I feel the need... the need for SPEED!!!

After IMTX my new goal became to work on my speed.  I refuse to say that I had a "bad" race at IMTX because there is no such thing, but I do feel that I could do better... minus the heat exhaustion!  Training for an Ironman was a lot different than training for a sprint, olympic, or even a half Ironman.  My focus had switched from speed to endurance, which meant my training times were a tad slower than I was use to.  So after sitting down with Coachie & planning my life after Ironman, we decided that Longhorn 70.3 will be my next A race, with a few Olympic tri's before that to amp up my speed.  I told Allen my new goal & he told me I needed to visualize speed, feel speed around me, and be speed!  He may have regretted that advice because for the past few weeks I have been like a crack addict, speed freak, focusing on all things... FAST!!! :-)  It worked though:

First came Tri for Old Glory, an Olympic distance, in San Marcos.  I had sat on the idea of registering for a while, being that none of my Iron-Whiners were doing it too.  The weekend before was Buffalo Springs 70.3, a super hot & tough course that Kris & Dawn were racing.  I virtually cheered for them all day watching them CRUSH the course & setting PRs!  Well, that's all it takes to get pumped up and sign up for a race of your own.  That day I bit the bullet and signed up for Tri for Old Glory, alone!  Race morning came & I drove out to San Marcos, alone.  I set up my gear in transition, a strange feeling because I had not done a race with a true transition in a long time.  Ironman races give you bags that you prepare & drop off the night before.  I looked to my left & looked to my right, no familiar bikes racked next to me, that's ok.  Then like a ray of light from the heavens, I saw a brand spanking new Cervélo, similar to mine... Denise!!!  I was so excited to see a familiar face!  She introduced me to her friend Anita who was also racing & we chatted & passed the time until it was time to start the swim.

Transition piled into my helmet due to ants!

Denise & I & our beautiful bikes!

My age group was the second group in the water, time trial start.  Coachie had given us all a pep talk about how she had won her age group at Buffalo Springs, mainly on the swim.  So keeping that in mind I left it all out there.  It was an out and back swim with buoys to our left.  About half way out I took a left at one of the buoys and then realized there was no one in front of me. Yikes!  I turned at the wrong buoy!  Luckily, I had only taken a stroke or two before I realized I was not at the turn around yet!  I got back on course and kept the pressure on.  I remembered reading on Hillary's blog once that it is the athletes responsibility to know the course.  Mental note to self, this includes the swim course!  As I rounded the last buoy I spotted the swim exit and gave it all I had.  I noticed a lot of people breaststroking their way out of the water, not me!  I heard Coachie's voice telling me to push until the end.  Finally, my hand touched the bottom and I knew it was time to stand up & exit.

I got on my bike and put the pressure on!  A mile into the course, chip seal... yuck!  Oh well, you get what you get & you don't throw a fit!  Keep pedaling... hard!  I had put a lot of thought into my water bottle situation and asked my friends for their advice the night before.  I decided to go with one bottle & to freeze half of it the night before, hoping it would melt but still be cold by  the time I got on my bike.  At mile 4, I reached back for a drink; Ahhhh, cool & refreshing!  As I went to put it back, pot hole!  I Jack Motted my bottle of Infinit!!!  I quickly tapped my breaks, then thought, "Hell, NO!"  19 miles to go and now I have NO reason to get out of aero position!  Stay down & pedal on!  I thought about asking fellow riders for some water as I passed them, but wasn't sure how well that would have been received.  Around mile 19, the first female passed me going up a slight incline.  It was Anita!  "Go, Anita!"  This is where doing my homework had paid off.  I knew the last 3-4miles on the bike elevation map were downhill, so I thought "Get on her wheel & don't let go!"  Much to my surprise we rode into transition together.

