I just realized that all the comments from the last week have been sitting in my inbox waiting for approval. Not sure how that happened, but they’re all up now.

Dungeness that is. I skipped out on the second of three Mason Lake road races in order to challenge a mixed field of Cat 4/5 men out on the northern end of the Olympic Mountains in Western Washington today. It’s a long drive, plus a ferry, but luckily I convinced my friend (and fellow triathlon blogger), Chris Tremonte, to join me (despite him having raced an indoor track meet yesterday).

In the car/ferry ride out there we talked some strategy. Chris would make a move, then I would break away a few minutes later and we would work together until one of us died.

It worked perfectly, and I managed to bring two guys up with me. With four people in the break we worked fairly consistently and managed to build an 80 second lead by the end of the third (of four) laps. Shortly after that, Chris got wussy around a corner and got himself dropped, which left three. a few miles later another guy dropped off, and it came down to about four miles left with just one other cyclist. At that point I should have just charged and tried to drop him off my wheel, but instead I just kept rotating. It came down to a sprint (which I don’t do well at), and I didn’t do well. I was second, and the fact that the Allen is a Cat 2 track cyclist (and therefore has sprinted more times this year than I will my entire life) only mildly makes me feel better for being an idiot when it comes to strategy. Regardless, it was my third road race ever, and my first time racing cat 4′s. Unlike the name of the race, I’m not crabby.

Check here for results, and I’ll update links when I find them posted.

(which really means I’m feeling a lack of creativity with the titling part of my brain.)

This weekend has a lot happening. Tomorrow is the Mason Lake Road Race #2 (there are three). I decided last night to skip it, however, in favor of going to the "Tour De Dung". I hear it’s a better race (dry) because it’s in the shadow of the Olympic Mountains, and it’s also 48 miles, rather than the 36 at Mason. Besides, take a look at the directions below.

Follow US Hwy 101 past Sequim, stay on Highway 101 until you reach Kitchen Dick Road, take a right onto Kitchen Dick Road. Continue on Kitchen Dick Road, past Woodcock when you will be on the race course, all the way to Lotzgesell Road Rd where the parking area and Start/Finish location.

Those names are pretty funny to me.

Saturday is also the Seattle Bike Expo. I’ve never been, but I hear it’s nothing like Interbike. With the Seattle scene, my guess is that I will see many many guys on fixies with empty waterproof cycling backpacks (left) to fit free stuff into (like Cool Mint Chocolate Clif Bars)

Herriott Sports Performance will be there as well, and rumor has it they have a couple pictures of yours-truly from a little photo shoot we did last week.

Other booths to check out if you’re going – Cyclists Helping Cyclists/First Rate Mortgage, Full Speed Ahead (FSA),

King County Dept of Transportation (tell them what their doing right, before you start criticizing – i.e adding bike lanes has ben good, fighting Lake Forest Park to give cyclists right-of-way was good, etc.), and SDOT City of Seattle (I used to work there.).

Lastly, Chris Lieto is staying with me at the beginning of next week while he’s in Seattle to see William and Peter at Institute of New Medicine downtown. I’m going to bust out the underwater camera and see if he’ll let me give him some stroke pointers.

Check out Peggy‘s finish video here (skip ahead to 1:51:25). She looks pretty happy.

