In 2003, after years of living a sedentary lifestyle, I went to REI and purchased a women’s road bike and a bike trailer for my youngest son to ride in.  From the time I first learned how to balance on two wheels through college I loved biking.  I allowed life, pregnancy and babies to come between me and biking, but I was ready for a change.

I spent two years riding that bike up and down the American River Parkway, usually about 12 miles per hour because I was towing a toddler in a bike trailer.  As I slowly toiled away, I would tell myself that the extra weight would make me a stronger rider.  I would daydream about the day I was free of the bike trailer, imagining how fast I would ride.

In 2005 I completed my first century, the Tour of Napa Valley.  It was a beautiful ride, but I struggled with the two moderate climbs on the route and ended up pushing my bike in places.  That ride was a major milestone for me, and as a reward for my efforts I got a new, real bike.

Shortly after that first century ride, I decided I wanted to do a triathlon, another activity I had enjoyed when I was younger.  Early in 2006 I began training for the TBF Racing Tri for Fun in June of that year.  I enjoyed it so much that I did two more sprint distance triathlons that year and joined the Sacramento Triathlon Club.

Soon I was seeing that there were endless events and opportunities available in endurance sports.  I tackled the Davis Bike Club’s Foxy’s Fall Century complaining the whole way up hill about how bad I was at climbing.  I continued racing triathlons picking longer distances and started doing trail runs, open water swims, and even bought a mountain bike. 

I was a new woman, 50 pounds lighter and so much happier.  I had traded the play dates at McDonalds for rides on the bike trail with my boys.  I found new friends who had a similar outlook to me.  Through all those changes I was unable to get rid of one monkey on my back; I was positive I could not ride my bike up any real climbs.  I had the worst mental block about climbing. 

In early 2009 while training for my first double century I tried to ride from Sacramento to Auburn.  I stopped and turned around a couple miles from the top because I was afraid I wouldn’t make it all the way.  I wasn’t concerned about riding my bike 200 miles, but I was still positive I couldn’t make it up any significant climb.

My only climbing success was in events with only a moderate amount of climbing, nothing too extreme, I relied on race adrenaline to get me uphill.  Last summer I finally tackled that fear in a significant way by joining a Sac Tri Club group ride around Folsom Lake.  A ride featuring not just one, but two difficult, “real” climbs.  Completing that ride was liberating and gave me the confidence to try something even more daring.

Last Saturday I participated in my first Death Ride or Tour of the California Alps.  The Death Ride features 5 mountain passes with riders choosing to tackle as many or as few of the passes as they want with special 5 pass finisher kudos going to those who complete the entire tour.  I set a goal for myself of completing two passes.  I knew I could train for that amount of climbing while still racing other events and without facing the overwhelming goal of attempting all 5 passes in my first Death Ride.

Saturday morning Kevin and I hit the road in Markleeville a little before 6:00am.  I planned to do my two passes and then see how I felt and decide whether or not I wanted to continue.  I was prepared to wait after I was finished riding for Kevin to complete all five passes, as he has done a couple times before. 

As soon as we were riding I was a nervous wreck, scared of the task ahead of me and facing the fact that all those old insecurities I had shoved away were just waiting to rear their ugly heads.  About 8 miles in we hit the base of the first climb, highway 89 over Monitor Pass.  I quickly settled down to the business at hand, casting my fears aside.  I found a good rhythm and was riding at an easily maintainable heart rate.  The ride was beautiful, the road was closed to traffic and the wildflowers were blooming in abundance.

Starting behind the majority of the approximately 3000 riders gave us the benefit of having clear sailing down the mountain on the backside to highway 395.  What a thrill!  I rode slow and steady for the 9 miles back up Monitor Pass, a little bothered by the realization that the climb would take nearly two hours at the speed I was going.  I was calm and consistent the entire way and the views were amazing.

After completing my two passes, I decided I was done.  I was surprised but happy that Kevin decided to stop with me instead of continuing on.  We rode to the lunch stop along highway 4 towards Ebbett’s Pass before returning to the start in Markleeville.  57 miles and over 7000 feet of climbing, I think it’s safe to say I can ride my bike uphill.  I definitely plan to tackle all five passes in the future.