I quickly threw on my running shoes, which had speed laces on them now ;-) and headed out on the run.  As I was leaving transition, I saw Anita out of the corner of my eye still by her bike.  I took off at a decent pace, trying to keep the gas on, as Coachie tells us.  At the first water station I saw Kelly who was volunteering.  She yelled to me that I was in first place and to keep it up!  I knew I wasn't in first, but wanted to at least keep my position.  Anxiety kept building as I kept waiting for Anita to pass me by.  I don't like the feeling of being chased, so this made me mentally stronger.  And in her defense, Anita was just coming back from injury & was not 100%.  I saw Denise on a few of the turn arounds as well & her beaming smile energized me.  By the second lap I felt slow as molasses and wanted to walk just a little bit.  I looked down at my Garmin after much resistance & realized I was at a much faster pace than expected.  Alright, let's finish this, I can keep this up until the finish.  Second place in my age group, but more importantly a 14min PR for the Olympic distance!

Next came Marble Falls, Spri-lympic, not quite an Olympic distance, the swim was only 1000m & the run was 4.4mi.  Team Alvarez was back in action & Team Loftin was in as well, along with Denise.  Something about knowing that you have friends out on the course suffering with you makes it a little more enjoyable.  I had set a few goals for this race: 1) to catch Brian on the swim.  His wave went off 3min. before Orissa & mine.  2) to hold Denise off for as long as I could.  Her wave went off 6min after ours. 3) because it was a short race... Balls to the Wall!!!

Orissa, Karen, Kevin, & Michelle

Team Alvarez

The swim was great to was a mass start by age group.  Orissa & I made our way into the water and I quickly got a front & left position in order to hug the buoys.  I yelled to Orissa to get on my feet, then Boom!... it was Go Time!  I got into my rhythm and tried to keep the pressure on.  I learned from the previous tri to know your swim route!  I counted the buoys while still on land so I wouldn't have any doubt where the turn around was.  I passed the first blue cap (men's wave before us) before I got to the turn around buoy.  The whole way back I tried to sight the next buoy and the next blue cap I was going to pass.  I swam full throttle until the very end until my hand touched bottom & I knew I could stand & run!  I ran up the delightful hill that brought us to transition & ran to my bike rack.  First thing I noticed was Brian's bike (with his mini American flag)!  My first thought was "I hope Brian's ok!"  My next thought was "Did I really beat him out of the water?"  Goal #1, check!

I grabbed my bike & took off as fast as I could.  I knew now that the next goal was to hold him off on the bike as long as I could!  That didn't last long, by mile 2 or 3 I heard him coming up behind me, "Go, Aixa!"  I tried to grab onto his wheel but that only lasted until the next hill.  At the turn around I saw Orlando & was energized by his cheers!  On the way back I saw and cheered for Orissa, Karen, Michelle, & Kevin... all wearing Smash!  How could you miss those beauties!?  The course was tough with some good climbs and even better descents.  I rolled into transition, grabbed my shoes and took off.

It was hot & my legs were feeling the effects of the tough bike course.  I tried to keep the pressure on as best I could, but I felt like I was fading.  About half way through I saw Brian already on his way back, he looked super strong & gave me a burst of energy.  On the homestretch I saw Orissa and gave her a weak Holla!  Brian was waiting for us at the last turn.  He yelled to me that the finish was just around the corner after those trees!  What he failed to mention (purposely, I'm sure) was the nasty little hill we had to beast up to reach the finish.  I pumped my arms as best I could to get up the hill and... D.O.N.E.!  Somehow that 4.4mi run seemed 10x harder than the 6.2mi I had done a few weeks before.  I assume the bike had taken a lot out of my legs.  Regardless, I was super excited with a 1st place age group finish!

The following day Allen & I took off for a week long of rest & relaxation in Ocho Rios, Jamaica! :-)

                                       

Feelin' the Love @ a 5K!

