Racing to Save Lives

Welcome to my Team In Training home page.

I'm training to participate in the Vineman Ironman event as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training. It sounds crazy, I know! I never thought I would swim 2.4 miles, bike 112, and run a marathon all in one day. But I'm doing it, not only for myself but to benefit this amazing organization. All of us on Team In Training are raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives. I am completing this event in honor of all individuals who are battling blood cancers. These people are the real heroes on our team, and we need your support to cross the ultimate finish line - a CURE!

Please make a donation to support my participation in Team InTraining and help advance LLS's mission.

I hope you will visit my web site often. Be sure to check back frequently to see my progress. Thanks for your support!

November 16, 2009

Ahhh, the first week of training done. This was a fairly easy week, mainly just setting markers for the rest of the season. Saturday we had our first Captain's Bike Ride. We rolled out of Larkspur and rode along the Paradise Loop to Tiburon. It was a perfect day for riding and a great route (especially for someone who hasn't been on a bike in...a while). This week has a swim focus, I'm not that thrilled about putting on a bathing suit in November, but hey others have gone through worse, right? I would like to say "Thank You!" to my co-workers at Willis Lease for making generous donations toward a great cause, however I still have a ways to go so keep 'em comin'!

November 23, 2009

Week 2 of training was great! Saturday was a bike and swim day. The Team got in a big circle on our cycle trainers and had a spin class in the parking lot of Redwood High in Larkspur. Then we jumped in the pool for an hour and half of swimming. Like the rest of the Team, by the time I got out I was pruney and really hungry. Sunday's 6 mile run in SF was damp and chilly but worth it. The feeling you get after going for a good run trumps anything I could think of at the moment. This week there is no rest for the wicked just because there's a Holiday, so check back next week to see how I do after gorging on Thanksgiving food.

November 30, 2009

I learned a very good lesson this week: bike wheel + branch = crash. Yes, I biffed on the bike, again. Don't worry, the bike is fine. I skinned up my left knee and elbow, but it's no big deal because...I'm Iron-Jen and a stupid branch isn't going to keep me down! LOL : ) Anyhoo, training this week was great, Thanksgiving didn't slow me down one bit. Saturday's bike ride from Sonoma to Napa was definitely challenging because of the crazy wind we had, but it was still a lovely ride through the vineyards (even though I crashed). Sunday's workout required a bit more of a push to get out there and swim for an hour then run for an hour, but the weather was so nice that I had no reason not to get it done. And you know what, I felt great when I finished : )

December 7, 2009

Brrr!!! It was a chilly training week but I Iron(wo)man'd up and got out there and ran, swam, and biked in the 40 degree weather. I have to thank Cpt. Les for motivating me to go for our scheduled bike ride Sunday morning when I really didn't want to (because it was freezing and I have a bit of a cold). It's a really great feeling to complete a workout that you really didn't want to do. Since it's suppose to be really cold this week I'll have to Iron(wo)man up and get out there. Until next week...

December 14, 2009

Mother Nature sure let us have it with the rain on Saturday, which meant no bike ride, so I ended up doing a solo trainer workout. Sunday we swam and swam and swam our little hearts out. We were spoiled the previous week in Pleasant Hill with water temp at 82, this week the water was no where near that, but I think I swam faster because of it (or at least tried to). It was fun though because Coach Doug took video of our individual swim so that Swim Coach Sedonia could show us our form and tell us what we need to work on. So this week I'll be practicing keeping my head down and trying to kick more efficiently. After our lovely swim, we had our first Honoree Potluck! Honorees Christoff (sp?), Laura and Frankie came out to tell us a little about themselves and to remind us why we do this...We need to CURE CANCER! All in all, even with the cold I had, it was a great training week!

December 21, 2009

Ooh, ow, oh, umph, cheese and crakers! These are a few of my favorite things...to say after Saturday's 6 hour training. The day consisted of a run/track workout, strength training, swimming, cycling-running-cycling that really gave us a taste of what Iron training is all about, pushing yourself. Then on Sunday we had a lovely 30mile bike ride (on my new lean, mean, racing machine Parlee Z4) along the rolling hills through the backroads of Petaluma, led by Cpt Les. It was the perfect end to a, um...challenging training weekend. In case I don't post again this week...Thank you all for your donations and support and Happy Holidays!

December 28, 2009

Hope you all had a falalala-fabulous holiday. I did! There's no rest for the wicked though, that's for sure! Christmas vacation from work does not mean vacation from training. But that's ok, it gave me an excuse to eat yummy holiday treats and not feel bad about it (of course they were vegan treats so how bad for you could they be, right?) We sure had some beautiful weather for the workouts though. In fact, yesterday, after it stopped raining, Cpt Les gave me a sneek peak of the Vineman bike course. So now when I think of the race I feel more excited and less like I want to vomit : )

PS Thank you to my Secret Santa for making your generous donation!

Until next week...

January 4, 2010

Happy New Year! This weeks training provided a fantastic start to the new year. Our Captains Ride on Saturday was a 5 mile marker set in Nicasio and I rode 5 miles in 19.25 minutes! Woot Woot! Sunday's Coached Workout was amazing! We had a 5 hour workout that I swam, biked and ran through like it was nobody's business. I felt really strong, energetic and ready to take on whatever the coaches had to throw at me. I'm more excited than ever to be going on the Ironman Journey! Hope you had a safe and happy New Year!

