Where have you been?!?!

I've admitted before that I'm the worst blogger ever, it's true.

A lot has happened in the last several months.

After Lake Stevens I raced the Black Diamond Sprint Triathlon and finally won that bitch after 6 years of trying.

I also finished out the road season with a bang, finishing 4th in the Washington State Criterium Championships. It would have been nice to finish on the podium but I'll take it (especially after overhearing a team captain coaching her girls prior to the race, seeing her point at me, and hearing "can't sprint").





I gave track racing a shot and was immediately hooked. Sadly, my first real night on the track was the last night of the season but I am working on getting a bike together for next year!

Miss n Out 2 laps to go


Finally, and most fun of all, I've started racing Cyclocross. I still don't have a bike but my amazing teammates have graciously loaned me bikes all season so I can continue to race. I've done 8 races on 4 different bikes!! Last weekend I had a solid win (by about 1m 20s!!) at the Woodland Park GP on a very very muddy day. I'm about to upgrade to Cat 2 and get my ass handed to me at Elite Nationals in Bend, OR.

Here's a ton of pictures thank you to Kevin Tu






Oh and also, I totally passed the Bar and got a job, so that's cool too.

Lake Stevens 70.3 (belated)

The decision to do this race was a little last minute. I had been half planning to do it for a few months but kept vacillating between being pretty sure I was doing it and pretty sure I was not going to do it. The race came only 2.5 weeks after I finished the bar exam so I really wasn't expecting anything special.

I waited to register until the Thursday before the race to be sure that the weather was going to be good. Then, in an attempt to totally screw myself, I rode my bike about 250 miles in the 5 or 6 days leading up to race day. I also was careful to barely swim at all for a couple of weeks beforehand.

SWIM

The swim actually got delayed a little bit because it was so cold out that a thick fog had formed over the lake. When we finally went off at around 7:00 AM, I still couldn't see a single buoy. Luckily at Lake Stevens there is an underwater line that you can use to guide yourself through the swim.

When the gun went off, three girls immediately went off the front and I found myself in a chase pack of three more girls. Everything went smoothly until we started picking up the wave in front of us and the three of us were blown apart.

After the turns I found one of the girls I had been working with and just stayed on her feet coming out of the water together.

I really felt like I had had a good swim but my time definitely didn't evince that. I really need to start swimming more.

Swim: 34:02

T1

I definitely screwed up my transitions at this race last year so I was determined not to make the same mistakes this year. My transition spot was really far from the bike out so I opted to clip my shoes in ahead of time even though I hadn't practiced doing this in a long time.

I was out of my wetsuit quickly, had my awesome borrowed Rudy Project helmet on and was on my way out.

T1: 1:52

BIKE

I got my feet into my shoes mostly without incident although I'd had them rubberbanded to my rear brake caliper and when I broke the rubber band it rotated my caliper just a little and gave me some brake rub. Honestly, my rear brake wasn't really working to begin with and I wasn't planning on using it unless totally necessary so I just undid my brake a little to get rid of the rub.

About a mile and a half into the bike I came upon a girl, racer #734, Jennifer Mathe. She had come out of transition just ahead of me and was riding pretty much on the yellow line even though she wasn't passing anyone. I said "on your left" to her ... nothing. I said "#734, on your left" ... still nothing. "on your left, please move to the right" ... nothing. At this point I'm right on Jennifer Mathe's wheel and other racers are telling her to move right to let me pass and she won't freaking budge. Finally, I just shouted "HEY! I'M ON YOUR LEFT, LET ME PASS!" She swerves over and I pass. As I'm passing, she let out a "F*&% YOU C*%$!" I was totally shocked. I mean, did this girl think she was going to block me for the entire 56 miles? Did she think that she should just let me pass at her convenience? I thought about reporting her to the officials after the race but opted instead to just out her poor sportsmanship here.

After that unpleasantness I continued on with my bike. It was really cold (in the low to mid 50's) but I was feeling really good. I was having a little trouble shifting due to cold hands but other than that, everything was golden.



Around mile 30 I went to take my sport legs and some immodium but when I reached into my pocket and took the lid off of my little pill case, I managed spill them everywhere on the road. Crap. I knew I had more sport legs in my bag right in transition and decided I would take the couple extra seconds in transition to find them and take them.

Around mile 40, the wheels started to come off. I started feeling really sick. Up to this point my nutrition was spot on but once I started feeling ill, I started throwing up. I was throwing up everything that I drank. It totally sucked. I slowed down quite a bit and tried to take in more liquids but I just couldn't.

At around mile 50, I made the left turn to go back towards transition. I was feeling so bad at this point, I was considering dropping out. Since the run in Lake Stevens is essentially a double figure 8, I decided to do the first 5k of the run and then reevaluate.



