Longhorn 70.3 Ride

Nicki, Nicole, Julie and Sandra after the ride, showing off their bike license plates with their names.

The Longhorn 70.3 is coming up on October 25, I have been training hard with Tri Zones this year to try to beat my time last year. Today was our first ride on this year's bike course. About 8 Tri Zoners showed up to ride the entire course. No problem on the first 10 miles around Decker Lake, we've all ridden it before and knew what to expect there- hills! If you haven't ridden it, it's mostly just lots of rolling hills, but there is a very steep hill immediately after the turn from Lindell onto Blue Bluff. It's not long, just steep, but if you aren't ready for it, it will get you. I saw some strong riders walking up that hill at Longhorn last year, so be ready for it.

Gilbert, Nez Perce, and Decker are backwards from last year, and Taylor is new. That area is rolling but nothing too crazy. At the corner of Taylor and Blake-Manor, we waited for Coach Tracy and a group of Tri Zoners doing some shorter rides, and we waited, and we waited. I was sorry I didn't get to see Tracy, Jody, Kristen and everyone else, but we really wanted to be finished as early as possible to get off Webberville road before it got too busy. On to Lockwood and Parson where you really have to watch the bottom of the big hill, a bump there is enough to knock water bottles out of cages, so I slowed down a little. Then onto Littig, which is mostly flat. The only thing to watch there is some big cracks in the road, they're mostly to the right side so if you ride more in the middle of the road it's easy to avoid them. Monkey road currently has a sign! We'll see how long it lasts. Even with a sign it's easy to miss Monkey road, just remember it's the next right after Bitting School Road. Monkey road is fairly hilly and has one short steep hill.

Nicki's friend Alysha set up a water stop for us at the corner of Monkey and Upper Elgin. Thanks so much Alysha, we all appreciate it so much! After the water stop, I rode with Nicole on Upper Elgin and Hog Eye roads, they are slightly rolling but nothing major. Nicole and I slowed down a little at this point and just talked while we rode and enjoyed the scenery, we had a head wind for a lot of this portion, but it wasn't too bad. It's not the most scenic route, but I kinda like Hog Eye. Turn onto Blake Manor and water stop 2 at East Metro Park (thanks again Alysha!!) I was feeling great at this point and we only had 20 miles to go!

Nicole and I caught up with the fast group at the water stop and headed out with them. The head wind was stronger on Blake-Manor. I stayed with the fast group awhile, but they started to pull away from me a little, especially as we went down the hill toward Webberville Road (FM 969). This is another place to be careful if you ride the course, you can really get some speed on the down hill on Blake-Manor and then realize at the last minute that there's a stop sign around the bend at the bottom of the hill, and Webberville can be busy. I got to that point and made my right turn but didn't see everyone else, I knew they were just ahead of me, then I realized I thought I saw someone down the road on the left before I turned. No way they turned left! I must have said 20 times "be careful on the down hill on Blake-Manor right before the RIGHT turn onto Webberville". I rode alone for awhile on Webberville assuming that if they really had turned left they would realize right away and turn around. They did realize, but I guess I got a good head start, it was awhile before Chris and Andrew caught me and then we pulled over to wait for everyone else. Webberville from Blake-Manor to Taylor has no shoulder so it's definitely a place to be careful, the traffic wasn't too bad while we were out there, but the earlier the better. Past Taylor, Webberville has a small shoulder, but also heavier traffic. The wind was pretty strong on Webberville this morning too, head/cross the entire time.