January 11, 2010

BONK, was the word of the day on Saturday. We traveled to lovely Pleasant Hill for our bike/swim workout and because the coaches wanted to give us a preview of what the course will be like for our Louie Bompua Olympic Tri on Jan 24th. And for good reason...the bike course was a bear with a monster of a hill on the way back. This hill is named Pig Farm Hill and it kicked my butt (aka I bonked). I have vowed to return there on Jan 24th and kick it's butt. I've never had to walk up a hill before and I never want to do that again. So I will hydrate, fuel and train those leg muscles to get my booty up that darn hill. I will conquer you, Pig Farm Hill, you can bet the farm on that one! ROOOOAR! Oh yeah and Go Team!

January 18, 2010

Mother Nature held out on the rain so we could get our workouts in, she's so thoughtful : ) Hopefully, she'll be just as kind to us this coming Sunday when we head back to Pleasant Hill to do the Louie Tri, an olympic distance tri to honor one of Iron Team's personal honorees Louie Bonpua, who lost his battle with cancer. I'm hoping Louie will be there in spirit to push us up Pig Farm Hill, even if he's not I'm going to kick that hill in the fanny! Anyhoo, Saturday Cpt. Les led a ride out Chileno Valley Road. It's one of my favorite routes with the rollings hills and beautiful coutryside landscape. It was a great day, a day that I'm proud to have dedicated to Richard "Dick" Garzelli, one of my personal Honorees who lost his battle with cancer last week. Dick's passing was another reminder of why I joined the Team...to CRUSH CANCER! Unfortunately, at this point I'm not quite half way to my fundraising goal and could really use your help. Please, I've mentioned this before, skip your Starbucks for the day and donate $5 to my fundraising efforts and together we'll save lives!

January 25, 2010

Louie Tri was AWESOME!!! Not only did the rain hold out until the last leg of the race, but I'm so pleased with how well I did, I can't even tell you but I think my perma-grin says it all : D Race Recap: I completed the .9 mile swim in 28 minutes, rode 28 miles in a little over 2 hours (kicking Pig Farm Hill's oinker all the way!), and completed the nearly 6 mile run in under and hour. It was my best olympic race yet! After the race I felt FANTASTIC, I could've done it again (just kidding) but I was definitely feeling a runners high that kept me going all afternoon and into the evening (until I passed out at 9pm). Thank you to all the Coaches, Mentors, Captains (even though Cpt Les left me to climb Pig Farm by myself, just kidding Les xoxo) and especially the Volunteers who stood out in the cold, damp weather for nearly five hours to keep us going in the right direction and provide a little moral support. After the last runners came in, Louie's sister spoke briefly about how moved she was to see that we are keeping Louie's memory alive by doing this race and raising money to help in the fight against these horrible blood cancers. Louie was most definitely there in spirit, you could just feel it. One last thing...I have to send a special fundraising THANK YOU to Dana Gustafson, the daughter of my personal honoree Richard "Dick" Garzelli who passed away a couple weeks ago, for sending a mass email to all her friends and family in support of my fundraising. Dana, you're an angel!

February 1, 2010

Another fabulous week of training completed! The week ended with a nice 20 mile bike marker ride from Nicasio during which we, the newly christened Team K, took a slight detour down a really lovely, tree lined bike path behind Samuel P. Taylor Park, where we stopped for some photo ops (see pic above) and giggles then headed back to Nicasio for some well earned breakfast at Rancho Nicasio. Now on to the important stuff...according to Coach Dave, we have now finished our Base Phase of training and are moving on to our Build Phase where we'll "truly develop our athletic potential". Sounds exciting but I'm looking forward to Sexy Phase : )

February 8, 2010

I lOVE Napa in February! Yesterday Cpt K led us on a 30mile bike ride up Howell Mtn in Yountville/Napa and even though there was about 5miles of straight hill climbing it was all worth it when we got to the top and took in the most beautiful view of the Napa Valley. The sun was shining, the turkey vulchers were flying and the wind was calm. It was a gorgeous day that made our ride even better. Hey Cpt, can we do that again? Check out the pic above, I'm the 3rd from the left.

