Elkhorn and Beyond!

Several of the Cucina Fresca ladies are gearing up to head to Baker City, Oregon for the Elkhorn Classic Stage Race. Elkhorn is so cool because it's not only an equal distance race for the women (75 mile road race on the first day, a time trial and crit on the second day, and a 101 mile road race on the final day) thanks to the awesome support of Bev at BELLA Main Street Market and others in Baker City, it is also an equal payout event for women. This is so rare for female cyclists, that we should continue to support races that support women. Bev was also kind enough to get host housing for our entire team so that we can actually afford to do this!

In all, we have 6 women going down although all women are raced together, we are scored separately. Eileen will be our sole Cat 4. The Lauren, Amber, Tara trifecta of awesomeness will be representing in the 3s. I will be racing in the 1/2s with a fantastic Canadian guest rider Kristine who can climb my legs off.

After we conquer the 'Horn, I'm heading to Portland for a few days to visit one of my best friends, Katie who is the proud mom of my best dog friend (and Fry's girlfriend) Penelope.



After hanging for a few days with Katie I'm heading to Elite Nationals in Bend Oregon where I will attempt to not get pulled in the crit and not get dropped in the road race.

All in all, no matter how the results shake out, this promises to be a very fun 10 days!

my smiling mug

Goals for 2010

- Race elite Nationals
- Race my first NRC (Cascade Classic)
- Upgrade to Cat 1 on the road

Tour of Walla Walla (finally)

I don't know why I've been putting off writing this race report but I'm finally doing it.

ToWW was my first 3 day stage race and was a big early season target or "A" race for me. Since I still have no clue what I'm doing training-wise, I did a half-assed taper for a few days leading up to the race.

Vicki and I flew into Walla Walla on Thursday afternoon and drove the Kellogg Hollow course. Then Vicki and Paul dropped me off at my house and an hour later we met back up and did a lap of the TT course. I liked the course and was feeling good. There was a small hill in it that was shallow enough to stay in the big ring but steep enough that I definitely planned on riding it out of the aero bars.

Thursday night, I ate a bunch of food, drank a beer, and got a massage from one of the Hubbards (I was lucky enough to be staying in a house with three massage therapists).

FRIDAY

Friday was a hard day to plan out. Our first road race, Kellogg Hollow, was rumored to be a really difficult race, likely made harder by the fact that it was only 37 miles long. Also, we didn't start until after 4:00 PM so it was really difficult to plan out nutrition.

I drove out to the start with some teammates and Vicki, Kimberly, and I rolled on the road to warm up. I was feeling more intimidated than I have ever felt at the start of a race. There were over 50 pro/1/2 women registered including several girls that I didn't know from Canada, Idaho, and Oregon.



The pace was fast but not brutal. There were a few attacks but nothing that wasn't reeled in quickly. At the QOM line, I didn't go for the prize ($15 ... not even worth it) but glued myself to the wheels of the girls who were going for it. The hills were hard but steady and it wasn't as windy as it was rumored to have been last year. I just stayed close to the front and tried to conserve energy.

Going into the finish, most of the pack was still together and was feeling really good! I decided I was going to go for it in the sprint. I positioned myself on Cheryl Thonney's wheel since I know she's a really strong sprinter and prepared for the sprint. Unfortunately, Cheryl slipped through a gap that closed before I could get through and went on to win the sprint and get those precious bonus seconds. I wasn't able to do much and rolled in 16th but with the same time as the pack.

SATURDAY

Time Trial

There were a lot of STRONG time trialists at this race so my goal was to make it in with the top 10 and not lose too much time to anyone. With girls like Suz Weldon, Tricia Bailey, Robin Secrist, Wheeler, and several others, this was going to be a difficult task.

I warmed up for about 45 minutes and was careful about getting all of my nutrition. When it was finally time to start I was feeling relaxed and ready.

It's hard to write an accurate report of a 15k time trial since I basically have tunnel-vision the whole time and verge on having to puke. From the gun I went hard and was able to catch my 30 second girl within a mile or two. Up the hill I saw 2 girls grinding away in their aero bars at a slow cadence. I sat up and shifted into an easier gear and was able to pass two more girls up the hill.