My last 5k was in May of 2011 with my speedy friend Janet.  When we finished the race I vaguely remember a vow saying we'd never pay to run anything less than a 13.1!  Running snobs, I know!  Well, once again, never say never came back to bite me.  When Kris & Shelly mentioned they were doing a 5K for work AND it was going to be in my backyard, I said cool... I'M IN! We had originally planned on bandit-ing the race, the Iron-whiners, but then I realized how "un-cool" Kris & Shelly would look at work Monday morning having showed up with a bunch of friends to SMASH a 5K.  Under false pretenses; I thought the race benefitted Kris & Shelly's work, not that they were doing it as a team building exercise FOR work; I paid my $40 and signed up to run in my backyard!

I had a bit of a different Sunday long run on my plan.  I was suppose to do 4mi race pace (I assume not 5K race pace, but that's ok!) followed by 4mi cruise in the afternoon.  What?, who wants to get sweaty twice?!  So I ran ~2mi from my house to the race & met Kris & Shelly there.  It's been awhile since we've all been together, Shelly is 19wks pregnant, YAY!  We stood around for a little bit and got our race instructions, then Kris & I went out for a 1mi warm up.  We talked about our "game plan".  Kris' goal was to crush some co-workers!  She pointed them out, so I had their numbers too!  My game plan was to barrel it down the hill & try to save some to make it back up at the end!  In all fairness, I felt like I had a home court advantage.  We were running the same course which included my 0.25mi hill repeat workout.  I've done this hill 10x at once, this time will only be once, but it will feel like #9... You GOT this!

3miles done for warm up... Now it's GO time!  We didn't toe the line, so we were weaving and bobbing initially.  I finally found my pace and went for it.  I was feeling comfortable the first 1.5mi, mainly because it was downhill and then flat! A little after the turn around, which was literally my backyard, I saw Kris, she was right on my tail as we had planned!  She yelled at me to run faster, I was in second place!  What? Really?... so that lady 10ft in front of me must have been first!  Do I go for it?  Do I hold back a bit and save it for the hill?  I don't know, I've never led a race before!  Let's go for it!!! I picked up my pace enough to pass her & tried to hold my lead.  I've never liked the feeling of chasing anyone or being chased, I like to run my own race, which is a lot easier when you're in the middle of the pack.  Time to step up!

Right before I got to the hill, I felt and hear something that would make Kris cringe!  My shoelace came untied!  Immediately I thought, Kris would KILL me if I stopped to tie it... especially in a race!  It has happened multiple times on training runs, to which Kris would yell at me, "That's ridiculous! I'm not stopping!" ;-).  So I kept running.  I was even imagined myself sprinting for the finish line with one shoe flying off!  I guess in a way it helped a little because I was half way up the hill already & wasn't even thinking about it.  Still in first place, I heard a sweet little voice behind me, "You can stop and tie your shoelace, if you want!"  "No, that's ok!", I replied.  "No, really, it's unsafe!  I will stop with you!"  WHAT?!  I didn't know what to make of it!  So, I quickly stopped, tied my shoelace & said, "Thank you, let's finish this together!"

For a moment my heart melted at the show of camaraderie I had just witnessed!  Usually in triathlons, we are fighting for dear life trying to stay out of DB age groupers way, who will knock you off your bike and keep going!  But the race was not over yet, no time to get sappy now!  We continued along side of each other for a little bit until she said, "Go ahead!"  That was my cue to wrap it up, I knew the finish was around the corner.  I crossed the finish line with a huge smile on my face & a warm feeling in my heart!

After the race, I introduced myself to my new found hero, who's 9y/o son had won his age group!  For me, THIS is what "racing" is all about!  Bringing people together from all walks, (or runs,) of life; for one main goal... to be healthy!  First place or last place we all showed up & got our groove on!!!  First thing that I did when I got home was tell my daughters how this "competition" turned into a show of friendship & caring!  These are the hidden lessons that I want my children to thrive from!

Ironman, the aftermath...