March 15, 2010

Ok, so I've totally slacked on updating you on my training, but no worries cuz...I'm b-a-a-c-k! The last couple of weeks have been a build phase of our training program so we've been working up to the 1/2 Ironman that we'll be doing as training next weekend. Yes, you read correctly, I'm doing a 1/2 Ironman next weekend (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike and finish it off with a 13.1 mile run). Oh yeah! But enough about the coming week, let me tell you about the weekend we just had. On Saturday we all met up at Aquatic Park in SF and swam in the bay (brrrrr). We didn't just swim though, we swam 1 lap got out, did 20 push-ups, swam another lap, got out, partnered up and did a wheel barrel walk (not fun when you can't feel your hands), got back in and swam another lap, got out and did the crab walk and sumo walk, got back in and swam one last lap. I bet you're exhausted just reading about it, but it didn't end there. We then went for a hour and 40 min run through the Presidio and no run through there would be complete without going up Lover's Lane (which I think should be re-named to Hater's Lane, because if you really LOVE someone you wouldn't make them walk up that damn hill). So we ran about 9 miles then finished the day off with about 30min of strength on the beach at Chrissy Field. And that was only Saturday's workout. Sunday, we met up at a school near Northgate Mall in Terra Linda and headed out Lucas Valley Road for a 60mile bike ride that took us to Petaluma and back to Terra Linda. This may sound lovely considering the gorgeous weather we had but it was NOT EASY. There were a few um...challenging hills to climb and some fast descents that terrified me but all in all it was a really great ride. I'm sore today, more so than I can put into words right now. But it's a good soreness because I completed my logest ride to date (60miles) and am still alive to tell you about it. This Friday we leave for Lake San Antonio for 1/2 Ironman training weekend...I can't wait to see what the weekend will bring. Ta ta for now!

PS new pic posted! I'm the one in the wetsuit with a pink cone head LOL

March 22, 2010

I survived Wildflower training weekend and can officially call myself a Half Iron(wo)man! Woot woot! For those of you unfamiliar with Wildflower, it's a triathlon held annually in May at Lake San Antonio and is one of the hardest half ironman races in the country. It's called the Woodstock of tri's because everyone camps (except the wimps that stay in RV's) and during race weekend not a bare camp spot can be found (just imagine 30,000 triatheltes, their families and friends all camping, it's quite a site!).

Since we are half way through our Ironman training the coaches wanted us to complete a half Ironman to test our endurance thus far. The weekend went something like this:

Les and I arrived at camp Friday afternoon, set up our Hilton of a tent and had an awesome dinner provided by my fabulous mentor Margaret and super duper swim coach Sedonia. Since we had to be in the water by 7am on Saturday everyone hit their sleeping bags early.

4.45am Saturday morning I hear the sound of bagpipes playing Scotland the Brave and Coach Dave announcing "Time to get up Iron Team". No it wasn't real bagpipes but was loud enough that it sounded like they were marching through the campground. Now that's a wake up call!

6am We were at our makeshift transition area wiggling into our wetsuits and pulling our swim caps down tight.

7am we were in the water bobbing around like buoys until we here the siren indicating the start of our 1.2 mile swim. I felt great in the water! Like a little seal just gliding through the crisp water as the sun was coming up. I finished my swim in about 45 minutes, probably my fastest swim yet! I made my way back to transition and found out a lot of people were still in the water so I quickly got ready for the 56 mile bike ride. I was really feeling great! Full of energy and ready to tackle the infamous Nasty Grade, but I made a wrong turn and ended up going down a hill that we weren't supposed to descend until the end of our ride. I got about half way down when someone coming up yelled "this is the wrong way, turn around". Ok, I thought, not so bad, then my bike started to feel sluggish (not me, the bike) and I realized I have a flat! Dang it! So I walked my bike back up the hill (cursing with every step I took), got to the top and found a safe spot to change my tire. I was doing just fine until I realized that my spare had a short stem and I needed a long one. Thankfully a coach from the Southbay team rescued me by providing a spare that he had in his car. So, about 40 minutes later, I was on the road again but I was the last bike on the course so I pedaled as hard and fast as I could (no way was "sweeper" Les going to catch me!). I finally passed 2 girls on my team and settled into a nice pace. Les did catch up to me but only after a five mile chase : ) I old him what happened and he went back to sweeping. By the time I got to mile 36 I was feeling pretty good until the staff at water stop 2 told me they'd have to drive me closer to Nasty Grade so I would make the cut off time (this did not make me happy) but I presevered and hammered up that hill (which wasn't nearly as awful as it sounds). Going down the backside of Nasty Grade was a nightmare though. I hate descending and this was a monster of a descent, so I walked down that stupid hill, cursing my fear and the hill and hoped it would end soon).

4 hours later I reach transition and now it's time to run 13.1 miles. Not just 13.1 miles but 13.1 miles on trails and by that time of day it was HOT! I felt really good though until about mile 6 when my nutrition bottle started to get really warm and just didn't taste good at all. Luckily the water stops had ice and water so I refueled with that and went on my way. By the time I got to The Pit (mile 9) and had to turn around I was repeating "I am Iron" over and over again to get me through the next 4 miles and it worked (also yelling "squirrel!" everytime I saw one of those cute little guys)! 3 hours later I crossed our Finish Llne and all Iwanted to do was go sit in the lake to cool off. It felt much colder than it did that morning but I was in heaven! That night we ate, drank and laughed until we were too tired to think.

Even though I had some technical difficulties, I was able to get through it and soldier on. Despite my minor dissappointment at having to walk down the Nasty Grade I'm pretty satisfied with the outcome. I mean hello, I did a HALF IRONMAN! Holy cow! How many people can say they've done that?

I signed up to do the real Wildflower race in May and am looking forward to getting back there and really showing that course what I'm made of...IRON!