We decided to turn onto Blue Bluff instead of Decker Lane since Decker is busy and under constrution right now. Up the last hill and we finished the Longhorn course! Woohoo!!! I felt great the entire ride and I ended up riding it at a faster pace than at the race last year!
This is a link to the GPS info from the ride motionbased map just after the ride

Austin Hills

Tonight was the Tri Zones Peak Performance hill ride. I have been a little nervous about this one for awhile because I don't have a lot of experience on hills and steep downhills scare me. I know, everyone else thinks they're fun, but I just hate that out of control feeling. On Tuesday Coach Jen told me we were going to Stiener Ranch for the ride and that we'd be riding "the big hill". I had never even seen this hill, just heard about it, so Jeff and I drove out to look at it Wednesday night. It is really long and fairly steep, but after driving it, I felt like I could probably do it, maybe. When we got to Steiner Ranch, Coach Jen told us we would be doing repeats on the hill, yikes! I was prepared for once, but repeats! Going to the bottom of the hill the first time was scary, but not as bad as I thought it would be. I braked on the way down and was the last one to get to the bottom, but I'm ok with that. Going back up was really tough, but I made it. We got a short recovery after each time up the hill, then it was back down, still a little scary, but not terrible. I was afraid my legs would feel really tired going up the second time, but I think the second time was my best. The third was tough and my legs were definitely getting tired. Some people did 4 repeats, but I was happy with 3 since that is by far the biggest hill I have ever ridden! Coach Jen was super excited for me! She said "If you can ride that hill, you can ride any hill in Austin" I don't think that's quite true (Jester, Mt. Bonnell and a few others are longer and/or steeper), but it does make me feel confident enough to try riding 360 soon. I feel like I faced a challenge and really accomplished something tonight, what a great feeling! Thanks Coach Jen and Tri Zones, I couldn't have done it without your help and encouragement!

Couples Tri Weekend

I thought Laura and John's reception was on Friday. Jeff and I showed up at the park on Friday and it was deserted, turns out I read the invitation wrong (about 20 times) and the reception was actually on Saturday. Del was in Austin for some hilly bike riding, so we had dinner with him and his friend Jason at Romeo's instead. Saturday morning I did a short bike ride and run, had lunch with Del and did packet pickup. Since Jeff had to work late on Saturday I had planned to take Cassie with me to the reception, but she was running late and Del had decided to stay in Austin to spectate at Couples so he came to the reception with me.

Lynn and Ed
Some of my Tri Zones friends were there so we sat with them and got some food right away, we had been working out so we were really hungry. It was really hot out, but Mayfield Park is shady and beautiful and Laura and John had a great set up with great food and drinks.

Laura and John had a sandcastle cake and turtle cupcakes (they got married in Hawaii). The cake was one of the best wedding cakes I've ever eaten, pineapple cake with raspberry inside.

Tom and Carolyn

Me and Del

Pam
They had a photo booth at the reception and you were supposed to dress up in the silly stuff they had and take pictures in the booth for Laura and John's scrapbook, it was a lot of fun.

The peacocks at Mayfield mostly stayed away from the reception, but I got a picture of this one watching us from the roof of the cottage.

Cassie and Del at Phil's Ice House
When Cassie got to my house, she hadn't eaten yet so we went to Phil's Ice House for pre-race burgers. I don't think I could do a pre-race burger, but it didn't seem to bother Cassie!

Me and Jeff at Phil's Ice House

Jeff demonstrated his skills on the rollers for Del and Cassie. They both declined our offers to try out the rollers.

Cassie and I race morning. Cassie chose "Sweet & Twisted" shirts for the race (Sweet & Twisted is a race organizer in Austin). Her choices were the S&T shirts, Hey Cupcake shirts and Tri Zones shirts. We planned to wear the shirts for the bike and run and just wear our normal tri tops for the swim. We got to Decker Lake early and everything pre-race went smoothly. The Couples Tri is a little different because you register with someone and both finish times are added together for your final time as a couple. Some of the divisions are: married, relatives, and friends.