Friday, March 5, Kevin and I embarked on a weekend trip to Death Valley National Park for the Death Valley Double Century.  We were fortunate to have a break in the winter weather and traveled into the Sierras and over Kingsbury Grade to travel down 395 through Mono and Inyo Counties.  The sights on that drive are stunning.  Mono Lake has an eerie beauty covered in ice and surrounded by snow.  Much of the drive is over 7000 feet in elevation with rugged mountains covered in a heavy blanket of snow towering above the highway. 

As we drove through the town of Lone Pine, we both got our first sight of Mt. Whitney, the highest point in the lower 48 states at 14,491 feet.  The sky was clear and the views were amazing.  It’s just a two-hour drive from Lone Pine to Furnace Creek in Death Valley, most of it across rugged desert within the National Park boundaries.  As if enjoying one of the most beautiful drives in California wasn’t enough, Kevin and I had hours to ourselves talking about anything and nothing without the many daily interruptions at home.

We arrived at the event host hotel, Furnace Creek Ranch, with plenty of time to eat dinner, check-in for the ride, and go through our pre-ride preparations before having an early night.  Even though it was a strange bed and the night before a big event, I slept well.  Furnace Creek really is the middle of nowhere with all the accompanying silence and darkness you can only enjoy away from towns and cities.  The black sky glittering with stars is a rare and amazing sight for me living with so much light pollution in Sacramento.

Saturday morning the ride started in waves of 50 riders beginning at 6:00am, and we were up and ready to go with one of the first waves of cyclists.  The beginning of a double century is so different from the other types of events I’ve done.  The sun usually isn’t up and most riders roll out slowly, a long warm-up starts the ride.  After about 10 miles, I felt warmed-up, and we were rolling easily along the gentle slopes of the eastern side of Death Valley as the sun rose.

Early in the ride we passed through Badwater Basin, the lowest spot in the United States, 282 feet below sea level, less than 24 hours after driving past Mt. Whitney the day before.  Telescope Peak, bounding the valley on the west, reaches over 11,000 feet above the reflective water pooled in the basin.  It was impossible to get a sense of scale or distance in Death Valley because the contrasts are enormous with almost no vegetation every exposed rock is visible. 

There was little traffic on the road as it visibly stretched ahead for endless miles, other riders looked like ants dotting the way.  It seemed as though a rainbow of ribbons had been laid across the colorful desert mountains, and the tumbling process of erosion was visible everywhere.  One rock formation looked like a melted banana split.

The ride to the second aid station at 45 miles was fast and easy.  It quickly got more challenging from that aid station at the southeast edge of Death Valley as we began the big climb of the day.  The hard work began with a 5-mile climb to Jubilee Pass at just over 1200 feet.  This was the turn around point for the century ride.

I hit this early climb harder than I should have considering the work still before us.  Kevin was waiting at the top for me and we paused a minute to admire the view of Death Valley spread out below us.  From Jubilee Pass we had a short, steep descent before the endless grind to Salsbury Pass at 3315 feet.  I’ve never ridden anything like it, 12 miles uphill with no respite.

After a couple of miles, I realized there was no way I could continue to ride at the speed I had been going.  My heart rate was at the limit, and I’d been there as long as I could stand with the mountain still looming miles above us.  Stressed and afraid that I couldn’t make it, I told Kevin I had to stop and rest.   

While we waited for my heart rate to drop back to a more comfortable level, Kevin told me this climb was like a Death Ride climb, which is far outside my experience as a cyclist.  The two double centuries I’ve done were in the Coast Range with more forgiving climbs that bear little resemblance to this beast of a mountain that I found myself halfway up.  I was quickly learning that distance and elevation gain were not the only barometers of ride difficulty.

