Triple Brick

I just finished my first triple brick. This was a 30 mile bike ride/50 minute run/30 mile bike ride/50 minute run/30 mile bike ride/50 minute run, and I have to say I felt great! I actually had so much fun. How could I not have fun when riding with the VOP:

 

 As well as the VPP:

 

So anyway, the day started off well...with the VPP riding together...we didn't stay completely together the entire day, but we were all quite close. The first bike loop was easy, and seemed to go by so fast, and I felt great when I got on the run. I ran the whole 50 minutes, I didn't even do my run/walk that first time. 

The second bike loop and run also went really well...in fact I did both rounds in 2 hours and 45 minutes...but by the time I started on my third bike loop I knew that one was going to be slower. And it was...but I still felt really good through the whole thing. I had eaten some pasta before the last loop and I kept thinking I was going to get a stomach ache, but I didn't, and even though I was tired, I felt strong. The last run was a little slower than the first two...but I didn't get any cramps, and I had a really good time. Oh...I remembered to take my salt pills all day long...maybe that helped.

Anyway, today wasn't great because I had a good day working out...I mean that was good, but what was great was all the support we got from the entire Iron Team. Even though there are only 8 of us who were out there doing the triple brick, the entire staff showed up as well as most of the team. They were out there all day at water stops, running with us, biking with us, giving us water and food. They were truly amazing. It really felt like a family reunion, except maybe with a little less mayonnaise and beer. ;)

Just some examples of the cool things people were doing out there that made this just a perfect day:

Phil feeding us cold watermelon, Les filing our water bottles, Marina doing our run with us, Tony giving us his iced coffee, Dana draping wet towels on us, Helen trying to get us to eat healthy and eat some salad, Jen getting the pizza for us, and Sedonia even gave me my own personal baby wipe bath! There were so many more people out there today, I know I have missed more than a few, but I just hope they all know how much I totally appreciate everything they did for us today. I feel so lucky to be a part of such a big, dedicated, caring group of people. I am truly blessed.

 

 

 

So Thankful

Sometimes I just need to sit back and remind myself how lucky I am, and sometimes something happens which highlights it and I am actually in awe of all of my blessings.

This weekend I spent the weekend with so many of my favorite people. First I got to spend the day with my dad and mom and sister and Dizzie for my dad's birthday on Friday. Then Saturday and Sunday mornings I got to work out with my Iron peeps, open water swimming, trail running, and cycling around tiburon. And both Saturday and Sunday evenings I got to see my friends from high school and got to watch two of my favorite things: Harry Potter and True Blood.

As if getting to spend time with such great people wasn't enough, I was really looked after this weekend. On Sunday we went on a 22 mile ride around Tiburon. We had parked in a $5 parking lot where we placed our money in envelopes and then dropped them in a locked box. When we got back from the ride, which took about 2 hours (hey, we were enjoying ourselves), I walked around to the front of my car and found my wallet sitting on my hood. My wallet, that had all my credit cards and picture ID and cash, was just sitting there and had apparently been sitting there, unattended, for the last two hours. I couldn't believe how lucky I was. I mean, money isn't everything, but it would have been really disappointing to have to cancel all my cards, and go to the DMV to get a new license, and replace everything else that was in the wallet.

So if I get a little frustrated, like when Comcast just decides to start charging me $10 more a month than they said they would...I just breathe and realize I don't need to sweat the small stuff. I had a great weekend, with great friends and family, and the blessings in my life far outnumber the difficulties.

"The Situation"

This weekend Iron Team went up to Napa to ride the Silverado Trail. Vineman peeps got to ride about 54 miles and run 10 minutes, and Canada peeps got to ride 108-110 miles and do 15 minutes of running! On the ride we realized there are just six of us doing Canada, so we are a 6-pack...better known as "The Situation" So I am pleased to introduce you all to the members of "The Situation" who will all be kicking ass in Canada in 45 days!

Bill Fanning: biking and running extraordinaire. He is the first P in our VPP!

Maureen Alford: Badass who decided her first triathlon ever would be an Ironman!

Jasmine Barranti: Founder and President of the VOP and the VPP!

Emily Walton: also known as EMBO, if someone has to get dirty, it will probably be her

Aki Lewis: Miracle Lady...nothing can stop her, not even knee surgery!