Bike: 2:40:29

T2

I knew T2 was going to be a little slow since I wasn't feeling well and I really wanted to take some more sport legs. Luckily they were right where I thought they would be in my bag and I was able to grab them and run out, grabbing some water in the transition area.

T2: 2:04

RUN



I went out onto the run sitting in 1st in my AG. I was feeling so bad though that I kind of knew I would be giving up a lot of places if I decided to finish the race.

As I was running, I tried to stay relaxed but I just couldn't. No matter how much I slowed my pace, I couldn't get my breathing or my heart rate (don't wear a HRM, I could just tell it was really high) under control. I have a history of asthma and I was definitely having a mild asthma attack. I could breathe, but it was shallow and I was gasping.

Kara Nielsen passed me about a mile and a half into the run (this is a familiar story) and I just couldn't stay on her heels.

I finished the first 5k-ish loop without being passed by any other women. I decided to keep going even though the breathing problem wasn't getting any better (it also wasn't getting worse).

On the second portion of the run, I started to get really sick again. I had to pull over to throw up some more.

At the halfway point of the run, I decided I was going to finish even if it meant walking. I've never DNF'd a triathlon and I wasn't about to start.

At around mile 7, I pulled into the bushes to throw up again and then one more time at mile 8. I made my last pit stop at around mile 11 and then pushed it into the finish.



Run: 1:47:06

FINISH: 5:05:33

This was the first time I have ever cried after a race. I haven't had a real meltdown in a while (everyone kind of melts down in IM so I'm not counting that). I think my last one was the Black Diamond Half in 2007. I was feeling so crappy and dejected that I just talked to a few people (cried at them) grabbed my bike, and left.

I wasn't crying because I thought I did bad but just because it sucked to spend 2 hours totally unable to control your body. Maybe I should have dropped out but I think I would have felt even worse had I done that.

I was already part way home when I started getting phone calls asking why I had left and congratulating me on my race. Unbeknownst to me, I had taken 2nd in my age group (30-34) and had finished as the 5th overall amateur and 18th overall woman including the pros.

Final results were:

2/45 30-34 Women
5/271 Amateur Women
18/286 Overall Women

After the race I went on a memorial ride for Jose and I was lamenting my race with my buddy Shawn who wisely told me "you don't need to feel good to have a good race."

So there you have it, the 2009 Lake Stevens 70.3. The best bad day I've ever had.

...

Friday, July 24th

Our beloved brother and friend Jose Hernando passed away gently, peacefully and held in pure love this afternoon. His family had the gift of being with him at his side.

I feel sick

Seafair Triathlon

I can't believe that this was my SIXTH YEAR racing Seafair. Wow!

I went into the race this year not really knowing what to expect. I have been training less and less as I'm studying more and more. My runs have been lackluster to say the least and I've only swam open water probably 4 times all year. I still had myself placed in the elite wave and again set an (A) goal and a (B) goal

(A) finish under 1:10:00 (I went 1:10:26 last year)
(B) don't embarrass myself a la 2007 when I was the 2nd to last woman to finish in the elite wave.

SWIM

The swim was the swim. I never swim too fast and I never swim too slow. We got a little bit of a late start which sucked because it was cold standing in the water waiting. Once we went, we went hard. Even though there were maybe only 50 people in the mixed elite wave, it was so rough, everyone was just sprinting for position. I kept finding feet to sit on and then losing them.

I came out of the water somewhere around the middle of the pack, roughly 3 seconds faster than last year.

800 Meter Swim: 12:11
~1:23/100 yards

T1

I have been doing this sport far too long to still suck at transitioning.

T1: 1:31

BIKE

The bike was fun despite a minor clothing malfunction (note: try riding in your swimsuit before racing in it). It was like it always is when you're a fast female cyclist: pass dude, dude passes you back at approximately 35 mph, pass dude back 30 seconds later never to see him again.

Around the turnaround I passed some snotty 22 year old who had been rude and condescending to me in the transition area before the swim start. He was not having that so I leap frogged with him the whole way back into transition.

Also, I passed a lot of ladies on the bike and came into T2 sitting in 3rd overall for the women.

12 Mile Bike: 31:06
23.15 mph

T2

Okay, I have an excuse for this one. Someone - possibly snotty 22 year old - had racked their bike all weird and I had to do some rearranging just to get my bike on the rack.

My transition still would have probably been slow.

T2: 1:20

RUN

I saw Lucy coming out of transition and she let me know that I was in fact in 3rd. I figured I'd have to run pretty darn slow to get passed by the other 15 or so elite women behind me ... this is always a distinct possibility.

Snotty 22 year old came out of transition just ahead of me and luckily he appeared to be kind of a cruddy runner too so I just tried to keep him in my sights.