When I was ready to begin again, Kevin stayed right with me, setting a slower pace that kept me from self-destructing on our continued ascent.  It took about 2 hours to ride the 17-mile climb to the top of Salsbury Pass.  It was a brutal experience and we spent a few minutes at the top taking photos and commiserating with other cyclist about the painful task we had just completed.

We remounted our bikes for the 1800-foot descent to the 75-mile checkpoint at Shoshone.  I found I couldn’t enjoy this part of the ride because I spent the whole time thinking about the fact that I had to ride back up every mile we were riding down.  After a rest in Shoshone we headed back to tackle to mountain from the east this time.

Kevin did a great job setting a pace I could manage all the way back up the mountain.  When I felt as though I couldn’t continue the relentless ascent, I asked Kevin what elevation we had reached (his Garmin bike computer has so much great data, I need one).  We were over 2800 feet with just a few hundred more to go, and I knew I could do it.

Now it was time for the payoff, the longest climb I’ve ever done on a bike was finally accompanied by the longest descent I’ve ever done.  Kevin advised me to keep my legs spinning so my muscles wouldn’t get cold or tight.  With little traffic on the road, I was comfortable taking the lane and enjoyed the descent.  The ride that took 2 hours one way was completed in 30 minutes on the downhill trip, and we were finally at the 103-mile rest.

As we continued our progress back the way we had passed hours earlier, I found my mental attitude becoming increasingly poor.  I had put so much of myself into getting over that mountain that I was physically and emotionally drained.  I finally told Kevin I was not enjoying the ride, neither was he. 

I really struggle with the idea of not finishing an event and had to that point only two DNF’s (did not finish) in my life, I remember them both vividly.  We talked about why we were both so averse to a DNF.  I hate to not finish something I’ve started, but this was supposed to be something we were doing for fun.  It wasn’t a job; we weren’t accountable to anyone else.  We agreed to end the ride at the 150-mile aid station that also happened to be the start and finish of the ride.

Pressure off, we continued to ride to the lunch break at Badwater, Kevin towing me and a couple of other riders down the road.  Wind and rain showers began to kick up as we continued our journey back to the hotel at Furnace Creek at a leisurely pace.  It was amazing how difficult the gentle rollers of the morning were on the return trip with a headwind and fatigue setting in.  The rock formations we passed developed an otherworldly golden glow in the low light of sunset.

Just after only the second stop sign on the entire ride, we arrived at the Furnace Creek check in to be greeted by about a dozen riders and their family members milling around.  An Adventure Corp staff members called to us to come check in with her if we were finishing, to which I replied that I was happy to check in with her but clearly coming from the wrong direction to be finishing. 

We found out that they give credit in the results to riders who complete 150 miles, so instead of DNF’s, Kevin and I are both listed as 150-mile finishers.  Just in case I still had any doubts as to whether riding a century and a half instead of the intended double century was a good idea, when I went to get back on my bike to ride to our hotel room, I had a flat tire.  Kevin and I put an end to our long day with pizza and beer.

I never would have guessed that he would want to give swim team another shot; it’s been 8 years since his one and only foray into the sport.  He had a swim unit in PE at school and came home one day saying how much he enjoyed swimming and was thinking of doing swim team again.  All three boys are now on the Stingrays!

Last fall when looking into goal events, I decided I wanted to do the Solvang Spring Double Century.  I was definitely inspired by Kevin completing many doubles over the last few years and knew that Solvang would be a good first double.  Kevin and I decided to do Solvang together.  I set-up a training plan that started with lots of weekend cycling miles the first weekend of January and increased from there.  When we successfully completed our 150-mile training ride at the end of February, I knew I would be ready for my first double century.

Besides the obvious benefit of my getting to draft behind Kevin for hundreds of training miles, Kevin and I really had a great time riding together every weekend.  It became our strange version of a standing date.  Every Saturday we had a long ride with a lunch stop along the way, Subway, Quizno’s, Clarksburg Market, and South Pine Café all became regular lunch stops.  We rode regardless of the weather and mostly lucked out with the rain.  Training for Solvang turned out to be one of the best things we’ve ever done as a couple.