Everyone always warns you, but just like in training, you won't actually know until you are there.  Well, I am definitely "there", post-Ironman boredom!  Some have actually called it a depression, but luckily I haven't sank that low.  The week following the race I followed a structured "cool down" plan, an easy swim 2x, an easy run 3x, and an easy 45min ride.  Then my plan ended.
Monday came and I checked workout log.  I knew I hadn't paid my coach, so I didn't actually expect a plan to be there.  I remember saying during Ironman training that once this was all over I was going to take a whole month off.  OK, well the time has come & I can only stand 1 week!  I'm itching to workout, but forcing myself to take a mental break.  In the meantime, I've been entertaining myself with other activities such as shopping, getting my car washed, organizing the girls dresser drawers, lunch with my ladies, anything to get my mind off of swim, bike, run.  By Tuesday I had already texted Coachie, "Help! I'm bored!"  Of course, she reassured me that this was all part of the journey & my body needed to recover, all things that I knew, but didn't relieve the itch.
Today we had lunch and planned out my triathlon future & discussed all things glorious about triathlon!  Now I'm back to feeling normal, with butterflies in my stomach, thinking what am I getting myself into next!  Ahhh... the journey continues...

I AM an IRONMAN! :-)

As I bask in the glow of this that they call Ironman, I finally understand a lot of the lessons I learned along they way.  When I crossed the finish line and heard those words I had been waiting to here for almost 6 months now, I didn't feel like I had reached the finish; I felt like I was passing through the golden gates and entering into a very prestigious club and it was just a mere milestone along my Ironman journey.

Race weekend started on Thursday when Kris, Robert, & I headed to the Woodlands for packet pick up and the athlete's dinner.  In similar fashion with any other ride, run, or event during the season, we were matchy matchy all the way.  Linda & Jenny met us at the hotel & together the four of us went together to make it official... #314 in da houzzz!!!  Walking around the expo we were called out for our matching outfits and asked to be interviewed for YouTube Ironman AG stories...video  That night we attended the athletes dinner and met up with a HUGE San Antonio crowd!  This just got even better!!!

Friday we went to Lake Woodlands for a practice swim.  The temperature was perfect and at that point it think it was still wetsuit legal.  It was until race morning that it was officially announced that the swim was wetsuit optional with a 10min penalty.  I practiced a little sighting and also drafting off of Jenny's feet.  Being that visibility was close to zero, I instinctively turned to tactile drafting, I was feeling with my hands the bubbles from her feet.  Cool.  After our swim, we went back to the hotel and gathered our belongings for bike & gear check-in.  After check-in we headed to Lululemon for a little retail therapy to calm our nerves, and also because we had heard that all of the athletes names participating in IMTX were on the window.

   

Race morning came early, alarm went off at 3:45am, but I had already been up multiples times looking at the clock.  It's game day!!!  Robert dropped Kris & I in front of transition and we went in to drop off our nutrition, air up our tires, and make sure everything was in its proper place.  Then we started the mile walk to the swim start.  Here we met up with Orissa & Brian, Shelly & Patrick, Herb, Heather; Hooray, all of the Iron-Whiners were here!  Next thing I knew we were being herded into the water to start treading water.  Kris & I let Linda go on ahead, she was vying for a front row spot!  Kris & I finally got in and tried to find an open area.  We gave each other one last hug and said have a wonderful race day!  BOOM!  GO TIME!

SWIM- 2.4 miles
I tried to stay in the open area that Kris & I had wiggled into before the start.  I tried to settled into my stroke as fast as I could.  I tried sighting the buoys a few times and realized that was going to be impossible.  From then on I sighted on the flow of traffic.  I'm pretty sure I was swimming all over the course because of this, but I'll never know because my Garmin got kicked into T2 20min into the swim.  Luckily, I had a great swim in the sense that I did not get beat up, have my googles knocked off, or get swam over.  I took the turn into the canal, the final 900m stretch, and it occurred to me that I was almost done with the first leg of my first Ironman, it was actually unfolding before me.  As I approached the finish I had no idea where it was, left or right?; 100m or 200m?  Finally, I was about 15m from the swim exit and I saw that arch on my left.  I exited the swim with a HUGE smile, DONE!
...1:19:25!