Over the top of the hill I started to run out of steam a little bit. It's times like that I wish I had a power meter so I could focus on keeping my power up on the downhills.

After the race I waited for Kimberly and Vicki and the three of us spun down together. I didn't bother going to check my results, I figured I would just see them at the crit that evening.


Criterium

I got to the crit early to watch the Cat 4 women and saw that I had gotten 3rd place in the TT behind only Tricia and Wheeler! This moved me into 4th in the GC and only about 20 seconds out of 1st!

The crit is a somewhat sketchy 8 corner on not super great roads. My goal was to stay safe, sit in, and get the same time as everyone else. The time bonuses for the finish were not much so I wasn't planning on going for anything unless the opportunity really presented itself.

(thanks for the arty farty pic matt)

So the course was sketchy but the riders were even sketchier. There were a bunch of girls (not anyone from WA) that were all over the place and had no clue how to properly corner. It was horrifying. My line got cut around probably a dozen corners and I was trying to stay close to the front just to avoid the sketchiness.

At one point, a drunk woman ran across the road RIGHT.IN.FRONT.OF.US nearly causing a 50 rider pileup.

Then, with two laps to go, my pal and the GC leader Wheeler went into a corner too hot and hit a cone going down hard. It was the scariest crash I've ever seen. Had I not heard her moaning, I probably would have thought she had broken her neck. Thankfully, she got away with some road rash, a few stitches, a concussion, and a broken collarbone and is already back on her bike.

I was so shaken up after the crash that I just hung on and didn't even bother sprinting at the finish. I rolled in 21st and held onto my GC spot.

SUNDAY

Sunday was the final race and likely my shot to move up in the GC or at least hold position. Although I was technically in 4th going into the race, because Wheeler was out, I was actually sitting in 3rd behind Cheryl and Tricia. Only 12 seconds separated me from 1st but 4th and 5th were only a few seconds behind me.

Sunday's race was a 75 mile road race through rolling hills finishing up a significant 3km climb.

The first lap was pretty uneventful. At one point one girl attacked but we just kind of let her hang out there until we caught her. Vicki was awesome and made sure that I was protected the whole lap. She moved to the front at probably sat out there for half of the nearly 40 mile loop.

Going into the second lap we climb the finishing hill. I decided to drill it up the hill since I was feeling good and there was a shot for a break to get away. I was the 3rd girl over the hill and actually managed to get myself a bonus second for the QOM.

The pack had totally shattered over the climb and 9 of us came back together and started working to stay away from the rest of the pack. All of the top GC girls were in the break and we were eventually chased down after about 15 miles. Once we were caught no one would do any work ... like at all. We actually were almost caught by the Cat 4 women. It was stupid but at the same time I wasn't about to do any work and risk losing my GC spot.

Finally, with about 5k to go a girl attacked and we rode a hard tempo to catch her. We got her at the 3k sign at the bottom of the finishing climb.

That 3k was the hardest I have ever worked. Two girls, one of whom was not far behind me in the GC got off the front, and 5 or 6 more of us were chasing her. I was climbing shoulder to shoulder with Robin Secrist who was only 5 seconds behind me in the GC and Tricia Bailey who was only a few seconds ahead of me. My goal was to not let go of Robin's wheel. I was climbing hard and doing math at the same time. At this point, even if she got 3rd she would only get 4 bonus seconds but I was 5 seconds ahead of her in the GC plus my one bonus second meant that as long as we stayed together, I would still beat her by at least two seconds.

At 200m Tricia attacked and Robin matched accelleration. They almost got away from me but I was somehow able to keep up with them. I rolled in 6th place but got the same time as Robin and Tricia.


The girl who won the road race ended up moving ahead of me in the GC but at the same time, I moved ahead of Cheryl so I held on to 3rd place in a very close race!


Just moments after I finished I watched Lauren Roschen, one of our Cat 4 women, win her road race after riding through 1/2 of the pro/1/2 field and catapulting herself from 12th to 2nd in the GC. Kara Nielsen, another Cucina Fresca Cat 4 woman ended up 2nd in the road race and won the Cat 4 GC! Tara O'Brien, after a bad crash in the crit, finished 4th!