We drove down to Solvang Friday afternoon before the ride and stayed at the event host hotel in Buellton.  Saturday morning we woke at 5:20 and hit the road a little after 6:00am.  It was my first time riding in the dark with a headlight, but the first miles were through town and fairly well lit.  The weather was cool, but not cold.

I was feeling nervous and anxious about the task before me, but thought I had my nerves under control.  That was until I got a massive cramp in my left thigh about 20 miles into the ride.  I don’t usually get cramps and was so upset wondering how on earth I was going to finish 200 miles when I couldn’t ride after 20.   I got off my bike and spent a few minutes stretching until my leg muscles relaxed.

I hopped on the bike again and tried to slowly spin it out until I got my rhythm back.  The first big climb of the day was just around the corner on Foxen Canyon Road, and I was worried about my leg continuing to cramp.  Foxen Canyon Road in the spring is one of the most beautiful sights around.  Rolling, lush green hills, wildflowers, lovely farms and wineries, and very little traffic.  We really started climbing pretty quickly and my legs felt great.  I settled into a good rhythm, and Kevin and I maintained a conversation while riding up the first part of the climb before it got more difficult and I had to really concentrate on riding.

As I crested the hill and began the descent I felt absolutely exhilarated!  I went from terrible self-doubt to knowing I could do it within the span of 10 miles.  I felt like I was flying down the mountain and looked down at my bike computer to do a speed check, 40 mph, the fastest I’ve ever gone on my bike.  After the steep descent ended, we continued to ride slightly downhill for a few miles with a tailwind we were effortlessly spinning along at 22 mph.

We were quick to refuel and use the porta-potties at the first rest stop before continuing on the way.  The longest stretch of the ride was the 45 miles between the first stop and the second stop.  We rode through farms near Santa Maria, before taking a highway 101 frontage road to Arroyo Grande and cutting through the hills to San Luis Obispo.  From the second rest stop we rode through San Luis Obispo onto Highway 1 and out the Morro Bay.  There is a “not so secret” checkpoint just past the halfway mark in Morro Bay where you get your number marked.  From there we rode along some beautiful miles of coastline in Morro Bay.

I felt so happy there, riding along the Pacific Ocean with a big stupid grin on my face.  Eventually we turned inland and headed to the lunch stop back in San Luis Obispo.  We spent about 30 minutes there eating Subway sandwiches, Oreos and drinking Coke.  We sat down on the grass and Kevin had to pull me back up again to get going.

From lunch we continued south reaching frontage roads along 101 in Pismo Beach.  From there we traveled along highway 1 through coastal towns and then inland toward Guadalupe.  At 136 miles there was a nasty little climb up Mesa View Drive that almost did me in because my front derailleur wasn’t working right, and I couldn’t shift into my small chain ring.  I was forced to stop on the climb, I absolutely hate stopping up any incline let alone ½ mile up a fairly steep hill.  Kevin got my chain into the small chain ring, but I didn’t want him to give me a push to get going again.  Instead I rode back down the hill turned around and started again.

Fortunately the aid stations were closer together in the second half of the ride because I felt like I was running on empty by the time we reached the stop at 147 miles.  Kevin did a little mechanical work on my bike and I ate bananas, red vines, and peanut butter crackers.  Repaired and refueled, we continued toward the last stop of the day before the hardest climb of the day.

We rode on Highway 1 again, but this time it was on the freeway near Vandenberg AFB, what an odd experience!  We were gradually climbing uphill most of the way, and as we progressed along the view of the central coast mountain range became more and more spectacular.   It didn’t take long before we reached the last aid station at 177 miles.  We were almost there, with only the longest, hardest climb standing between me and the finish of my first double century.

I think we spent more time there than Kevin wanted because sunset was fast approaching and we wanted to be out of the mountains before dark; but I needed a few minutes to get up my nerve for that tough climb.  The 1500-foot climb started almost immediately out of the aid station and continues at varying grades for about 3 miles, sometimes winding sometimes switchbacks.  At one point the road got so steep I had to ride back and forth across the road to keep going and wasn’t sure I was going to make it.  The feeling of accomplishment I had at the top of that mountain is hard to describe, but a picture is worth a thousand words and the look on my face in this photo says it all.