T1- 6:18
I quickly grabbed my bike gear bag and ran for the changing tent.  I was ready for some intense pampering from all that I had heard, they will put your shoes on, have them help you with your cool wings, I even heard horror of volunteers offering to put on chamois cream.  "I need help!", I yelled as I ran into transition, just as I had been instructed to by Coachie!  Great, a volunteer came over to me and stood in front of my chair and... dumped out my bag in front of me!  I started to grab my things and put them on myself and finally asked, "could you help me with my cool wings?" I stood up and she held them out as if slipping on a silk robe!  Are you serious?  I forced my still wet arm into the sleeves and left them all wrinkled.  "My shoes! I need my shoes!" Hoping she would put them on me, all she did was move them closer to me.  OK, thanks for your help... I got it from here!  I ran to my bike still fixing my cool wings and shaking my head... not the royal treatment I had imagined.

BIKE- 112 miles
I ran to the bike mount line and hopped on my bike.  As I started pedaling, I saw Allen with Ailani on his shoulders & Aleina at his side.  I gave Allen a quick high five and yelled a quick "I LOVE you guys!"  It was time to settle in and get comfortable.  I had already been warned by Coachie that I needed to go out "crazy, stupid, slow."  The first 20miles flew by, I remember looking at my Garmin and thinking it's already been an hour!  I stopped at mile 30 to get some water and mix my Infinit bottles.  I headed back out very impressed with the ride so far.  There had been a nice tailwind, the roads were smooth like butter, and the heat was fairly tolerable... at that point!  The next time I checked my Garmin was at 56miles, 2:58!  I was a little nervous that I had gone out too fast, but I felt fine and just thanked the tailwind.  The second half was a combination of crosswind & head wind, but I had ridden Castroville plenty of times and every time there was some sort of wind, I got this!  I remember approaching a righthand turn and seeing a little boy on the corner holding a flag, it was standing sharp at attention!  Headwind... here we go!  I buckled down and broke it down into 10mile sections.  I stopped at mile 90 for a quick pee break & hopped back on to finish the ride.  The last 2miles dragged on, as they always do when you are praying for T2.  I hit the dismount line and jumped off my bike with a HUGE smile, DONE!
..6:21:48!

T2-7:16
As I headed for my run gear bag, a volunteer called out for my helmet & shoes.  I clipped off my helmet and handed it to them, but kept my shoes on.  I was too tired to take them off standing, I would later find out that was a wise choice.  My friend Jeff & about 300 others who did take their shoes off ended up with 2nd degree burns to the bottoms of their feet from the heated pavement!  I ran into the changing tent expecting to do everything myself again.  Luckily, my volunteer was a lot more helpful this time.  I quickly geared up for the marathon that faced me.  I looked up for a split second and saw Linda exiting the tent.  I yelled, "Linda!" and my volunteer asked, "Do you want me to go get her?", "YES!"  I ran out of T2 and couldn't believe it, I was about to start the run with my training partner for the past 6mo!  This is AWESOME!