March 29, 2010

Got to love recovery week! Swim, bike, run all at an easier level to let those muscles recover from the brutality of Wildflower training weekend. Saturday Cpt. Les led our 5mile bike marker and I completed it in 18min and 15seconds! My fastest time ever! Woohoo : ) Then Sunday, instead of doing our hour and 40 min run, Les and I met up with Mentor Margaret, her hubby and some of their bike shop frineds for a nice 60mile bike ride from Napa to Calistoga. It was so nice to ride for fun instead of going for time. That's a totally new concept for me and I loved every minute of it. Thanks Margaret!

April 12, 2010

I SURVIVED BOOT CAMP WEEKEND!!!! It was wet, windy and intense but I got through it. : )

Saturday we went to Shadowcliffs Park in Pleasanton where we were to do 3 sprint distance tri's. Yes, you read correctly: swim/bike/run x 3. Whew! It started out with a twist though. Just as I was about to jump in the lake my goggles broke so I ran back to my transition area and grabbed my spare (thank goodness I always have a spare in my tri bag) and ran back to the water. After swimming a lap and getting out then back in 4 times I headed back to transition to get ready for the bike ride, where I was told that I had a flat tire (the coaches let the air out of everyone's back tire). I struggled with getting the tire off but finally got it, pulled out my tube and put it back together and hit the road for a short ride. After the ride it was time for a run, so I hit the trail for a nice 3.5 mile run. I made it back to transition, put my wetsuit back on (brrr) and jumped in the water again, got out jumped on the bike, came back and went for run #2. By then we only had about 25min left so it was either swim, bike or run again. I chose to ride : ) And ended the day feeling great, exhausted but great.

Sunday was a completely different animal. A snarling, drooling, beast of an animal. The swim was pretty fun actually, especially since it was in a nice warm pool : ) We picked a lane and did 5 min worth of one dril then moved to the next lane to do a different drill such as holding a tennis ball between your chin and your chest, go ahead try it it's pretty funny actually! Then we transitioned for our 35 mile bike ride. By this time it was really windy and raining. We hit the road and it wasn't too bad until we hit Metcalf Road which is more like a mountain, about 4 miles long with up to a 17% grade, 40mile/hour winds and pouring rain. I tried really hard to stay on my bike but when I saw my heart rate was 195 and I was only going 4 miles an hour I decided to walk a bit. At one semi flat part a coach from the Southbay team held the bike so I could get a good start up the hill again. I was ok until I rounded a corner and was nearly blown off my bike. I decided it was better to be safe than injured so I continued walking up that beast of a hill. After what seemed like an eternity, I finally reached the top and began the descent, you all know how I feel about descending but was so glad to be moving faster than 4 miles an hour that I didn't think too much about it. I got to one part of the course that didn't seem like a descent at the time but when I realized I was going about 30mies an hour I knew it was. I didn't care though, it felt so good to sweep around the turns and just fly like the wind that I let go of any fear and just went for it : ) By the time we got back to transition I was more wet than I was during the swim, completely frozen and (to be honest) really pissed that we even had to do that ride on a day like that, it was pretty dangerous if you ask me but I figure it's made me more of an Iron(wo)man. We were supposed to run for 30 min, then get back in the pool for 30 min but I was completely spent from the ride so I called it a day.

April 19, 2010

Total cycling miles for this weekend = 112! My longest combined weekend riding distance yet. Woohoo! Saturday Mentor Margaret arranged for us to do a little over 50 miles in the beautiful Napa Valley. I've ridden part of the course a couple of times so I was familiar with most of the route, especially Deer Park Road which had a down hill that I was not looking forward to doing BUT...I conquered that demon! I decided to just let go, trust my bike and my skills and it worked! I followed Cpt. Les' line and it felt so good to just fly. It was amazing. On Sunday Cpt Les arranged for us to do one loop of the Vineman course (aka race course), 60miles. We couldn't have asked for better weather: sunny, not a cloud in the sky, a nice little breeze and not too hot. This was supposed to be a "recovery" ride so I did my best to take it easy but had so much fun pushing myself that little extra bit and I felt great after! Aside from the bum being sore, I was so pleased with all that I had done that weekend that it didn't bother me much. My cycling confidence has increased by leaps and bounds in the last couple of weeks and I feel like I'm finally getting over my fear of descent. I guess practice really doesn make perfect. TTFN!

PS New Pic! That's me (front and center in black) with my awesome Iron Teamates : )

April 26, 2010

FANTASTICO! That's the word I'll use to describe this weekend. We were blessed with gorgeous weather and fabulous company. Saturday the team met up at Aquatic Park for an hour long swim in the SF bay. Mmmmm, salt water : ) The water was a bit chilly but I was warmed by the thought that the rest of the team was out there swimming right along with me. We then hit the green for some strength and stretching in the sunshine, hearing the occasional GO TEAM from anonymous passersby and getting long stares as tourists wondered what the heck we were doing on the grass cuz it sure didn't look like excercise with all of giggling and/or falling over from trying to do side planks on a downhill. Sunday was another beautiful day (we sure do live in a great place for tri training). The team met up at Heather Farms Park in Walnut Creek for the 3rd Annual Brenda Donato 5k Fun Run. By the time we started at 9.30am it was pretty warm out and since we were using this as our marker set, we had to do this run at an all out pace, I was a little worried that I wouldn't be able to hold my pace but I finished in 26.30 woot woot, wanted to vomit after but felt great for having done it and finished with a smile : ) After the run we hit up Sports Basement for a shopping party and boy did we SHOP! I love that place, my bank account doesn't, but my booty will love me for buying super duper Sugoi cycling shorts and that's all that really matters. After our shopping extravaganza we headed over to Coach Dave's for an Honoree Potluck/BBQ, where we enjoyed the company of two of our very special honorees Laura and Frankie, along with good food, if you were lucky you got a massage by Cpt Les to benefit my fundraising ; ), and lot's of laughs. Good times were had by all! This Friday Les and I head down to Lake San Anotnio for Wildflower (long course, OMG!). Wish me luck!