The descent was tricky because the road is absolutely horrible with cracks and potholes everywhere and the light was fading fast.  We made it down and finished the ride uneventfully.   I’ve never felt such full body exhaustion in my life!  I spent 11 hours 58 minutes in the saddle and total time with rests was about 14 hours.  We enjoyed a much earned post ride meal of pizza and Beck’s.

There were definitely a few things I learned through this endeavor.   Core strength is so important.  I started doing Diane Cressey’s boot camp for women three mornings a week last October and my core strength and muscle tone are much better now.  She did so much to help me prepare for the double, including looking over my bike training plan and tailoring a core strength plan to complement my double century goal.  I’m sure her program contributed to my newly found mountain climbing skills.

Planet Ultra served lots of “real” food on the ride along side the Hammer drinks and gel.  I used the hydration products but skipped the gel, choosing nuts, crackers, peanut butter and jelly, even red vines near the end, and found that my digestive system was much happier with real food than the formulated performance products I typically use for long training and events.

We spent most of the day Saturday at the Tour of California Prologue in downtown Sacramento.  Kyle had a great time seeking autographs, he loves cycling like most boys love football or baseball.  He was thrilled to get Carlos Sastre’s autograph, 2008 Tour de France champion.  Sastre patted Kyle on the head and said he liked Kyle’s grungy CSC cap.  The Team Colavita riders were very laid back, and Alejandro Borrajo posed for a photo after signing Kyle’s program.  The area surrounding Team Columbia was pretty crowded, but George Hincapie was good about coming along the front to sign autographs.  Kyle got a ton of autographs in his program but these are the riders I managed to photograph with him.  Click on the image to see it larger.

… and it wasn’t one of the boys.  After months of drought we’re finally getting some rain.  I really don’t enjoy road riding in the rain but mountain biking through mud puddles is another story.  We had a deluge early this morning, followed by a brief bit of clear, sunny skies.  I couldn’t resist hopping on my mountain bike and riding through the mud, enjoying the brief bit of sunshine, and ignoring the cold as it seeped into my wet, muddy tights.  I can’t afford to take a break in my double century training plan, but just for today I embraced my inner child.

  This photo is from the last day Kyle and I had our regular Wednesday afternoon mountain bike ride around Lake Natoma, the last week of November.  It’s been so cold this week that it’s hard to believe we were wearing short sleeves at sunset less than a month ago.  Hopefully we’ll have some fun snow photos to share soon.

I wrote this report last summer, but we didn’t have the site up yet.

I picked Vineman 70.3 as my first ½ Ironman after doing the Full
Vineman Aquabike last summer. Vineman is a fantastic race
organization, the races are well organized and supported, and the
volunteers are fantastic. After having lived with Vineman 70.3 as my
ultimate goal for the 2008 triathlon season since the end of the 2007
season, it feels strange to be writing this report.

When I entered the race last winter, I didn’t realize that my 8-year
old son was going to be dealing with an ultimate competition of his
own, the NorCal Swim League Championships. It was his first season on
swim team, and he’s taken to it like a fish. My parents, the swim
team veterans from my childhood, did Championships duty for Shane so
that I could race Vineman. After watching Shane’s preliminary 25 free
on Saturday morning, Kevin and I headed to Sonoma County with the
older two boys.

We arrived at Windsor High School at 3:00pm for the athlete check-in
and race expo. Most the athletes had already come and gone so the
crowd was small. Surprisingly, I enjoyed the 5:00pm pre-race meeting.
The USATriathlon official responsible for explaining the intricacies
of the combination of USAT rules with Ironman rules made the talk as
interesting as anyone could. He got a few snickers from the audience
as he reminded us all that our friends think we’re crazy and it was a
bit humbling to be told that most of the volunteers think we’re heroes.

