Pics

2010: http://www.brightroom.com/view_user_event.asp?EVENTID=61945&BIB=1349&S=230&PWD=


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2008: http://www.brightroom.com/view_user_event.asp?EVENTID=41286&BIB=1423&LNSEARCH=1&PWD=

Lake Tahoe Half Marathon in 2008, was truly a fucking miserable experience. Not that running 13.1 miles after Bike Around the Lake wasn't difficult... but you can see on my face in in '08 how miserable it was! Hot, sunny, and no oxygen! I only had to learn that lesson once! Wear sunglasses & bring water when running in Tahoe!

Boom!

Looked up the results from the races this weekend. I came in 3rd place for my age group on the bike & 7th for my age group on the run. And 150/590 overall for the half marathon. Pretty excited.

87.6

That's how many miles I put in at Tahoe this weekend. Total time was 8 hours 13 minutes. Here's the break down:

Swim - 1:20, Bike - 4:45, Run- 2:08

You know I did that run in 2008 & my time was 2:48 and I hadn't done any events prior. So to improve by almost an hour after biking 72 miles the day before, it felt damn good. I didn't stop once during the half marathon - not even on Hell Hill. I held my own and just kept going 'til the finish. I felt good through out the whole weekend (okay at mile 62 on the bike, I lost it mentally, and may have had a short conversation with myself out loud) and it's one of the few times I've walked away happy with time & performance. This weekend really just showed me if I can swim, ride, and run Tahoe at these distances, temperature, and altitude, I sure as hell can do 140.6 in Lake Placid. I'm calling it now that I will most likely cry at the finish line that night. I choked up seeing 2:08!

My legs are tired, depleted, sore and swollen. My upper body hurts and I badly need a massage. R&R for the next week. I wanted to do the Bridge to Bridge 12k on the 3rd but the thought of waking up to go to another competition (after three days in a row) .... um pass, thank you very much.

Finally!

I finally learned how to change a bike tire. Yes, it was months of procrastination, but I finally did it. And the only reason why I forced myself to do it now is because no cyclist is going to stop and help me if I get a flat on the course. And I got a flat the other week in San Jose. A friend had to pick me up and take me to Performance Bike to get it changed. Yes, that was hitting rock bottom and admitting, I have paid over $2k towards this thing and I don't even know how to take care of it.

Packing an insane amount of gear & clothes for this weekend! Bike, helmet, wetsuit, goggles, speedo, energy gels, 4 water bottles, bike outfit, running outfit, sunblock, chamoise butter, KT tape, asics, bike lock, bike pump ..... and I'm bringing the foam roller to roll out my IT bands.

Can't wait!

Tapered _ Out

So ready to get to Tahoe and just do the damn thing. I'm rested and ready & I'm starting to feel like a slug. I went on a ride this morning and even though I was rained on the second half, it was so nice. I've barely worked out in the last week - at first it was nice, since I had the unpleasantness of a couple muscle spasms in my back - but now I feel sluggish and lazy and just want to sweat & move. I know that when I'm at 6800 feet in the sun & climbing on the bike for 72 miles, I'm going to be glad my legs aren't tired, but ugh I feel gross. I actually looked up local Boot Camp classes and then realized that is just ridiculous. Hopefully half hours of cross training on Monday and Tuesday will hold me over.

The Loin

The Loin - Tenderloin that is. It's a neighborhood here in SF known for it's wonderful habitants of crackheads, drug dealers, prostitutes, homeless, and in general, foul looking creatures. I swear to God once I saw a woman who looked exactly like the creature from Lord of the Rings - the one who always says "My Precious".

Anyways, I always ride through here because it's the most bike friendly/conveinent way for me to get to the other side of the city. Sometimes it's hard to ride here because of the smell though - those who roll in their fesces and sleep in their urine create such a stench that I have literally gagged on Polk Street before. Last night I was riding through on my way back from PT and stopped at a corner that held the usual Tenderloin suspects and I swear, instantly, in my head I started singing that song "the freaks come out at night"

I have no point here, nor can I relate this to the Ironman or training, but I just thought I'd give everyone a taste of what I see for a few miles in my daily rides. The freaks come out at night...the freaks come out at night

8 Days 'til Tahoe!

In 8 days I will set out to Lake Tahoe to take on the Triple Challenge: 2.5 mile swim, 72 mile bike, and a 13.1 mile run. It is very important that I REST and have FRESH muscles for the events.

To be perfectly honest, I am excited and dreading the event at the same time. I hope to God the swim isn't as horrible as I am anticipating. The cycle portion, I'm just going to accept as horrible and God awful, but maybe the downhills will be fun. As far as the run, I think it will be mentally the worst, but at least I can walk parts of it.

But I swear I actually am looking forward to it. It's exciting to compete, even if you know you're not achieving a PR that day, it's just fun to be in it with a group of others. You're competing as individuals, but at the end, you share the same experiences. Whether it's the climb, weather, a difficult course, etc, you all did it and share in that. At the finish line you share stories and agree that, the mud puddle on mile 4 was the nastiest thing Ive ever run through, or holy mother of God didn't you just feel like death on that last hill? It's strange, even though you all came there as individuals, you share this comradeship.