May 3, 2010

The smell of permanent marker on my skin. The rush of anticipation at the sound of the start horn. The plunge into the chilly water of Lake San Antonio. The fight to get through the first feet of the swim until I finally found a place of my own amongst the other triathletes in my age group. Then the quiet of my mind as I focus on each breath and every stroke, glancing up occasionally to catch a glimpse of the next buoy in the distance. The thrill of turning the corner and knowing I was half way through my 1.2mile swim. This was how my first experience at doing the Wildflower Long Course (half Ironman) Triathlon began. From there on it was…challenging : )

As I got out of the water and heard a voice next to me say “hey you!” it was HUGH from TNT last year when I did the Olympic distance tri at Wildflower. So comforting to see a familiar face in the craziness of the race. I jogged up the boat ramp into T1 (transition 1) with the GO TEAM cheers from the crowd ringing in my ears. Made it to my bike, got out of my wetsuit, put my shoes, helmet, gloves, sunglasses on and ran toward the BIKE OUT gate. Off I go to start my 56 mile bike ride. GO TEAM! (more cheers from the crowd) as I pedaled and pedaled and tried to keep my heart rate down while ascending Beach Hill but I was so excited that it was hard. I began to meditate and remembered something I heard on a P90X DVD “Do your best and forget the rest”. That’s exactly what I did. I didn’t care that I was being passed by more people than I could count because I knew the course and knew that, sooner or later, I’d be seeing them on the side of the road because they bonked after starting out too fast. Slow and steady, breathe in, breathe out, check heart rate, pedal, sip, repeat. At about mile 42 I approach Nasty Grade and reminded myself “you can do this, you’ve climbed waaaaay steeper, longer, hairy hills than this one”. Once I reached the top I knew I had one more hill to climb before the big descent, the descent that I walked down during training weekend because I was petrified at the thought of descending on a bike. “You can do this, you descended Howell Mtn and survived. You can do this!” I relaxed, loosened up my shoulders, took a few deep breaths, and let it roll. Faster and faster and faster I went. It was absolutely exhilarating! I carefully checked my speed 20mph, 30, 34, 36, 38, 40.6mph! Holy crap! I’m at the bottom! Tears of joy came running down my cheeks, not actually down, more like sideways and into my ears because I was still coasting a 30+mph. I DID IT! Now I only have about 10more miles left on the bike and I’m 2/3 of the way done with the race! Lynch Hill, another descent with sweeping turns, the last descent before T2 (transition 2). I said you just went 40mph down Nasty Grade you can do this descent too. And I did. I didn’t even touch the brakes. I hopped off my bike at the dismount line and headed straight for my transition area to prepare for the run. At this time of the day (around 2pm) it was pretty warm out so my running bottle that had a mix of coconut water, lemon, and salt had become very warm and difficult to drink. But I knew I needed electrolytes to keep me going, so every few min I took a sip. The first 3 miles were ok, I was feeling pretty good until I got to mile 4 where the semi-flat trail became a hill, but seemed more like a mountain. It was hot and I tried really hard to stick with my run 4min walk 1 min strategy but the sun was beating down on me and the hills just seemed endless. I finally made it out of the hilliest part and headed down into the flat where there was no shade and it became even harder to stick with my intervals, so I walked to the next water stop and swallowed a GU drank some water and started to run again. A few minutes, upon seeing a photographer approaching in the distance, I started to run and to my surprise I began to feel more energized. I continued with my 4:1 stratgey and made it into the park and to the campground, where I saw Harmony! JEN! GO JEN! I LOVE YOU! YOU’RE DOING GREAT! I kept up the run and made it out of the campsite, headed toward the Pit at mile 9. 4 miles to go, I thought to myself “you can do this” but was beginning to feel hungry, really hungry, which is not good. I walked down into the pit, grabbed another GU at the water station hit the turn around and began to walk up the hill toward mile 10-11. This hill was killing me! It seemed endless. I was hot, hungry, and starting to get tired. Then I hear a voice behind me say “are you ok?” It was Elise whom I’ve known since my first marathon with TNT. “No, this hill is killing me”. So we walked to the top and I was feeling a little more energized knowing I only had about 2 miles left, so I started to run again. Surprisingly it felt pretty good. Then I glanced at my watch and realized I only had about 20min to make it to the finish line in order to get an official time so I ran, then walked until I saw the top of Lynch Hill. My watch said I had 8 min to make it to the finish, so I ran, really fast (8min mile) and before I knew it I was in the chute! Smiling through tears of joy at having made it, I crossed the finish line with 3 min to spare and ran right into the arms of Les who was there waiting for me. I DID IT! “You were awesome!” he said. 70.3miles in 8hours and 17min, woot woot!