Walla Walla had it's bad, hard, and scary moments but all in all was one of the best weekends of racing I've ever done!

Learning how to really race

This was such a great weekend of racing with my teammates. It was my first double road race weekend of 2010 and my first double road race as a Cat 2.

Saturday was the Tour de Dung road race and Sunday was Mason lake #2, 48 and 60 miles respectively.

Saturday I decided to just put myself out there and try attacks and crazy bridges. The pace was fast from the gun (22 mph neutral rollout ftw). At the end of the first of four laps I bridged up to a break with two of the stronger ladies in the race. I took one other girl with me. We stayed away for a few minutes and when the pack caught us, they had shelled a lot of girls. After that, 2 girls went off the front and stayed away for the rest of the race.

I was feeling really good, going into the last few miles when I pulled a totally rookie mistake. I totally missed the 1km sign (despite passing it three other times on previous laps) and when we hit 200m I wasn't expecting it and was totally boxed in. It would have been unsafe for me to try and move anywhere so I just pedaled it in for 15th out of 37 or so. Even though it was one of my worst finishes, I was totally happy with my race since I feel like I raced safe and smart.

Sunday was even better. We raced with the fast old guys and the pace was again really fast from the gun (a dude attacked the second we weren't neutral). Vicki and I were so good. We covered every break and made sure to have at least one of us close to the front, ready to jump.

Between the two of us, we managed to get into probably 6 or 7 breaks that were chased down and then finally on the last lap I got into the perfect break. I saw one strong woman go followed by another. I chased on and then one more strong woman followed me. It was perfect. There was a well-represented break of men up the road so the men weren't going to chase us this time. Immediately we started rotating and were able to pull away from the pack. I was the least experienced rider and probably weakest sprinter in the group but I was still feeling really strong despite all the chasing I had done in the previous 50 miles.

When we got to 1k, the strongest sprinter was sitting in front and none of us would pull through around her. At around 300m one woman went followed by another. I hopped on 3rd wheel and was able to get around the first woman who went but couldn't quite outsprint the other lady and I rolled in 2nd by about a bike length.

Finishing well was great but feeling like I am finally learning to be more aggressive, work with a team, and put myself out there is the best feeling ever.

In other news, our Cat 4 Cucina Fresca women are doing so well. I even got an email from another Cat 4 woman complimenting them on how safe, strong, and friendly they are and how well they work together as a team. I couldn't be happier.

A story about how I was wrong: Sublime Sublimity Circuit Race

This last weekend I did my first road race of the year. The Sublime Sublimity Circuit Race takes place in Sublimity, OR and is run on a 13 mile circuit. The Pro 1/2/3 women were run together in the afternoon. We did 3 laps on the course which, with the off course finish worked out to a little over 40 miles.

I had checked out the course profile (see entry below) and looked at pictures from last year's race. All in all, it seemed like a good course for me, two big climbs but only about 500-600 vertical feet over 3-4 miles for each climb so I figured they wouldn't be that tough.

I was totally wrong.

First of all, the roads weren't necessarily "bad" but they also weren't good. There weren't potholes or other real hazards, but almost the entire circuit was run on the coarsest chip seal I've ever seen (made Mason Lake look like smooth asphalt).

Second, when we weren't climbing, we were fighting a stiff headwind or a brutal crosswind. The one really screaming descent was fun but I was in a break every time we hit it so we were still working our a**es off to keep chasers at bay.

Third, there was something about the air or the allergens down in Sublimity that actually made my lungs hurt more than my legs. I was wheezing and coughing after every hard effort even though my legs still felt pretty okay.

On to the actual report.

We start off neutral from the staging area and onto the course. Up the first big climb, Lucy and I are sitting in the front and Lucy goes "we're still neutral, right?" and someone else answered that we weren't. Whoops. A girl attacks.

I chased from the front. Uphill. Into the wind. Now we were really racing. We cruised through the first set of rollers and then hit the big climb (Basil Hill or Basil Road?). The hill was on the same cruddy chip seal and I would liken it to some of the middle steep sections of Zoo Hill. One of the Veloforma girls attacked over the top of the hill and we started to string out chasing her. I'd already done my fair share of chasing in the first few miles of the race and let a couple of other girls pull us back up to her and then I went with the counterattack on the descent.