It will be mentally frustrating out there for me, because in all the competitions I've done in 2010, I've blown away my time at every single race. Now I'm going for experience, and to get a sense of how my body will feel, and see where I need to improve. And to see what it's like to compete on a bike.

So while the weekend of torture looms ahead of me, I'll be resting here in San Francisco. That's right - it's the week of taper!! I usually hate tapering, but you know what? After that ride to Mt. Tam, I'm really looking forward to it. In fact, I bought tickets to two plays, RSVPd to a party on Angel Island, and hope to see some of the new documentaries playing at the Roxie. I want fresh legs and no aches and pains (had a few back spasms earlier this month, and I really do not want to chance anything from now til then). I need to focus on rest, proper nutrition, and mentally prep myself for the tough parts of each course. And of course, enjoy all my social activities I have planned out from now til the 23rd.

Skyline Blvd

Finally followed through on something today I've been saying since January - biked from work to the city. I took Skyline Blvd from the Peninsula all the way to Great Highway, and then went up to the Presidio, then down to the bay part of the city. Didn't realize the gain in the first few miles of the ride until I checked the elevation guide on mapmyride - almost 600ft in first 2 miles! Now it makes sense why the first 30 minutes felt like hell...

So it was a bit nerve racking to do the stretch from South San Francisco through Pacifica. I had to go on the highway - it was legal, and signs are up to share the road - but when I realized I was on 35, 280, and the 1, and there was a sign that said "Begin highway", I actually reversed and went back 200 feet. Then realized I had no where to go but the highway, and would have to suck it up for the next mile or two. And it wasn't that bad. Well, the part where the truck wanted to take the exit that I was biking across was bad, but other than that, it was okay.

Definitely had a sense of accomplishment when I saw the City and County of San Francisco sign. And relieved to see the Ocean! I couldn't believe I basically went from SFO airport to the Ocean, yes at one point I almost backed out and I did have to check my iPhone once, but I did it. It's been done, finally, and it was fun to do my usual route in reverse.

So lesson learned, I need to stop procrastinating some things, because once you do it, it really isn't that bad. And it never hurts to go outside your comfort zone once in a while.

Climb and Climb and Climb, then Climb some more!

Mt. Tamalpais - hours to get up, minutes to come down. That was yesterday's ride from the Mission district to the summit of Mt. Tam in Marin County. Myself and four others from MA set out to conquer the 2,600 ft mountain north of the city. Tam is a big recreation spot for those who live in the city & Marin. It's home to trails for runners, hikers, and mountain bikes. Cyclists and cars take on Route 1, Panoramic & Pantoll Roads and if you go down the west side of the mountain, you have your pick of beaches to surf or swim at too.


We all met up at the Bridge and then rode down to Mill Valley. The initial 750 feet were God awful. The ride to Mill Valley was decent and easy, then all of a sudden you're just hit with an instant hill. We stopped at 750 believing we had to be 1000-1200 feet along the way... unfortunately, we thought wrong. I know 2600 feet doesn't sound like a lot, but it's a gradual climb. It's about 7-9 miles depending on where you start from. So you're climbing steadily for hours.


Sun, sunburn, heat, warm water bottle, melting granola bars, neck cramps, covered in dirt & grease, cars trying to rush to the beach, these were just some of the conditions. When we reached the amphitheatre, (there is a theatre built into the mountain) I think I had hit the point in the day where I was no longer in the right state of mind. I remembered that my first trail run started at that amphitheatre. The Mt. Tam Wild Boar 18k trail race - sponsored by Envirosports.

It was in May 2008, and I was such a newbie. I had idea what I was doing. I had no idea what trail running really was. Dave Horning, the race director gives a speech at every race and that day he started by telling us that "you're going to start out, and you're gonna climb and climb, and climb, and just when you think you're done - you're going to climb some more!" Well that was certainly true yesterday. But who would have thought that first trail race would catapult me into so many competitions in the bay area?

Riding by the theater was definitely one of those "whoa, I've come a long way since then" moments. I was probably still hung over from the night before, and most likely had a latte and a bagel with cream cheese (because who doesn't love a stomach full of dairy before an 18k run?), and I think I wore cotton. I ran fast & hard for the first few miles, then had to walk/run, and drank too much at the water station, so then I felt sick.... I was a mess. I swore I never would do it again. The people who sign up for these races are crazy, the people who organize them are crazy, who would construct such a course?!

I ended up running another 4-5 trail runs with Envirosports that year. In 2009 I did maybe a dozen or so more, including Alcatraz. It was my first time on Mt. Tam that day - the Wild Boar run. And since then, I have hiked, cycled, run, and mountain biked all over that thing. It might suck sometimes, but I never feel worse after working out on Mt. Tam. Obviously some learning lessons along the way have helped make the experience more enjoyable!

And yesterday was no different. When we reached the top - views were amazing. The ride down was awesome and well worth the hellish climb. This will be my last long ride before Tahoe - taper is officially starting!