After the pre-race meeting, we headed to Flavor in downtown Santa Rosa
for dinner. It was a fantastic meal with lots of good prerace menu
options. There were many other Vineman competitors dining there as
well, we all had on yellow athlete wristbands making us easily
identifiable. We arrived back at our budget hotel in Santa Rosa at
8:00pm, giving me enough time to sort out my swim/bike transition gear
before hitting the sack at 9:00. I slept well and had no problem
waking at 5:00am Sunday morning.

We were out of the hotel room before 6:00am, my mostly uneaten bowl of
oatmeal in hand, and on the way the Johnson’s Beach in Guerneville.
Even bringing it along for the car ride, I still couldn’t eat more
than a few bites of my breakfast. We arrived in Guerneville with
plenty of time for body marking and setting up T1. My swim wave
start, women 35-39, was at 7:34am.

I got in the water as soon as my wave was allowed, did a small warm-up
and positioned myself at the front line of the start wave. The
countdown seemed to last forever, but when we finally got the horn to
go, I shot off the front with a small pack of fast swimmers, and we
had plenty of room to swim until we started catching the wave in front
of us. Even when I had to start weaving around the slower swimmers
from the previous wave, it was still smooth going. My swim was solid
at 29:06, but it would have been good to be under 29 minutes.

I jogged into T1 and immediately got confused about the location of my
bike. I even have a crazy looking yellow saddle that should have made
it easy to locate. It seemed like forever, but I’m sure was only a
few seconds before I got my bearings. I had the shakes while I was
trying to pull off my wetsuit and get my helmet on. Faced with
pulling my socks onto sandy feet, I realized I forgot an extra bottle
of water to rinse off my feet. I was in T1 longer than I would have
liked, 4:49, but eventually made it out of there and onto the road.

I decided to run my bike up the short climb out of T1 and was glad I
did as I ran around a couple of riders struggling to get into their
pedals. Kevin and the boys were there cheering me on my way. When my
bike computer showed me the time and a bunch of zeros, I realized the
sensor wasn’t working because my front wheel was on backwards. I
thought briefly about stopping to fix it, but didn’t want to take the
time. I worried a bit because I wanted to make sure I rode an average
of 18 mph so that I would have some energy saved for the run, and
without a computer I was relying only on how I felt.

The bike was fantastic. I know the course well and remembered all the
little tricky places. No lost water bottles for me or being caught
out in the wrong gear. I was a little nervous about grabbing Power
Bars and Gatorade while riding through the aid stations, but I had no
problems. I called out what I was looking for and a volunteer would
step up for the handoff.

I did have a scary moment at the second aid station, mile 29, when a
guy came out of the penalty tent right in front of me and crashed. I
looked over the front of my bike at disk wheel and white carbon fiber
frame and thought for sure that I was going to go right over the top
of him. I somehow managed to swerve around and keep on going, whew!
It was very scary, and I remember thinking some people obviously
belong in the penalty tent.

I am starting to really enjoy hill climbing and powered up Chalk Hill
Road without a hitch, "Yeah Baby!" I felt like Superwoman when I
reached the top and flew down the descent. Coming into Windsor, I saw
a Sac Tri Club jersey a couple of riders ahead and decided to ride up
and say. It was Ronnie; we shared the normal supportive chit chat and
then separated to finish the last couple miles into T2. My bike time
was 3:07:21, which works out to 18 mph for the 56 mile ride. Who
needs a computer?!

When I scoped out T2 at Windsor High School on Saturday afternoon, I
thought it seemed like a long run from the bike dismount line to the
racks, but on race day it went quickly. I easily found my running
shoes and hat, courtesy of another competitor’s yellow smiley face
balloon. I took my socks off to get the residual sand from T1 out
before running and then slipped them back on. I wanted to use the
toilet, but didn’t want to wait in line, so I thought I would get the
next one. T2 time 4:37.