Christina passed me just before mile 1, there was no hope of staying with her. I was feeling not super great but I was actually holding what felt like a decent pace. Up the hill I felt slow, I was slow, but the people in front of me were slow too so it was all cool.

At the turnaround I saw two women right behind me, both were really cranking. I recognized one as Stacia who had picked me off in the last mile at Onionman last May. The other woman I didn't know.

About 1/4 mile from the finish, the woman who I didn't know picked me off. I knew she was coming because some guy behind me yelled "go, you can get her girl!" Thanks dude ... really. I did my best to stay with her but there was no catching her, I rolled in 8 seconds behind her for 5th place overall but a solid run PR.

5k Run: 21:41
6:59/mile

OVERALL: 1:07:49
5/16 elite women
5/720 women
48/1458 finishers

Afterward I went for another loop on the run course with my pal Carly who had a solid day with a 9+ minute course PR! Then I went home and hated life a little more.

6 days until the bar - kill me.

Not that I am capable of hate ...

Vehicle vs Bicycle Collision

On 07-17-09 at 6:36 p.m., an 06, Chevy Van, driven by a 29-year-old male was traveling northbound on Lake Washington Blvd S. approaching S. Orcas St. At the same time a 44-year-old male was riding a bicycle traveling Southbound on Lake Washington Blvd S. also approaching S. Orcas St. The Van started to make a left turn from Lake Washington Blvd S. onto S. Orcas St. and crossed the center line, when it was struck on the passenger door by the bicycle rider. Seattle Fire Department responded to the scene and treated the victim, he was then transported to Harborview Medical Center (HMC) with life threatening injuries.

HMC personnel later gave an update of the 44-year-old male’s medical condition stating; he was critical and still life threatening.

A Drug Recognition Expert Officer responded to the scene and completed an evaluation of the 29-year-old driver for signs of impairment. None were noted during the evaluation.

Traffic Collision Investigators responded to and processed the scene.

I have never hated anyone in my life. I've disliked people and disagreed with people. I've met people who have left a sour taste in my mouth right off the bat, but I have never hated anyone. That said, the closest I have ever come to hate is the feeling I get when I see or hear about careless, selfish, distracted, self-important drivers who are too busy talking on their phones to see a cyclist, who are in enough of a hurry that they are willing to take the calculated risk of taking a cyclist's life just to get wherever they are going 10 seconds sooner.

These are the only people who make me fly off the handle (Teresa has witnessed this ... I've gotten better about it, I promise). I am so disgusted and hurt by them it makes me see red.

Yesterday a friend and teammate of mine was hit and nearly killed on Lake Washington Blvd. At this point, he will be lucky to walk again. The injuries he sustained are going to change his life forever. Lucy talked to the surgeon who initially operated on him and had he sustained these injuries 10 years ago, when the technology was not as good as it is today, it would have been a death sentence.

Please, to everyone, be careful out there and look out for yourself because the drivers aren't looking out for you.

on possibly not sucking at crits

I don't have time/am too lazy to write up a real race report but basically, I raced a crit last weekend and finished 5th out of 29 giving me some small sliver of hope that I don't totally suck at crits and if I pay more attention to tactics rather than hypoxia, I might actually be okay at them.

Also, kind of a quick aside, but a bunch of people have asked me why my blog url is "jesslover."

It's actually a not too interesting story having to do with me posting on an internet messageboard using the handle "hey lover!" which is a reference to an Aislers Set song that was released on a Split 7" they did with a band called "The How." As a result of me using that handle for several years, people who I knew from the messageboard would sometimes call me jess lover.



As to "Hey Lover," I recently reacquainted myself with this awesome song and thought I would share it with all 6 or 7 of my loyal readers. I really do recommend listening to it, you're in for a real treat.

The Aislers Set - Hey Lover

Enjoy!

#1

Last weekend ended up being pretty special for a lot of reasons.

It was the final race in the Carnation Time Trial Series put on by Neal Goldberg of Footworks Cycles. I won't lie, I went into the final race with a pretty hefty lead in the points series. Since I had crashed the weekend before a bunch of people suggested I just soft pedal may way into 5th or 6th place but yeah ... that wasn't acceptable.

Long story short, I won the 27.1 mile race by exactly 1 minute taking home my biggest purse ever, $700, and a $150 gift certificate to FSA.

Here's what was really special though. Since I was the series leader, Neal gave me bib #1. It was the first time in my life I've ever gotten to wear #1. I thought this was especially cool since, at least in my experience, #1 is usually given to the male leader or the previous year's male winner. Also, I got to be the last woman to go so I had 20+ carrots in front of me to chase. :)





I cannot recommend these Carnation races enough. They are so well organized, Neal gets excellent sponsors and prizes, and he is super accommodating to any questions or concerns. The races are truly a labor of love on Neal's part.