After the descent we hit another set of rollers and then a straightaway into a brutal headwind.

We'd already shelled probably 1/3 of the girls when we hit Basil the second time. I went for it up the hill, staying shoulder to shoulder with a Veloforma girl and two other ladies who I'd pegged as the strongest climbers in the race. Finally, we were able to break into a group of four.


Two more girls caught us on the descent but were gone once we hit the rollers again.

The rest of the race is kind of a blur of pain. Our group of four managed to stay together and I was pretty sure I could bring it in for third. There was one girl who was riding really strong and one who we kept almost dropping. The Veloforma lady (Rebecka Hartkop) seemed to be in about the same place as me so I was pretty sure she and I could round out the podium.

About 3 miles from the finish, up the last "big" climb, the lady who had been riding really strong (Mackenzie Madison, a pro triathlete) started to pull away from us. Rebecka tried to chase as did I, but we couldn't get her.

I kept chasing, putting a little into her on the hills but losing her on the descents. I did, however, manage to drop Rebecka and the other lady, Heather Hill, who had been in our group of 4. At 1km to go, we went off the circuit towards the finish. The final 1k was like a cruel joke. It was a series of rollers into a headwind with an 18% kicker from 200m to the finish line. I think I almost fell over in those last 200 meters.

All in all, I was very pleased with my 2nd place finish. I think If I'd been paying a little more attention, I may have been able to stay on Mackenzie's wheel up that last climb but who's to say whether I could have taken her at the line.

Also, I managed to get quoted in Oregon Cycling Action which was pretty cool.

See the bottom of the article

I love how I told him that I wanted to cry. Whoops. But seriously. I wanted to cry.

HOLY SHIT!!! It's almost road season!!!

Holy shit!!! I thought I would be so burned after cross season that I wouldn't want to race my bike for about a million years but I'm totally chomping at the bit to start racing on the road.

I've been semi-injured for the last month or so and totally unable to run so instead I've been putting a ton of hours on the bike. As of this weekend, I have about 1500 miles on the year and one slowly healing saddle sore.

I don't claim to know much about how to properly train or anything like that but I have been having a blast. I've been training with people who are oodles stronger than me and I've finally found some amazing female training partners in my teammates Vicki and Kimberly (as well as several of the other awesome Cucina Fresca women). I'm feeling strong and ready to see if I can keep up with the big girls in the pro/1/2 field.

This Saturday will be my first race of the season, the Sublime Sublimity circuit race in Sublimity Oregon. The course looks like it's basically two giant hills over a 15ish mile circuit, so it should be perfect for me.


My two goals are to race smart, and try one crazy attack in the last lap.

After this, I'm just going to see what the season gives me. I'm not doing any races when the weather is dangerously bad a la Independence Valley last year (31 degrees and snowing) and I am setting the goal of finishing my first NRC stage race - Cascade Classic in Bend, OR.

I'll try to be a better blogger for the rest of the season, but I've promised and failed at that before so only time will tell.

Happy riding!

This is my friend Jess, she runs marathons ...

Friend: This is my friend Jess, she runs marathons. She's even won marathons.
Jess: I don't run marathons. I've actually never run a marathon.
Friend: No, you totally run marathons, you've done a ton of them, you even won a few, I know you did.
Jess: I've really never run a marathon, I do triathlons.
Friend: Oh, same thing.
Jess: ...

I've had this conversation about 938792 times in the last several years. It's true, I've never run a marathon (okay I technically "did" a marathon at IMC but I would hardly call that "running" a marathon).

Anyway, last weekend I (stupidly) decided to do the Philadelphia Marathon. The race was sold out so I bought a bib off of a dude who was injured and couldn't run. I felt a little like a bandit but not really since I at least legitimately paid for it. Yes, I did my first marathon as a 33 year old doctor named Ping.

I flew into Newark on Friday and spent the night in a hotel and took the train into Philly on Saturday morning ... okay afternoon. I ended up walking way too much and probably eating all the wrong things.

Saturday night I stayed with my very dear friend Jon who was kind enough to give up his bed for me and my other dear friend Mimi who was running the half.