Thank you to everyone who cheered GO TEAM! Thank you to every volunteer who handed out water, bananas, GU. Thanks to the Ironteam coaches, captains and mentors who have helped me get this far. I definitely feel more confident about the doing the full Ironman, especially since I know what to work on from this point on. And from what I’m told the Wildflower Long Course is waaay harder than Vineman will be, so in 3 months I think I’ll be even stronger and faster and READY. GO TEAM IRON TEAM!!!

PS New pic to be posted soon!

May 10, 2010

Wind was both my friend and foe on Saturday's 60mile ride along Silverado Trail from Napa to Calistoga. On the way out we had a head wind that reminded my body about the half Ironman I did last weekend. My hip flexors were tight, real tight. But I continued to pedal my way through it knowing that once we hit the turn around that wind would be at my back, pushing me home. Unfortunately, by that point I was exhausted, not even physically. Mentally exhausted. I was so sleepy that even a Power Gel with caffeine in it did nothing for me. Usually, I gulp down one of those things and a few min later I'm back in the saddle feeling powered up and ready to rock. Not this time my fiend, not this time. I did my best to wake up, standing up and hammering up a few small hills, stretching, controlling my breathe, singing, speeding up, praying, slowing down. Nothing worked, so I settled in and did my best to push onward. Forcing myself to believe that there was a tail wind when I knew there was not. What happened to that tail wind anyway? It was there for a little while, then just turned around to taunt me once again. Blowing in my face, making me work so much harder than I really want to...but that's fine, I'm ok with that because that is what makes me Iron.

May 17, 2010

Milestones, Costumes and Mayhem...

This Saturday the Team and I rode 80miles!!! Holy chamois butter Ironman! That was my longest ride to date. We started out at Finley Center in Santa Rosa pedaled out the back roads to Occidental, on Bohemian Hwy into Monte Rio, through Guerneville, up to Healdsburg, then Calistoga, and back to Santa Rosa. The weather was perfect, it started out foggy and a little chilly then turned into a beautiful sunny day : ) that ended with me getting the honorary Ironteam Spirit Cape! Woohoo! It's so cool (see pic above)! Every couple of weeks the Cape is passed to a different teammate to adorn with a motivational/inspirational quote/icon or firman's ax (yes, a real one! It's on a belt, around my waist in the above pic) to remind us of how far we've come and just why we do this crazy thing called Ironman. It's an honor to have the Spirit Cape this week and will surely find something awesome to add to it.

Sunday Cpt Les and I joined some TNT Tri team peeps from last year and ran Bay to Breakers! We had so much fun running with the rest of the crazy people through SF! Dressed up as...well I'm not sure what, we wore little black dresses and 2 of us wore hot pink wigs. A couple of my favorite costumes were people dressed as bacon (I know I'm vegan but they looked so funny) Navi's from Avatar, and 7 girls dressed as birth controls pills. Yes, there were a lot of naked people and not one of them should've been naked (eeewwww) especially considering how cold it was LOL After slooooowly making our way to the start line we were running! We finished in 1h 27min (that's pretty good for a little over 7 miles with 100k other people). Ate some delicious Indian food then, since we were freezing our LBD's off, hopped on Muni to get out of the cold and back to the start line. So much fun I can hardly walk, j/k

June 16, 2010

I know, I know. It's been a month since I posted last, there's a lot to catch up on. Where to begin...

Let's start with June 6th. Les and I drove to Tahoe for America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride a 100mile ride around the lake that most definitely lived up to it's name. The weather was a perfect 70ish degrees with sunshine, a few puffy white clouds, complete with a spectacular backdrop of the snow covered Sierra's. I felt great during the whole ride! This being my first century I was a little worried about nutrition and the distance (the furthest I rode before this was 80miles, quite a big jump), but I powered through it sitting on Les' wheel for most of the ride. We started out at South Shore, rode north on the west side of the lake, up to Truckee, around North Shore, then down the east side back to our hotel at South Shore. I couldn't have asked for more perfect conditions (see pic above) : )

June 12, 2010

Tour of the East Bay Alps with the Team. This was a pretty tough ride, the wind provided us with an extra challenge: staying on our bikes. Then came the climbs, we departed Heather Farms Park on the canal trail then out to Morgan Territory Road where the climbing fun begins. I'm not sure how many miles it was but it seemed endless. You'd climb come to a level spot for a second then climb again. I was so happy to be at the top until I got a taste of the wind on the downhill. My teammate, Jane and I stopped several times on the descent to rest our hands from braking and to try to steady ourselves. The wind was practically knocking us off our bikes, but we pushed on, headed toward Mt. Diablo. Beofre this ride, I didn't know much about Mt. Diablo except that it's a great climb, so I was a little surprised at just how long and difficult it was just to reach the junction. Some of our teammates made it passed the junction and rode all the way to the top! But after being battered by the wind for hours I didn't have it in me to make it to the top, but was very satisfied with my first 2000ft climb up Mt. Diablo and am looking forward to attempting that beast of a climb again, this time making it to the top!