I headed out onto the run course feeling strong. Although I wasn’t
great in either transition area, all those bike/run transition
workouts obviously helped my legs get used to the change in activity.
I felt smooth and settled into my normal running pace, just over 10
minute miles. There was a steady flow of people running out with me,
but not too many finishing yet. I mentally divided the run into
one-mile increments to the next aid station. Each aid station I
arrived at had a line for the toilet, and I still didn’t want to wait
around. Finally at mile 4, the toilets were empty and no one was
waiting. The only catch was pulling my sweaty tri shorts back up, ugh!

As I kept on running one mile at a time, I was glad for the trail run
series I did this spring because I felt strong up all the short hills
on the course. I got to the top of one hill and was amazed at the
sight of the huge mass of runners going both directions on the road.
I saw a couple of other local athletes on the course and cheered them
on. A couple of the guys from Sac Tri Club passed me; their
encouragement along the way was fantastic. I made it to the turn
around at La Crema winery no problem and enjoyed the music being
played at that aid station. I was starting to wonder why KC hadn’t
caught me yet, when I felt a tap on my shoulder and there she was.

I was doing great on the run up to mile 9 when my body decided to
stage a rebellion. I was very low energy and felt sick. I started
doing run/walk intervals for about two miles and that really slowed
down my pace. Finally at mile 11, I started feeling better and
finished the run strong.

It felt amazing to run back toward the finish line. I’ve never had so
many people cheering me on, and I felt a little overwhelmed when I
realized I had done it. The announcer said my name as I ran down the
finishing stretch, and I raised my arms to signify my own personal
victory. My run time was 2:27:25 and total time was 6:13:19, my
average heart rate over the entire race was 161. My best estimate
goal going in was 6 ½ to 7 hours, and I was thrilled to be faster.

Kevin and the boys were there to meet me at the finish chute with even
more good news. Shane had an amazing best time in the 25 butterfly
prelims that morning and was the first seed for finals. I got my post
race meal, and had a chance to talk with some of the other athletes.
I took a very public cold shower at the baseball field, and then we
headed back to the swim championships. We made it in time to see
Shane swim the free relay, but missed his butterfly victory in the
finals with another best time. What a fantastic weekend!

Just a quick post of some photos I found of Team Denison out doing its thing.

A couple from the Fall Flash Series

.

And one from the Folsom Cyclebration:

Get out there and have some fun…

October was a busy month for Team Denison.  John had cross-country meets almost every weekend, and Shane had swim meets two of four weekends.  I finished my third half-marathon (fourth if you count the one I did as part of Vineman 70.3) at Cowtown on October 5.  It was the most crowded one I’ve done and that may have contributed to an IT band problem I developed about halfway through.  I finished the race in a decent time, feeling strong, but have had to give up on my short-term goal of running a full marathon.

I was really looking forward to running my first marathon, which would have been CIM this December, but I lost too much training time trying to deal with my knee problem.  I’m only doing a couple of short runs a week right now, trying to get my running back on track.  The injury did force me to look for another goal, so I’ve decided on the Solvang Spring Double Century in March 2009.  Hmmm….26.2 miles on foot swapped for 200 miles on a bike.  Now that I’ve settled into the idea, I’m pretty excited about it.

John has finished his first high school cross-country season, and the best I can say about it is that he survived.  I’m proud of him for sticking to it even when things got painful or tough.  He had a couple of good races, the Yolo County Champs and The Other Meet, but his first love is definitely music.  He has his first school Jazz and Concert band performances this Friday and his first Camellia Junior Symphony performance Saturday evening.

We all did the Veggie Chase 5K in Rancho Cordova on October 12.  It was a fun race with some of the best post race food around.  There were lots of kids in the 5K and it was a great family event.

The following weekend Kyle got to participate in his first organized road ride, Foxy’s Fall Century.  He and Kevin did the 50K ride, and Kyle loved riding on the open rural roads and the post ride meal.

We’ve had a busy month, but that didn’t prevent us from finding a sedentary distraction in the form of a new computer game.  John had been wanting to buy Spore for a while and finally got the chance a few weeks ago.  It’s now installed on every computer in the house and we’ve all made creatures.