We woke up around 4:45 AM (1:45 Seattle time) ate a light breakfast and we were on our way.

Mimi and I parted ways around 6:40 so I could pee and line up and so she could find some safety pins.



I managed to find the 3:40 pace group (just follow the estrogen cloud). I had originally thought I could do 3:30 but I didn't want to be too ambitious on my first marathon. Also, I really didn't train very well for the race. I hadn't done a long run in about a month and hadn't been running much over 20 mpw for the months leading up to the race.

Kind of an aside but I've actually trained for an not run 3 or 4 marathons. This time I decided not to train for the marathon but still run it.

Anyway, we set off in the 3rd or 4th wave at around 7:06 AM. The pace felt easy and comfortable. It was a little tight since we were such a huge pace group and I was trying not to get annoyed with one particularly pushy girl ... I'll just call her "pushy."

I just focused on staying with our pacer although pushy liked to be closer to him than anyone, checking the mile splits she had written on her arm obsessively. Around mile 7 we went by a water station and pushy actually f'ing shoved me out of the way to get some water.

Running through the crowds at the half mark was a really nice boost. The pace group was ahead of schedule by about 40 seconds.

Around mile 14 or 15 pushy started to fade and we dropped her ... too bad so sad.

At mile 16 or 17 I started to get a cramp in my left quad. Run it off. By mile 19 my other quad was cramping as were my feet and my calves. Luckily there were people handing out beer on the side of the road. Yes, I took some ... and I took some more after the turnaround.

Little by little I started pulling away from the pace group. I just wanted this thing to be over and I didn't feel like I needed the pacer anymore.

Around mile 23 I realized I wasn't going to make it to the finish without a pit stop. I pulled into an utterly disgusting portapotty and when I came back out the 3:40 pace group was just coming by. I passed them again and rationalized myself through the last few miles ("just a lap around greenlake ... just a jog to the track and back ... just 4 times around the track ... just down to the grocery store and back")

Everything was cramping soooooo bad by the end. Check out my badass pain grimace.



I finished with a 3:38:34 chip time. I would have qualified for Boston if I hadn't been too irresponsible to register on time and actually run under my own name. I guess that's my punishment, if I want to run Boston, I have to do another damn marathon.

The walk back to Jon's house was about 10 blocks and took us roughly 45 minutes including two pit stops.

Almost home.



Jon was also my hero and got me 3 bags of ice and a big cup of tea for my incredibly painful ice bath.



I spent the next few days completely unable to walk. I had to take stairs backwards and was walking at about a 1 hour/mile pace.

I do want to do another one. Maybe next time I'll actually train for the bitch.

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.

Welcome to Cat 2*

* it wasn't a bad crash and no one was at fault, although i do feel a little like the fates hazed me into the 2's :)

Methow Valley Stage Race

This weekend was the Methow Valley Stage race. It was probably my last chance to get a large number of points towards my Cat 2 upgrade so I really was motivated to do well.

The race was 3 stages in 2 days. A time trial and a hill climb (in lieu of a crit ... awesome) on day 1 and a road race on day 2.

Time Trial



The time trial was hard and demoralizing. It was almost nothing but hills which generally I like but I just felt SLOW on this one. Luckily, I had a bunch of carrots in front of me and I just concentrated on picking girls off the whole race. I think I passed 3 or 4 girls. I finished 2nd behind Robin Secrist. I'm proud to say that I'm the only woman who finished within a minute of her.

Hill Climb

The hill climb was so hard but so fun. About 1/2 mile after we started climbing, Robin and Sally Fraser started pulling away and I did my best to stay with them. I never quite got their wheels but I kept them in my sights until Robin dropped Sally. I caught Sally on a flat section and realized that I too had broken from the pack. Sally and I worked together taking long pulls to the top. We weren't able to put any time into Robin but we kept her in our sights almost the whole climb, finishing about a minute behind her. At 200 meters I gave it what I had left and got 2nd place over Sally by about half a wheel.





Road Race

The road race was not exactly my kind of course, more rolling than hilly but I was excited nonetheless. I went into it 2nd in the GC 4 points behind Robin and 7 ahead of Sally and another girl tied for 3rd. We all agreed to take the first lap as a warmup which was really nice.