Kristy Newstrom: Honey Badger #1, you know she don't give a shit! She is going to rock this course!

Fourth of July

My Fourth of July weekend was so much fun. My friend Liz and I went up to Sierraville (a small town of 300 people which is located 20 miles north of Truckee). My mom grew up there and we were having a family reunion on Sunday. Liz and I got to stay on my aunt's ranch, which she has set up as a perfect camping spot. She has her trailer and then a dining tent set up. She also has a tent set up with mattresses on pallets, so we didn't even have to bring our own tent. There is a creek running through the property and she has a big BBQ set up and a place for a fire pit, as well as two horses. It's absolutely great!

Aunt Mary and Liz at the ranch entrance

Dining area, fire pit, and BBQ

Our awesome tent

The cute creek

So we went up there Thursday and on Friday we woke up, and got ready for our double brick: 30 mile bike, 50 minute run, 30 mile bike, 50 minute run:

Riding around Sierra Valley was great. Two cars went by and stopped to tell us how great we looked! :)

We were exhausted by the time we were done after 6 hours and 10 minutes, but it was nice to be by the creek at twilight:

The next day we got to ride my aunt's horses:

Then we packed up, went to Tahoe and swam for 65 minutes in Crystal Bay. It was so beautiful:

 

 And that night we got all dressed up and went to see Super Diamond (the most awesome Neil Diamond cover band ever!):

 

The next day we woke up and did a 90 minute ride around Tahoe...no we didn't go all around Tahoe in 90 minutes, we did an out and back. And then we went for a 10 minute run. Tahoe is gorgeous!

 

Then it was time to meet the Coprens, so we drove back to Sierra Valley and went to my family reunion in the mountains. Lots of meat, and wine, and just good times!

All in all, I have to say it was a great weekend. My aunt said I can have people come up and camp any time during the summer months...so I am thinking weekend biking/running/swimming camping trip next summer....fundraiser??? Well if I didn't make it a fundraiser people might get confused and think I had been kidnapped by aliens and that they had sent a replacement for me. :)

People Are AMAZING!!!!!

OK, So I haven't written in a while, and I have a couple stories to tell. I will break them up though. I don't know about you guys, but my attention span is not that long, and I wouldn't sit and read a really long blog post, unless it was mostly pictures. So for this post, I will tell you what happened to Dana and I after our ride and picnic at Lake Del Valle last weekend (the weekend before 4th of July weekend).

So the team went out to Lake Del Valle and we had a nice hot ride in the burning sun, mostly up hill:

Something a little disappointing happened on the ride. These stupid guys in a white truck drove past all of us and threw oranges and orange peels at us. 5 of us were hit, and even though no one was seriously hurt, it just made me think poorly of people...but that was soon to change.

After the ride, and a fun picnic with the team, Dana and I packed up our gear and bikes and drove home. We were on the 580 West and I kept looking out the rear view mirror and the bikes were kind of bouncing around on the bike rack. I was driving kind of carefully...apparently Dana just thought I was tired, but I was thinking that I didn't want to pull over and we could probably make it back to Berkeley and then I could tighten the rack when I got to Dana's.

Then I realized I was being kind of stupid, it wouldn't take that long to pull off the freeway and tighten the rack, so why was I risking it? So we pulled off and parked and got out of the car. I went to tighten the strap, and it snapped! Snapped right off and the bike rack fell half way off the car! We were just sitting there staring at the rack with the bikes dangling from it, and I was thinking how lucky we were that it hadn't snapped off on the freeway. Then we were just sitting there looking at the bikes and wondering how we were going to get them home. My small mini cooper was already packed with all of our gear, and even when it is empty I can hardly fit one bike in it, let alone two.

But we didn't have to ponder our dilemma for long. About 2 minutes later, a guy rolls up on his bike and asks us what's wrong. We told him that we were fine, but my bike rack broke and we were just trying to figure out how to get the bikes back to Berkeley. He says it's no problem, and calls his son who apparently has a big jeep and asks him to come meet us. His son then drops what he is doing and drives to Castro Valley and puts Dana's bike in his jeep and then follows us to Berkeley to drop it off! I was overwhelmed with Randy and his son's generosity, and they restored my faith in the kindness of people. Now I just have one dilemma, Dana and I want to thank Randy and his son, but we are unsure of what would be a really good thank you gift. Any suggestions?