last time.  I had hoped to get a little swim in before race time, but that did not happen.  The race director called everyone over to the dock for a pre-race briefing, and it was start time!  I found Trevor and the boys and gave them all kisses.  Alleck insists that I wave to him before I jump in so he can find me in the sea of yellow caps.  I love that my family enjoys watching me race. Without the support of Trevor and my kids this just would not be half as fun.

The water was so calm at 8am!  Here we go!

Luckily the men went off 5 minutes before the women, so I had a chance to get in the water and acclimate to the cold.  I positioned myself on the far left and behind one woman.   My swim plan for the day was to draft off of someone, and swim straight.  As the gun sounded I was off.  Although I found myself vering to the right, I sighted enough to correct myself before it became too problematic, and I kept myself calm.  I brought my head out of the water a couple of times, especially right before the turn around when I found myself tangled in sea weed and yes, a jelly!  I think I screamed pretty loud, splashed around a bit then put my head down.  I was now around the boats and was headed home.  I would say this was a breakthrough moment for me.  I was as calm as could be, and pretty much swam straight the entire way back to shore.  I was pumped!  Even better, was hearing Trevor say as I exited the water that my time was 14:10, nearly 5 minutes faster than last year!

My wetsuit came off easily, but I fumbled a bit with my helmet and shoes.  I stuffed my gloves in the front of my tri-suit top, figuring that I could put them on easier once my hands dried,  and my Hammer Gel flask in the back.  Mid-way through the race I regretted not taking the time to put my gloves on, as my hands were wet and slippery.  I stopped on the 2nd lap and put them on.  I'll have to play around with where to keep my flask.  Without any pockets in my tri-suit, I am left with few options.  I thought that my suit was tight enough to tuck it in the back, but soon it was slipping down my right leg.  I'll have to work on that one.

I was surprised at how erratic my breathing was once I was on the bike and was not able to make the first climb.  I was bummed since I practiced this climb the day before and knew I was capable of doing it.  I focused on calming my breath and riding smoothly and did not worry about having to walk the climb.  It was not long after this I passed  frustrated Jo Markham stopped along the trail who had just taken a wrong turn.  The course was marked well, but some of the markings were torn down making navigating a bit tough. I ended up taking this same wrong turn on the 2nd lap, and when I finally caught back up to Jo on the 3rd lap she greeted me with surprise. We laughed about how now that we both took wrong turns it was a fair race.  I left her saying "Lets do this Jo."   After dropping my chain, taking a wrong turn and finally stopping to put on my gloves, I still beat my bike split from last year by 4 minutes.

I came into transition with Jo on my heels and the race director approaches me to ask how the bike course was.  The course was great except that there was not one course Marshal anywhere.  Since the course resembled a cyclo-cross course with many intersecting trails and tight twisty turns, there really should have been many people out on the course directing people.  Trevor mentioned hearing talk from other participants that also had similar experiences out there.  It has been a long time since I've taken a wrong turn, and although a bit frustrated to lose my position, I was able to get back into the lead by the time we left for the run.

Although my run is not as strong as it could be right now, I still managed to beat my run split from last year by nearly a minute.  I felt great, and tried to keep a steady rhythm.  I counted to myself 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4.  The run course was just a 5k, with two small laps on a beautiful twisty trail.  On the second lap, I looked over my shoulder to see Jo close behind.  I felt good and told myself to just keep on moving and keep a steady pace.  My lack of trail running lately caught up with me here as I either tripped over a root or twisted my ankle a bit and went flying.  Luckily it was a soft landing, but I was stretched out on the trail arms extended.  I quickly got back to my feet and started out slow to make sure I was ok.  I soon was able to get back into my rhythm and although I desperately wanted to know how close Jo was, I resisted the urge to look back.  The pavement section to the last trail actually felt good this year, and I opened my stride a bit.  I was excited to enter the last trail and could see Jo coming from the corner of my eye.  I pushed it as hard as I felt comfortable, and felt strong.  As I popped out of the trail, there were cars coming from both directions.  The course marshals seemed confused about whether to let the cars keep passing or to let me cross.  I bit my tongue, hoping that they would figure it out as I stood there, feeling Jo getting closer and closer.  Finally a spectator took some initiative and ordered them to stop traffic and let me through.  I made sure to express my gratitude as I passed him and flew down the hill into the finish.

Corvallis girls finish strong!  1st and 3rd

Trevor and Alleck were there cheering me on as well as Louis and Catherine Signoretty, Mats parents.  I was the first overall woman with a time of 2:03:51, nearly 10 minutes faster than last year.  Jo finished nearly 2 minutes behind, and right on her heels came Lizzy!  I was so excited to see her and knew that she must have killed the run.  Sure enough, she was 2 minutes faster than I on the run.
Watching me finish first was both Trevor and Alleck's favorite part of the weekend.  I have only placed 1st overall two other times and both times they were not there to see.

Top 3 women!

Lizzy, Mat, the boys and I went to the swimming dock to cool off.  We had so much fun watching Liz and Mat climb high on the pylons and throw themselves into the cold water.  Liz is so confident in herself and kind and gentle with everyone she meets.  It was a joy for me to watch her inspire a little 9 year old girl named Alex to also climb up 20 feet or so and jump off.  Alex was beaming.  This was my favorite part of the weekend.  We were all silly, laughing and enjoying each other.

We realized that we had just enough time to hit our favorite coffee/ ice cream shop and get to the "bike tree", the inspiration behind Berkeley Breathed's book The Red Ranger Comes Calling, a must see Vashon Island tourist attraction.    We were told that it was right behind the Sound Food restaurant so off we went to find it.  We eagerly jumped out of the van in search for the bike tree, which turned out to be more of a scavenge than we had anticipated.  We all spread out, taking different paths and yelling from time to time, "have you found it?".  Of course it was Lizzy, who ventured where no one else would have thought and found the tree.    So much fun.

The "bike tree" behind Sound food

We arrived at the Ferry dock a half and hour early which gave us an opportunity to check out the tide pools below.  This was incredible.  There was so much going on down there, and we were able to find sea anemones, star fish, an eel, hermit crabs, and sea crabs.  The boys were in high heaven and Liz impressed us all with her tactics of finding new treasures.

keller found the biggest crab!

We made the trip back to Corvallis from Tacoma in record time and enjoyed yummy burgers at our favorite local spot Block 15.
With full bellies and happy hearts we arrived home refreshed from our time spent together.

I must be honest when I say that it is not easy being a full time-mom with high athletic goals. I have questioned recently just what in the heck I am trying to do.  However, each and every time we go away to an event, and arrive back home with new experiences and another chapter full of memories,  I am reminded just why.  We come away from each journey learning about ourselves and about our family as a whole.  We see new things, go to new places, meet new people and together we learn.  I guess I conclude that the stress and exhaustion is worth these moments of clarity and closeness.  At least for now.