RUN- 26.2 miles

We started the run & quickly exchanged stories of how our day had been going.  Neither of us had seen Kris at that point in the race yet and just wanted to know if she was onto the run... that meant she was off the bike!  We ran the first mile or so together and then Linda went on ahead.  I was trying to take it all in as I ran/ walked the first lap.  It was actually happening, I was becoming an Ironman!  I completed the first lap at a decent pace being that I still had my cycling legs, but by then second lap, I was a runner.  I started to feel really good and was in a good  rhythm.  I caught up to Linda and ran/ walked for a bit.  She looked like she was hurting at this point, a look I would soon see in myself!  But since I was feeling good I ran on ahead.  Again, I thought, I am on my second lap, one more lap until I am an Ironman.  I got this!  Lap three... THIS is what becoming an Ironman is all about!!!  Nausea, dizziness, lack of sweat... Uh, Oh... I know exactly what is happening here and it's too late to fix it!  Heat exhaustion was setting in!  The last few people I remember seeing before "the bridge" were Marco & a little further down was Patrick, Linda's husband.  I knew my race was taking a turn, when I heard them cheering and I could barely usher a smile.  I tried running because it had felt so great a little while ago... not anymore!  I made it to the bridge just in time to stand on the edge and lean over!  Vomiting!  I was hoping to get it all out, feel better, and keep running!  I had seen a sign earlier that had made me laugh, which had just become me: PUKE & RALLY!  I tried to rally, but it only made me more dizzy & nauseous.  I looked at my watch and I knew that if I walked I would still make it home by midnight.  That's when the switch got flipped into survival mode and I just needed to keep moving forward.  A couple of people tried to pick me up and get me to run with them when they heard it was my last lap, but I gracefully declined.  Mostly because I didn't want to puke all over my new found friend who was only trying to help.  With about 5 miles to go, I saw Roland!  I knew he HAD to have been struggling because he had started the race having had food poisoning a few days before.  Yikes!  We walked together and tried to keep each others minds occupied by talking as we kept making forward progress.  We also picked up Jeff along the way and walked a bit with him.  Jeff had the misfortune of burning his feet on the hot asphalt when he transitioned from bike to run.  I remember at one point I told Roland my husband's info was on my Road ID band in case anything happened, like passing out, I've been known to do that.  He reassured me I would be fine and he would see me cross the finish.  We had just finished the last 0.5mile out & back when we saw Kris!  The first time ALL day that I had seen Kris!  I told her I was hurting, she said she was too, but she looked great and strong!  Roland & I kept walking and as I approached the finishers shoot I saw a bench!  I need to sit on that bench!  Roland disapproved immediately, but I PROMISED him I would get up!  I took what seemed 30sec. to breathe and stretch a bit.  Then I got up, "Let's DO THIS!"  As we started to run into the finishers shoot, Kris came running up behind us... "Let's FINISH THIS!"  "YES!", I screamed, "Let's FINISH THIS!"  6 months of training and working together towards the same goal, our first Ironman finish!!!  And we were going to get to finish TOGETHER!!!  We gave high fives and hugs in the finishers shoot to family & friends.  Kris had to slow me down and tell me to take it all in!  Then what we heard next was never what we had imagined in a million years... Aixa Alvarez AND Kristina Cordova... YOU'RE IRONMEN!!!
...6:31:30!

T3- medical tent
I had already decided when I started vomiting that I would be going straight to the medical tent for an IV after I finished.  But what happened next was a whirlwind!  Kris & I crossed the finish line, gave a HUGE hug, smiled for a picture, and then... more vomiting!  I tried to make it to a corner and not puke on anyone, Kris thanked me later!  Next thing I knew I was sitting in a wheelchair and being escorted by Heather & Omar to the medical tent.  Along the way I saw Coachie!  I gave her a quick thumbs up & told her I'll be right back.  Then I saw Allen & the girls!  I tried to smile my best, so that he would know I was ok!  He gave me a look that said I am so proud of you, then a quick sneer that said why are you hurting the woman I love!  As I entered the medical tent, I immediately thought, Wow, this IS all it was talked up to be!  The first room was filled with people in chairs icing knees, taping blisters, etc.  The second room was twice the size and filled with stretchers and IV poles and it was FULL!  They quickly drew labs and asked a few questions, including if I had urinated on the run... yikes, NO!  My creatinine was 2.1, yikes! Acute renal failure!  The rest of my labs were surprisingly good, my sodium was 140, normal.  That told me I did good with the salt tabs, but not enough water!  Lesson learned.  I sat back and chatted with the girl next to me about her race while my IV finished.  I exited the medical tent and there was my family waiting for me with open arms!  NOW my IRONMAN was complete!  WE did it!!!

Camp Day #4... finally too!