June 21, 2010

This week was a "recovery week" but it sure didn't feel like it. On Saturday Cpt Les and I ran 18miles or 2 loops of the Vineman race course in just over 3hours! Woot Woot! The weather was perfect, it started out cool and ended warm and sunny with a nice breeze. Thank you to Mueller Winery for allowing me to make a brief pit stop at their tasting room, we even went back for a tasting (um hello, they call it Vineman for a reason). Anyhoo, my legs felt pretty darn good after the run, I wasn't even sore the next day : ) Sunday was Father's Day so we decided to swim at Johnson's Beach (where I'll be swimming on race day!). The water was like a bathtub compared to where we've been swimming (Aquatic Park in SF, Lake del Valle in Pleasanton). I could've floated, I mean swam there all day. Then I spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out with my Dad : )

Special Thank You

I'd like to send out a gigantic THANK YOU! to my coworkers at Willis Lease Finance Corp. for helping me reach and pass my fundraising goal! Your support means so very much to me. Thanks a million!

PS Happy Summer!

June 30, 2010

Summer is definitely upon us. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not : ) I love summer but this weekends training was made especially difficult by the heat. Saturday's swim at Johnson's Beach was great! I love swimming there, the water is cool and clean(er than the SF bay LOL). Cpt Les and I swam about 2miles with quite a few other triathletes in training from SF and the East Bay. We then took it easy for the rest of the day in preparation for Sunday's monster workout. A triple brick = ride 30miles + run 5miles x 3 for a total of 90miles on the bike and a 15mile run. This wouldn't have been so bad had it not been 100degrees in Yountville. I made it through the first brick no problem, even had a few minutes to spare on each leg. The 2nd time was a little more difficult with the heat setting in but I completed the 30mile bike and about half of the run (coach Simon was tryign to keep everyone somewhat together so he had a few of us cut the run short). The 3rd round was a beast! It was so hot. I kept hydrating but I was definitely starting to feel the effects of the heat, we only rode about 10miles and turned around. By the time I got back to transition, I really didn't want to do the last 5mile run and was just about to swap my cycling shoes for my flip flops when Coach Dave came up to me and asked how I was. "I don't feel horrible but I'm not sure I can do the run" I told him. "If you aren't seeing stars or anything, try to go out and at least run/walk or walk it if you have to" he said. So I put on my running shoes, grabbed some Gu's and my water bottle and set out to tackle those last 5miles. I started to run and thought "this doesn't feel so bad" so I kept running and before I knew it I was done! I couldn't believe I did it. I truly didn't think I had it in me. After, I felt so proud of not only myself but of everyone on Ironteam for really pushing through the heat and discomfort and getting most if not all of it done. Go Team! Ironteam!

PS 32days until race day! OMG!

July 6, 2010

What a fantastic 4th of July weekend! Saturday Cpt Les and I ran 20miles of the race course in 3hours and 55min (including water stops)! Woot Woot! I planned my nutrition perfectly, so there was no fatigue or the dreaded bonking and my body felt pretty good for most of the run. The last couple miles my knees did start to ache and the arches of my feet were screaming post run, but for the most part I felt really strong. We took Sunday off to enjoy the holiday and had planned on getting an early start on our workouts Monday morning but that didn't happen : ) I needed to rest more than anything. This week is all about preparing for our last long training ride, a 104mile bike ride in the East Bay. After that it's all about the taper.

Count down to Race Day: 25 days! Holy cow!