Cassie with her bike in transition

Me in transition

David, me, Cassie and Del before the race. David and Ross came out to race at Couples too. We all looked but we couldn't find Ross before the race. We hung out at the Tri Zones tent and talked with all my Tri Zones friends before the race. There were about 30 Tri Zoners racing and volunteering today so it was really fun to see friends on the course

Me and Cassie just before the swim start

Crowded just before the swim start.
I actually ran into Kelli just before the start too. It's amazing that I always see her at races even though there are thousands of people around. The swim was 800 meters in Decker Lake which is one of my favorite places to swim. Cassie and my wave started at 8:05, all the "female friends" start together at this race, so it was a pretty big wave, but even so, it was a really high contact swim. Cassie and I started toward the middle of the wave and as soon as I started I knew it was a big mistake to not start at the front of the wave. There were girls breast stroking in front of me right away. That's awful because the breast stroke kick makes it really likely that you'll kick everyone around you hard, so of course I got kicked a few times. I have always heard stories about really competitive girls growing their fingernails long to scratch people during the swim. I had never experienced that until today. I got annoyed enough by people kicking, hitting, and scratching me that whenever I felt someone come up on my feet I kicked hard and sometimes even tried to kick them to keep them away from me. After about 500 meters of that, I finally got enough space that I could really swim a little. I came out of the water in 19:46, my goal was 20:00 but I know I could have gone faster if I had been able to get away from the crowd and really swim more. Cassie also said this was the most physical swim she's ever done but she was really happy with her swim, she came out of the water just behind me, which means she has really been working on her swimming!

Me coming out of the water. I had a long T1 running up the hill to transition and then trying to get the mud and grass off my feet before putting on my socks so I wouldn't get blisters when I ran. T1 was 4:28.

Cassie coming out of the water

starting the bike, I look really happy! I definitely had fun during this race.

David finishing the bike. He's amazing! He finished 3rd overall and his training has not been 100% in about 3 months since he shattered his jaw. He also told his doctors it was ok to not wear the rubber bands and stuff that holds his jaw in place for the race because "triathlon is very safe, it's a non-contact sport and there's very little risk of injury" sure David!
Photo by Tom Marek
Wow, I don't think I have ever smiled like that in bike pictures before! I was having fun and I guess it really showed! Thanks for the pictures Tom!

Photo by Tom Marekfinishing the bike
The bike around Decker Lake is very hilly and I was a little nervous about it because I hadn't ridden the course since Longhorn in Oct. I had fun on the bike! Some of the hills were tough but they were all doable and on the 2 biggest steepest hills I passed lots of people, so that was fun. The last big hill on the bike is named Quadzilla (from Longhorn, but it has lots of other names too, mostly not nice), it's a tough hill, but I passed lots of people going up it (I stopped counting after 10). At first I was really trying to go as fast as I could up it, then I thought I should slow down since it's so long, but just after I slowed down I realized I was getting close to the top, so I pushed it hard up to the top. Quadzilla felt shorter today than it did last year, that has to be a sign I'm getting better at hills! Time was 49:05, not super fast, but good for me. I had no real goal for the bike since I have never done a hilly sprint before. I came into transition and couldn't find my towel and stuff for a minute! Yikes! That has only happened to me once before. It felt like forever before I saw my towel and got my transition stuff done. I saw Jeff, Del, and David (who was already finished!) and told them "I think Quadzilla got smaller this year!" T2 was 2:03.

starting the run
As I ran out of transition they had a water stop, but the volunteers were all picking up more cups, so I skipped it, almost immediately I knew that was a mistake. It was HOT and I was thirsty starting the run. I ran to the first water stop just after mile 1 and took 2 cups of water, I walked while I drank both of them. I started running again and in a few minutes I felt chills, not a good sign when it's 100 degrees, so I walked for a minute then I was able to run to the big hill near the finish, I ran 1 min. walked 1 min. to the top, it's long and steep enough that I probably don't run any faster than I walk up it, but run/walking broke it up for me. After that hill it was just a short run in to the finish where I saw Jeff, Cassie, Del, David, Ross and all my Tri Zones friends cheering for me! Run time was 37:46, a little slow even for me, but with the hills and the heat, I'm not disappointed.

Cassie running in to the finish, she rocked the run especially in the heat!

Cassie and I right after the finish. I brought cupcakes for post-race, but it was so hot that no one wanted one (including me). I think Nicki was the only one who ate a cupcake.I still look really happy! Photo by Tom Marek
Jeff, me, Cassie, Ross and Del post-race. Photo by Tom Marek

The Tri Zones team plus some of our "Couples" and friends. Photo by Tom Marek

Tri Zones coaches Gina and Cindy placed in their division

Ross and David placed in their division too.
After the awards Jeff, Cassie, Del, Ross, and I went to the Hula Hut for lunch and mojitos.