So here's what I'm really proud of ...

Going into the second lap, right before we were going to "really" start racing, I flatted in the rear. The wheel car stopped for me and quickly gave me a new wheel. I was really upset and said to the mechanic, "I'm not going to catch them, am I?" The mechanic was so nice and just told me "go! I think you can get them!" The pack was probably a minute up the road from me. I had flatted at the bottom of the only decent climb, right in town. I hammered up the hill and just as I crested, the wheel guys pulled up next to me and offered me a pull. I paced the car for a few miles which was scary and fun at the same time. Finally, we got the pack in our sights. I kept hammering behind the wheel car until I was about 100 feet behind a truck that was stuck behind the follow vehicle. The guy in the wheel car waved me through and I jumped and caught the pickup truck. I sat behind him for a second before passing him and catching the follow car. the driver of the follow car waved me through and I jumped again, catching Tamara who was hanging off the back of the pack. Tamara and I worked together and finally, about 4 or 5 miles after flatting, I caught the pack again.

The rest of laps 2 and 3 I just sat in. I was really hurting after chasing back on. Liz from Starbucks was awesome and helped me through the rest of the race so I would have a shot at holding on to my GC place. at 1k she gave me what lead out she could and I gave what little I had left in my legs. 3 girls went off the front and I managed to barely out-wheel a girl from Valley for 4th in the RR, holding onto my 2nd in the GC.



All in all a really fun weekend and as an added bonus, I think I finally earned that Cat 2 upgrade ... updates will be forthcoming.

Ravensdale Cumberland Road Race (aka another win)

I raced the Ravensdale race yesterday. I don't know why, but I'd totally psyched myself up for this race. I'm really familiar with the course since the Black Diamond Triathlon is run on a large portion of it so I knew what to expect around almost every corner. Also, I'm only 7 points away from my Cat 2 upgrade and man ... I just really want to join Travis and Chris and all the other Cat 2's living the luxurious life of a 1/2 tomato.

The 3's were supposed to be raced alone but there wasn't enough of a turnout so they ended up combining us with the 1/2 women. At first I was kind of bummed but then I got excited since racing with the 1/2 women tends to be more fun and can give me faster wheels to sit on if there's a break.

The pace started out easy but that didn't really last. little by little attacks and counter attacks started happening. I chased maybe half of them and sat in for the ones that I knew wouldn't stick. Around 10 or 15 miles in Cheryl from Blue Rooster went off the front alone and just kind of hung out there. For me it was kind of NBD since she's a Cat 2 so I didn't really have anything motivating me to chase her. I guess no one else was feeling motivated to chase her either because amazingly, she stayed away the whole race. I later found out that it had something to do with the Washington Cup and the Wines women not wanting Michele Conrad to win and make up points on Tricia ... I don't know ... it doesn't really matter to me as a 3.

Once it was clear that we weren't catching Cheryl (by the beginning of lap 2 she had 1:30 on us and at 40 miles it was over 2 minutes) people started attacking again. When it was a faster woman attacking I chased since I didn't want anyone else to get away, when it was someone who I knew couldn't stay away, I just sat in and let everyone else chase.

We really started pushing the pace up that hill after the hard left (corner 2?) and I was definitely working to stay in. Gina from Wines was just hammering up the hills and I just tried to stay close to the front so I wouldn't have to waste any extra energy chasing back on.

When we made the left to the finish Gina attacked and took me and one other Cat 3 with her. I stayed in the saddle and on a wheel to save myself for the final sprint. 200m came faster than I was expecting and I put my head down and started hammering. I realized as I was sprinting that I was spinning out ... still in my small ring ... crap. I was leading but there was another 3 right on my wheel ... crap. I took a risk and shifted into my big ring at full tilt. Luckily no jammed chain or shifting issues. I pushed it across the line, winning the field sprint by what I was told was a decent margin and getting the overall win for the 3's.

