Thursday, March 31, 2005

Sex and The City, SF-style


Monday March 28th - "The Bachelor pre-show party" preview
At a birthday party for thirtysomething Clorox exec, Jennifer, the girls convene to update one another on the many comings and goings of their *non-sex* lives. Stacey took the advice of dating guru to single women globally, Greg Cavallo, and we eagerly anticipate the results. Frustrated by the *miSS-timings* of recent crushes, Jeff and Tom, Sarah recently eschewed her demure public persona, accepting a high-profile lap dance from a young GSB'er at Marina standby, ESW. Jamie offers her style tips and cuisine advice to restaurant-challenged, Jen, who is seeking the perfect ambience to wow and entertain out-of-town boyfriend, Matt C. Jordan bemoans the six day lapse since her *hot* date with Rigney, finally acknowledging that 144 hours *time gap* is well outside all male, female, written and unwritten rules.

Saturday, March 12, 2005

Arrested in Tiburon?!?

So I made it back to the US today. 75 degrees and sunny in SF so I went on a brief run then accepted Pete's invite to ride Paradise loop. All was well, felt great, went through a light that was going from amber to red. A police car chased me down and *threw the book* at me. Running a stop sign (which I contested - he was having none of that!) And not carrying an ID (driver's license or passport). He was ready to cuff me and throw me into jail until Pete intervened to vouch on my behalf. What a welcome back! The cop finally warmed up and gave me a mere $250 ticket. Nice. Why is this my life?

Monday, March 07, 2005

Ironman NZ race recap

Where to start?

First of all, thanks to everyone for their well wishes in advance of the race. It was really helpful to know that you were all supporting from afar and watching online.

Results? 11 hours 23 minutes.
7th in my age group, 21st overall woman and 305th of 1175 that started the race.

The swim course is a single loop that hugs the coastline for 1800m, has an 80m turnaround and then returns to shore. With just under 1200 starters, there were some crowds in the first 500m or so but it cleared out pretty quickly. Good and bad. No feet to kick me in the head but no feet to draft off easily. For some reason my goggles were taking in water so I think I stopped 6-7 times to adjust them. I felt like I was in the water forever, so I was pleasantly surprised to see 1:11 on my watch, several minutes faster than IMLP.

I walk-jogged the 500m to T1 which turned out to be a very crowded change tent. It was up to me to find a spot to disrobe the wetsuit and throw on my bike gear.

Then onto the bike - my favorite leg. The bike leg is two loops of flat, false flat and rolling terrain. The first loop was crowded with lots of back and forth with other athletes. I have a power meter on my bike so I just watched the watts, compared it to my heart rate and to how I felt and tried to block out what else was going on around me. First lap completed in 2:47 averaging 200 watts. By the second lap the *crowds* had thinned out dramatically. I rode the first lap conservatively and, feeling warmed up, the second lap was the time to pick up the pace or at least the effort level! The winds were steadily getting stronger as the morning wore on and that left the final 30k of the bike heading uphill into a headwind. I completed the second lap in 2:55 for a bike split of 5:42. However, I averaged 215 watts so the headwind certainly made its presence felt.

Back at T2 and the change tent was a completely different picture than T1. I had the place to myself! Four volunteers attending to my every need, applying sunscreen, putting on my cap etc. Then I headed out onto the run...or perhaps shuffle would be a better description of my run style at this point. I found no rhythm for the first 15k. I ate a gel, drank water, grabbed a handful of chips (salt) but nothing could get me moving. Then I decided to risk drinking a little coke.
I haven't trained with it but I drink at least a can of diet coke a day so I figured it couldn't hurt me. The coke turned out to be the endurance athlete's elixir. I was completely re-energized and stepped up the pace dramatically. Going from 6+ minutes per km to 5mins or so. Not world class marathon pace but it looked more like a run than a walk. I just wish the aid stations were closer together (every 2.5km) so I could have swigged down more of the stuff! I slowed towards the end of the marathon but by my clock I did manage to negative split the run and finish the marathon in 4:18.

That's pretty much my race story. The day was warm and sunny, the winds
were ever-present and the crowds were plentiful and highly supportive.

Afterwards, in the massage/food tent I was sitting next to Bjorn Anderssen, last year's 3rd place athlete. In my fatigued state I remarked: "how do you do this for a living?" To which he quickly retorted: "it's only a living if you win money." He'd had a tough time on the marathon but showed his guts to stick it out, walking to the finish line with fellow Swede and last year's 2nd place guy, Clas Bjorling, to hUGe applause from the crowds.