Day #4... another 7am start, but today it was for my favorite... a RUN; yet not... a TRAIL run!  I have NEVER trail ran, except for maybe a small of road portion at the Kerrville Tri.  I was slightly nervous because we had already decided 1:4 will fall... who was it going to be Kris, Linda, Herb, or myself?  Nobody wanted to take one for the team!











Once again, we were split up in groups.  Hillary's team consisted of Linda, Kris, Marc, Kate, Susan, & myself.  I started out on Hillary's heels, mimicking every step she took, yet leaving enough room between us that I could see where my feet needed to go.  WOW, this takes focus and concentration, but once I got the hang of it... it was kinda fun!

Well, for the first 2hrs at least.  By then, Linda had stepped up... and took one for the team!  Ouch!  I put my Dr. hat on and cleaned her up really quick, scrubbing some rock pieces out with water.  She wasn't my biggest fan at the time, but she thanks me now... ouch!  And like a true trooper, Linda headed back out with the team to finish up the run.  It was around the 2hr mark that I remember Hillary pointing out the JW Marriott (near our casitas) and then we continued running... AWAY from them!  Aye!  3 1/2hrs later our run was over... and so was camp! ;-(  We DID IT... We SURVIVED Camp!!!

Camp Day 3... finally :-)

 Day #3 started off bright and early... again... at 7am!  The mornings in Tucson were pretty chilly, so the idea of getting in the pool... again... was less than appealing, even to Linda, the human fish.  We made our way down the to pool, and assumed our respective lanes.  Kris, Taryn, & I got to chase each others feet again, if you ask us, we could probably go into pretty deep detail after 3 days :-)  Luckily, this was more of a technique swim and was a pretty short set.  Good thing, because afterwards we saddled up to ride Mt. Lemmon!
We parked our cars and started the ride up the access road towards Mt. Lemmon.  Our group consisted of Hilary, Kris, Linda, Taryn, Kate, & myself... Smashing Girls!!!  This had been the ride we had all been waiting for.  Listed amongst the most epic bike rides in the US, with a 27 mile climb at about 5% grade, this was going to be one for the books!  I knew it was going to be a challenge, I knew it was going to burn... constantly, I knew there was only one way up & no way to get out... so time to pedal... and pedal... and pedal!!!  But what I also knew was that at the top awaited the prize of all prizes, the infamous, the coveted, the most ginormous cookie I had ever seen in pics... and I was going to ride to one!!!  After miles and miles of changing scenery; from rock formations, to cactus, to pine trees, and finally snow, we made it to The Cookie Cabin!!!  We made it!!!

http://www.bicycling.com/ride-maps/featured-rides/desert-classics

               

The decent was #2 on my list of things I looked forward to.  After we threw on a few layers that we had sent up in the SAG, we were ready for our decent.  I tried to take in the scenery, as I had on the way up, but it wasn't as easy.  Especially since Hillary had explained to us on day #1 that on the bike, you look where you need to go... so don't be looking over the cliff! ;-)  I did stop a few times to get some pics, but that rest of the time was flying downhill!!!  I hit 42mph... the fastest I have EVER gone!  

 That night Hillary & Maik were gracious enough to host a dinner at their house, where we met Sam McGlone, a longtime friend & kick ass Ironman champion, like Hillary!  Sam is now in her first year of medical school, so we got along right off the bat :-)  After dinner & a Q&A session with the Pro's, Hillary lead us to the mecca... Smash Warehouse!  The girls, quickly swiped up TONS of smash gear... and we even convinced the men to rock the Smash!  And ROCK it, they did!!!