Sadly, there were less than 11 women in the 3's so I only got 3 upgrade points. If there had been a few more women I would have gotten the 7 points I need for my Cat 2 upgrade. Oh well ... c'est la vie. I may put my request in anyway and see what Martha says :)

Enumclaw Stage Race: an exercise in pain

Last weekend was my first stage race since my failed attempt at the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic as a Cat 4 in 1999 (I dropped on day 2). I raced the Enumclaw Stage Race in beautiful Enumclaw, WA (horse f*$%er country).

SATURDAY

Saturday was a 10k (actually 6.5 miles) TT in the late morning and a 40 minute crit in the evening.

Lucy and I rolled up to packet pickup to find out that our start times had been pushed up about 20 minutes so we had to scramble to get dressed, pinned, and out to the TT start. Once we got out there I was unable to get air into my front tire. Travis and I both tried to get it to work to no avail and neither of us wanted to pull the valve extender off and screw with it anymore. Luckily my awesome teammate Tim came to my rescue and loaned me his HED Stinger for the race. I warmed up for approximately 3 minutes before heading over to the start tent.

I had never done a TT this short so I just pushed it until my lungs burned the whole time (this was not hard considering the heat and the pollen count).



The course was flat to rolling with one little kicker at around mile 4. I crossed the line in 15:08, comfortably over my goal pace of 25 mph although slightly slower than my reach goal of a sub-15:00 TT. This was good enough to win the Cat 3 TT by over 30 seconds!

After the TT, we had about 7 hours until the start of the crit. I hid out in a room in the hotel and studied while Lucy watched the crits.

It was still hot by the time the 1/2/3 crit started and I wasn't feeling super confident. Unfortunately, I got a really bad start position in the back of the pack and had to fight my way back on as girls were getting shelled.

The crit was like a 40 minute drag race. It made me realize how much I need to work on my accelerations and cornering. I think I just get a little timid in these races and won't fight for a place closer to the front.



I finished a disappointing 12th out of 25 or so Cat 3 women moving me from 1st to 5th in the GC.

SUNDAY

Sunday was the road race. the 1/2/3 women didn't go until the afternoon which meant two things (1) that I got to sleep in and (2) that it was HOT.

We did 4 laps on a 14+ mile course for a total of about 58 or 59 miles. about half way through each loop we climbed mud mountain, a decently brutal 3k climb with two or three 10%+ kicks and slogs.

Lap 1 we shelled a few women and about 4 women got away from the pack. We chased them down, catching them a few miles into lap 2. Same thing happened the second time up the climb.



Lap 3 I was able to stay with the lead pack. The 4th time up the climb, a few women just totally took off and I ended up in a chase pack of 5. We never did catch the lead pack but thankfully there were no other Cat 3 women in that lead pack so I was able to sprint across the line for a 3rd place finish, moving me into 4th in the GC and winning me a total of about $150.

All in all I'm pleased with my performance. I wish I could pull it together in the crits but I'm still pretty new to this so I have a lot of time to learn and improve.

My first win on the road + Onionman Triathlon

I guess this post is kind of a two-fer.

On May 9 I raced the Market Street Road Race in Ravensdale, WA. The Cat 3 women raced with the 1-2 women in this race but were scored separately. The race was 5 loops on a rolling 9 mile course.

We started with about 22-25 women. There were a bunch of Wines, Group Health, IJM.com, Blue Rooster, and even a few Hagens women. I was an orphan as were two other women. The pace was decently fast for the first lap and I think we shelled a few women. The second lap was pretty pedestrian. There were a few half-hearted attacks but nothing stuck.

Then, at the beginning of lap 3 a Group Health girl attacked and took a few other women with her. This break of 5 just kind of hung in front of the pack for a few miles. After a little while, I noticed that the break had a girl from almost every large team in it which is why no one was chasing. Right as I noticed this, Martha, who was also racing alone, made a move up the side of the pack. I jumped on her wheel and when we got to the front I attacked and started chasing the break. It took me a couple of minutes to catch the break and once I did, I realized that I hadn't taken anyone else with me!

I sat in the back of the break for a few minutes while I caught my breath before rotating in to take some pulls. One other girl from the pack caught us making us a group of 7 before the follow car was finally behind us.

The pace was manageable for the rest of laps 3 and 4. On lap 5, the wines girls (who had 3 in the break) started attacking and counter-attacking. I just did my best to hold on. It was during this last lap that I noticed there was only one other Cat 3 woman in the break so all I had to do for the win was beat her.