Jeff's parents and Aunt Deb came to Austin on Sunday too. It was great to see all of them, especially Deb who we hadn't seen since our wedding 5 years ago!

Jeff, Deb, Judy, and Tom at Guero's

Tom ordering cupcakes at Hey Cupcake

Tom, Deb, and Judy eating cupcakes

Summer in Austin

We have been having so much fun lately that we haven’t had time to write about all the fun we’re having!

Ingrid came to Austin for her last long hilly bike ride before Buffalo Springs Lake 70.3 (which she absolutely ROCKED!!). She rode the dam loop, one of the tougher bike routes in Austin. I opted for a ride on Parmer with Sarah R., Roz, and Monica instead. We both had good rides and then spent the rest of the day resting and catching up. We ended up making fish tacos with peach salsa, stuffed zucchini, and heirloom tomatoes for dinner after a trip to Wheatsville Co-op. I wish I had taken pictures, everything looked beautiful and tasted even better! Sunday morning we got up early for a long run at Town Lake with Sandra. We all did 8 miles then Ingrid went back out for 7 more.

Jeff and I have been able to go out on the boat with Jason and Sylvia a few times this summer, it has been so much fun! Lake Austin is beautiful and it’s great to be out on the water especially when it’s so hot. It seems like every time we go out on the boat I have just done a long ride or run so my legs are tired before I even start skiing, oh well, it’s still fun.

Jeff and I celebrated the longest day of the year by hanging out on South Congress and then watching the bats fly out of the bridge at sunset. It’s amazing how many bats there are!
Bats flying out from the Congress Bridge.
My little brother came down to visit for a weekend. He has wanted to go to Schilitterbahn for years and he finally got to go! We had a great time! It was a perfect day for Schilitterbahn, it was 105 degrees, but the Comal River water is really cold, so I actually got a little chilled a couple of times! We took the camera with the underwater housing, but neither of us wanted to carry it around, so no pictures. It was great to see Jason, I can’t believe I hadn’t seen him in 5 years!

This has been one of the hottest Junes on record in Austin. Of course during the hottest week our AC went out. It was out for a week and every day that week it was between 105 and 108! I think the record highs were broken every day that week. After a couple of days without AC, we decided to stay at Nicki’s until it was fixed. We had 4 people offer to let us stay with them, thanks so much to all of you! We really appreciate it!

I started Independence Day with a 9 mile run at Town Lake and a swim at Barton Springs. I love fireworks, so we went downtown that afternoon for the big fireworks display at Auditorium Shores. Kayakers on Town Lake on July 4th.

It was another HOT day and Jeff and Jim seemed pretty miserable, so we hung out in the air conditioned lobby at the Radisson until sunset. We watched the bats fly out at the Congress Bridge then went over to the First Street Bridge and got a great spot to watch the fireworks. It was a great display and they had the Austin Symphony playing too, very cool. I had lunch at one of my favorite places at UT today. It’s called Texas Expresso at the Alumni Center. I sat outside and I couldn’t believe how beautiful it was (I have eaten at the same spot many times and I’m always amazed at how beautiful it is). I’m not sure if it’s that much cooler today or if I’m just so used to 100+ now that 98 feels really comfortable. The patio overlooks Waller Creek and is shaded by lots of pecan trees, while I was eating I saw a blue heron and heard frogs and lots of birds. It’s hard to believe there is that much nature right in the middle of campus!

This weekend will be another fun busy weekend. Friday is Laura and John’s wedding reception at Mayfield Park. Jeff and I have been to Mayfield Park a couple of times and we love to see the peacocks there.

Saturday Cassie and James are coming to town and Sunday is the Couples Triathlon which I’m doing with Cassie. Jeff’s parents and Aunt Deb are coming to Austin on Sunday too. So it should definitely be a fun weekend.