back again, this time from the top west of the south island.  the race?  another notable event due to weather.  in sun: i did it, finished, got the slot to kona, am well pleased.
imnz started perfectly with a calm lake & cloud cover.  i was always with a goodly amount of people so i kept thinking that i was at least still in the hunt.  when i saw the clock as i got out i was elated: my best IM swim ever.  it turned out to be so for the field, with all starters completing the swim, & all under 2 hours.
  the cloud cover was a bit darker by the start of the bike, & as soon as we got to the start of the 20+ mile straight-out road the wind made its presence known.  in our faces.  then mist, sprinkles, full-on rain, sprinkles, etc.  the latter’s annoying, but it’s the wind that’s the slowing factor.
   life changes at the turnaround, of course, since there’s now a tailwind.  this seemed encouraging, & i was still full of some sort of hope for a good (for me) bike time.  that hope headed for the sewer at the beginning of lap 2 with increased wind, rain and effort.  since the word miserable kept popping to mind, & i’m hugely aware that this is a voluntary activity, i started mentally singing a song i’d sung 2 weeks ago in a big choir concert at the l.a. cathedral.  it’s a cheerful melody, & generally about being grateful to god for a gazillio9n blessings.  it stuck with me the entire race.  it needed to.
  i eventually finished the bike & was more than happy to get off the thing.  likewise happy to put on different clothes & get on with the run.
   by now i’d used up the time cushion i’d earned on the swim, so i decided a steady trot would have to do.  we do over 1/2 a mile into town, pass the finish chute, get a wristband, then head out of town on a 6.5 mile undulating road.  everyone is out there, on lap 1 or 2, except for the speedsters who’ve already finished the race.  i’m pretty sure the correct attitude toward these fleet feet is pit…that they get so little race for their entry fee.  i’m positive that their attitude toward people in my time league is unqualified pity.
   a plus factor on the run is seeing  competitor friends.  at this race that included several from my l.a. tri club.  in essence, my homies.  that’s on lap 1—& mostly on the way out, since the increasing wind was big on the way back to town & started to blow good cheer out of us.  lap 2 is in the dark, & a very wistful moment for me is passing the finish chute, & getting the wristband to start another 13.1 miles.  but i did have a pepper-upper in the form of a can of red bull in my special needs bag there.  next time i’m putting in 2 cans.
  lap 2 was more rain & cold, so i pulled up my arm warmers & q was fine.  the bill of the hat keeps rain out of my eyes.
   by now, even with the tailwind, it was a slow slog, & i would have probably done some walk-run had i not gotten very useful time information from an l.a. tri friend at the turn-around.  i ignore most comments as being not based on fact, but adam’s was fact only ("we have 2 hours") & i picked up the pace.  that surely took effort, as it was again into the wind.
   and then it was over.  around the corner, onto the grass of the long chute, seeing friends mike reilly (announcer) yelling my name & particulars, & jane patterson (event director)….into the arms of each & over the line, & all to a deafening commotion from the crowds in the stands.  it’s sort of overwhelming: because of the effort it’s taken, the success, the sweet people being so happy for you, wishing you well, the sheer magnitude of an IM & finishing it.
   after finishing i sat.  i had soup, was interviewed, talked to a fellow competitor.  but i sat.  happily.  then was given a ride to my motel.  then got clean & fell blissfully asleep.  sunday was full of good things, ending with the very happy awards dinner.
   monday i drove back to aukland, dropped off the car, stored bike & suitcase, flew down to wellington, caught the 3 hour ferry over to the south island, & spent the night there.  yesterday i got a bus west for a 4 hour ride to the start of the abel tasman oceanside track.  but it was a van.  over mountainous roads.  i’m queen of carsick & barely made it to the rest stop in nelson (after 3 hours).  i used the break to book a flight out of there on the way back tomorrow.
  i walked the track up to a nice beach & back yesterday.  today i went with a sea kayak company & had a fabulous day doing that. 
    all’s good in nz.  especially with IMNZ.
peggy

Here’s what I think of rest days: they stink.

Typically, I wake up about 15 minutes later than I would if I had set an alarm. Eat breakfast, study for a bit, then I tackle the errands that have been put off. Inevitably the day disappears before I get half of things done that I had hoped to do, and due to lack of energy expenditure falling asleep early becomes a pipe dream. Thus, I start the week behind on sleep. Honestly, if there wasn’t so much data saying that a full day off is necessary, I wouldn’t do it.

One thing I miss on my off days is my daily visit to Herriott Sports Performance. The training facility is my new favorite hang out. Aside from the computrainer workouts, strength and conditioning classes, and the treadmill that I frequently commandeer, they also have couches and about 100 endurance films on DVD. Tuesday I had Russell Cree play with my bike fit. We were able to flatten by back out for a more aero position, and he adjusted my cleat position to relieve some tension in my knees. It’s nice to get advice from someone so experienced. Russell has a doctorate in Physical Therapy, as well as a semi-pro cycling license (and a bunch of other coaching certs).

I did a cycling race today. It was the Mason Lake Road Race on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. I went down with Brian Davis and his wife Marijana. This was Brian’s first road race, and my second, so we were both entered in the Cat 5 group.  Marijana and I have had our differences in the past (mainly because she always beats me at board games), but I’m pretty sure she was the only significant other that actually wanted to drive 2 hours from Seattle to watch her loved one race. Props to her.

I did this race once last year, and at the end I was bummed out because it came down to a sprint finish that I was scared to take part in, so I never actually got to race hard. (It’s difficult for me to grasp the idea of a race that doesn’t actually push you to your physical limits. That’s more like Golf). In order to make sure i didn’t have the same experience this year I decided I would take off about half way through the three loop, 36 mile, course. Furthermore i wanted to have some fun with it, so I was going to do a couple attacks early just to see how people would react.

There were some problems with that strategy. First, nobody in the pack is interested in chasing down a solitary cyclist who makes an attach 7 miles into a 36 mile race. Second, I’m too stubborn to sit up and let the group catch me when I realize they’re not going to chase. Third, I have not been training for a 30 mile time trial on a road bike.

Still, I put a pretty solid lead on the group, caught the CAT 4′s (who started 5 minutes up on us). I won, but it was definitely not a smart race, and could have been much less painful.

So here’s the bummer about the whole day: My good friend Brian Davis clipped another riders rear wheel and went down hard in the first lap of the race. Unfortunately I didn’t know about it until after the race or I probably would have stopped, seeing as how I was his only way of getting to the ER. The X-Rays show a fractured scapula and clavicle, which is pretty bad news for a swimmer.