On the final climb before the 1k mark, we really pushed the pace and dropped one girl. We let off a little bit over the top and then 4 of the 1-2 women took off. I stayed with the other Cat 3 woman and let her pull me to the 200m mark where I sprinted around her and one of the other 1-2 women who had taken off. I finished 4th overall and 1st for the 3's. Not as glorious as being first across the line, but I'll take it.



Last weekend was the Onionman Triathlon in Walla Walla, WA. I did this race once in 2007 and ended up with a really disappointing result, barely finishing in the top 10. This year, I wanted revenge.

SWIM

The swim is 2 laps in a small reservoir just outside of downtown Walla Walla. It's a small race so we do a mass start. Just like last time I did this race, the start was rougher than an Ironman start. Just tons of clawing and dunking and punching. Not much fun.

It took me probably 300m to find a comfortable space to swim in. I was in a pack with a few men and one other woman and I managed to stay with them for the whole swim.

About 3/4 of the way through our 2nd loop, I passed a woman who was still on her first loop. More power to her but man, I couldn't imagine having an hour+ 1500m swim.

I was disappointed with my swim time but when I compared it to other people's I realized that I actually swam really well, the course was just probably long.

Swim: 25:15
4/75 individual women

T1

T1 was uneventful. The transition area is kind of steep so i did more of a shuffle than a run out of the water and onto the bike.

T1: 1:29

BIKE

This bike is what destroyed my race in 2007. I was determined not to let it happen again. The bike is an out and back but it's a false flat the entire way out. I've heard that you gain somewhere between 800-900 feet in the 12.5 miles out to the turnaround. It can also be windy as heck. Sunday was no exception. It was so windy out that when I took my bike out of the car and put the disc wheel on, the wind nearly blew it out of my hands.

The bike was fine for the first few miles until I hit a crosswind near an onion field. I definitely got blown over a foot or two but managed to keep it upright and keep moving.

I passed a few women right off the bat and kept just powering away knowing that after the turnaround it would get a lot faster. At the turnaround, I realized I was in first place although Kara N. was right behind me. I made it my goal not to let Kara pass me until I was off the bike (girl can run) and this was my motivation not to slack just because I was going down hill.

I came into transition feeling good but not super confident in my current run fitness. Kara came in seconds behind me.

Bike: 1:08:34
2/75 individual women

T2

T2 was also fast and uneventful. Kara's T2 was faster than mine and she passed me in transition. Dang.

T2: 0:51

RUN

I know I said I fell apart on the bike in 2007 but the run was where I had really paid for it. I think I ran a bit over 50 minutes last time I did this race ... really disappointing. My goal for this year was to run somewhere in the neighborhood of 48 minutes. My running has been going pretty well although I have been slacking lately so I wasn't sure that I could do it.

Since Kara was just a little in front of me heading out on the run, I did my best to keep her in my sights. I won't lie, I felt like shit. It was windy and hot and my feet hurt and *complain complain complain*.

At the turnaround, I could still see Kara, she had put some time into me, but not too much and no other women had passed me. After I turned around I saw two women right behind me. One was closing in fast and the other was still about .2 miles behind me but was running really fast. I tried not to think about being run down by these women and kept trucking.

A little before a mile to go, one woman passed me. She had definitely picked up the pace and I knew I just didn't have it in my legs to chase her. I tried to stay on her heels but once we hit a hill, I just couldn't.

I kept wanting to look behind me to see if that other woman was going to pass me as well but I made myself just keep focusing on the finish. I could tell that I had blisters on my arches (txs new balance) and I just wanted to be done running as quickly as possible.

With 200m to go, I was pretty darn sure I wasn't going to get run down. I rounded the corner to the finish and saw 2:22:xx on the clock. Awesome! a 10 minute improvement over 2007.

I crossed the line feeling very pleased with myself.

Run: 46:28
6/75 individual women

Overall: 2:22:37
3/75 individual women

All in all, very pleased with this race. I'm happy that all the bike racing I've been doing hasn't killed my triathlon mojo and I'm extra special happy that I got revenge on this race!