Tucson Tri Camp- Day #2

I woke up this morning getting mentally prepared by convincing myself that nothing happened yesterday and today was a new day!  Gates Pass with McCain Loop AND 100 x 100 swim!  No sweat... :-o

As we rolled out from the casitas, we all left in groups: the A group, the Gold group, and the #1 group... I was in the Gold group along with Kris, Linda, Jeff, Taryn, and Kate, lead by Coach Doug.  We quickly renamed our group the Golden Girls and headed out.  Immediately, a certain part of my body jumped off the seat... What are you doing here again!?!?!?  I can't remember the last time I had rode my bike two days... in a row!  To my surprise, unlike yesterday's ride, we took a left out of the development and... time to climb!  What???  Don't I get a few miles to warm up my legs?... Oh, this IS our warm up! We headed up towards Gates Pass & at about 6mi hit the outlook to which we would decent on the other side and ride McCain loop. But before I reached the top, we had a pile up! As we were climbing Kris noticed Taryn was still in her big chain, beast!  She later told us she likes to keep it in the big chain as long as possible & use the small chain as a "treat"!  Well, I guess it was dessert time at the top of the climb!  Taryn switched from big chain to little chain mid-climb & dropped her chain! Kris was behind her & was able to clip out and stop, Linda was behind Kris and moved quickly to the left, I came up behind Kris and slammed on my breaks!  The next 3 seconds went like this, in slow motion: WTF?!, Brake!, rear wheel lifted in the air!, stalled out on my front wheel! (which seemed like 1 minute), and slowly tipped to the right!  I did a quick 1 sec. inventory to assess any injuries... I was fine.  Then I looked to the right... hmmm, that could have been a lot worse.  We had been climbing with a cliff to our right and LOTS of cactus! Yikes!  Luckily, I did not become a pin cushion & continued our ride.  Good thing, because the next part of the ride was my fave!  McCain loop was a beautiful 4mile stretch of some rolling hills and a few small climbs, surrounded by gorgeous views!  Now, the hard part, climbing back up the steep 0.5mi hill we had descended to get to the loop.  My legs were spent from day 2 of riding, but there was no way around it... literally!  I breasted up the hill the best I could; sitting, standing, sitting, standing... DONE!  I'm pretty sure I yelled out a dying animal noise when I reached the top & quickly hugged Kris & Linda who also were beaming at their accomplishment!  We even got a shout out from our Coach Doug on how well we all ride together! Blush!!!

The ride back to the casitas was glorious and downhill... until we were turning onto our street! I was riding on Linda's wheel a little to close and swerved to miss some gravel... Oh, hello pavement, fancy meeting you again!  A little less than slow motion: I fell to the left, clipped out quickly, and tucked & rolled, and popped back up onto my feet!  Hanging my head in shame, I picked up my bike & tried to scrape my ego off the pavement, the only thing that got hurt! And to add salt to the open wound, I hear Hillary yelling from the car riding behind us, Are you OK?  Wow, nice, I really just fell in front of Hillary... I'll go hide under a rock now!!!

We made it back to the casita, showered up quickly and got into the caravan to Sunnyside pool where  we were going to tackle Hillary's fave 100 x 100!!!  My longest swim to date had been 4100yd, so to tackle 10,000yd was going to be a huge challenge!  Well, that's what I came to camp for, so let's do this!  We got our workout which included 15 x 100 warmup, 30 x 100 swim, 200 easy kick, 20 x 100 buoy band,  20 x 100 PBB, 12 x 100 swim, 100 cool down!  Kris started out leading the lane for 15 x 100, Hillary had told us to alternate leading our lane, which consisted of the two of us and Taryn.  After the first set I got nervous, it was my turn to lead.  Kris had warned me a while ago about being lane leader and all of the pressure involved in counting laps, yikes! So I knocked out the set of 30 & was feeling great.  Kris asked me if I wanted to keep on leading, um ok?! The next 5500 went by fairly quickly, all things considered.  We were at a public pool, so I was thoroughly entertained by the kids jumping off the high dive, a scuba diver, and other kids fooling around in the shallow end.  Between 6500- 8500, I started to get really cold.  I could feel my lips turning blue, as they usually do whenever I am down too long scuba diving.  Finally, we were done!  Taryn & I decided to celebrate with a jump off the high dive.  I hadn't done it since college, but I was so elated that I threw a 1.5 in pike position off the high dive! WooHoo!  Day #2... in the books!