July 12, 2010

This week we hit the peak of our training cycle, meaning taper is just around the bend. Unfortunately, that also meant that Coach Dave would subject us to the hardest ride we've done this season, the East Bay Century. This course was very demanding, both physically and mentally. We started out at Heather Farms Park in walnut Creek, hit the Iron Horse trail that led us to our first climb of the day: the junction at Mt. Diablo (approx. 2,200 feet elevation). This wasn't actually that difficult of a climb. In fact I was pleasantly surprised once we had reached the junction, as was Cpt. Les (who had never climbed Mt. Diablo). "That's it?" he asked. Yep, that's it, now for the fun part: descending (never thought you'd hear me refer to descending as fun did ya, LOL). Down we went. From there we rode through San Ramon to Dublin then to Castro Valley where we experienced some "nice" rolling hills. We then took Redwood Rd (more hills), a lovely road through a forest, that led to Skyline where we were greeted by Team Honoree Laura Warren who graciously told us about what was to come, more climbing. We fueled up and headed out. By this point, my mental capacity was diminshing (I'm blaming it on Mother Nature for so graciously bringing me my monthly gift on saturday morning, TMI, I know). So I pedaled and cursed and pedaled and cursed my way up Skyline to Joaquin Miller (more f'ing climbing) to Grizzly Peak (even more f'ing climbing). eventually, we came to the the 3 Bears (3 hills). At this point I was in a really bad place. I couldn't stop from crying every time we approached an ascent. Cpt. Les kept asking if he should call the SAG car to pick me up, to which I replied "No, f'ing way am I giving up on this ride! If you want to see me even more upset than I am right now, then call, but there is no way I'm giving up. I just want it to be over". So I hopped back on my bike and pedalled ahead, hoping he couldn't hear my pretty little mouth spewing vulgarities like a drunken sailor. From here I just pedaled as best I could, trying to stay away from anyone I encountered so I didn't scare them with my dagger looks. Before I knew it we were at Pig Farm hill. If you remember, this was the first hill that I ever had to walk up, I ust couldn't do it. The 2nd time we rode that hill I powered up it like nobody's business. This time however, was completely different. I could see it approaching, getting bigger and steeper with every pedal stroke until I was face to face with the beast. I stopped at the foot of it, drank my supermix then yelled at it that it would not get the best of me and I started pedalling, I got 1/2 way up and checked my heart rate, 175, crap! I tried to calm myself, crying doesn't make your heart rate go down any faster, then decided to try to finish. I got on the bike and pedaled a couple times then nearly fell over in defeat. Obscenitiy! I hung my head and wlaked the rest of the way up. Cursing Cpt. Les and Cpt. Nick for standing at the top watching me do the walk of shame up that obscene hill. Once I got to the top, I was so angry/disappointed/embarassed that I didn't even stop to look at either of them, I hopped on my bike and (since the road was flat) pedalled like a mad woman away from them. Cursing all along the way. We reached another water stopped (wo)manned by 2 wives of my teammates, who had the best waterstop ever, but I was so upset with myself that I didn't even enjoy it. I just filled up my bottles and wiped away my tears and pedalled away. Knowing that I was not done with climbing I really dug deep to find my happy place. It wasn't there. I looked at my computer and saw the mileage, almost 80 miles only about 20 more to go. Then my happy place appeared, 20 miles? I can do that in like an hour! Woohoo! I'm almost done. Then I came to Reliez Valley Road, another f'ing climb, I thought I heard someone say it ws the last major one. Yippee! So I pedaled, even though my legs were just about shot, I didn't care, I was almost done : ) I successfully made it up Reliez Valley only to discover that there were two more climbs. "You lied!" I yelled to Cpt. Les. But I pedalled and pushed and made it to the top. Yes! I'm in the homestretch now! We finally made it back to the Iron Horse trail where I plugged happily along, knowing at the end of it was the finish and I could get off my gosh darn bike (sorry Vanna, I didn't mean any of the things I said before, it was all in the heat of the moment and I love you for getting me through this ride). We made it back to the parking lot where some of my teammates who had finished were waiting for our return. I cried. I was done. It was the hardest ride EVER and I would've rather stuck a pencil in my eye that to do that ride, but I was done. Aside from Pig Farm hill,I rode the whole damn thing. As mentor Margaret would say: "Money in the bank". At the time, I felt really awful about the way I behaved during that ride. I've never been so mentally challenged in my life. I was really upset about Pig Farm but was told by many people that I was a champ for not giving up and completing one of the hardest rides in the Bay Area. It wasn't until today that I realized that I did great! It could've been a lot worse. This is going to sound isane, but I actually hope to do this ride again only without the tears and cursing and walking Pig Farm. With a better frame of mind, I know I can do a lot better and welcome the challenge.

Special thank you to the water stop volunteers and Cpt. Les for knowing when to push, when to hug and when to leave me the hell alone : )

Count down to Race Day: 18 days!

July 19, 2010

Ahhh! That's the sound of the start of "taper" phase where we lower the volume but keep the intensity of our workouts...and I'm loving it! Saturday evening Cpt. Les and I hit the Vineman course for a 10 mile run. It was a little difficult I must say, I'm not used to running in the evening during the weekend and we had a little too much fun during the day. Don't get me wrong, I still turned out a 10.30min mile and finished it in exactly 1hr and 40 min, but it was just a little more challenging than before. Sunday we met up with the our Ironpeeps at Aquatic Park for a swim (that I did not do. What? We got there late and it was cold. I know, I know "Iron up Jen". Whatever). Then we headed to Sports Basement for our Send Off Party and shopping extravaganza! During which we were each rewarded with a certificate for some achievement we made during the season. Mine was for "Most Improved Downhiller", very appropo I think : ) We also heard from our star Honoree Laura Warren, who promised to be out there cheering us on during our race. She reminded us what we are doing all this crazy stuff for, to find a cure for cancer (which is hopefully just around the bend). She's so awesome! Well that's all I have for this week , so tata for now : )

Count down to Race Day: 12 freakin' days!!!

July 27, 2010

4 days! 4 days! 4 freakin' days! My tummy is full of butterflies! I can't believe race day is almost here. Seriously. Where did the last 9months go and who is this crazy woman staring back at me in the mirror? That's IronJen! Ready to rock the Vineman course. I know I'm physically ready, mentally I'm all over the place, emotionally on the verge of tears every time someone shares their story of crossing that Ironman Finish Line for the first time. I feel like there is so much to do and so much info coming at me that it's hard to process everything. But I maintain an air of calm and put my best face forward when asked about the impending day and how I feel. Cpt. Les has been great in helping me prep my transition bags and gear, but I don't think he's aware of how nervous I actually am. I'm still in disbelief that the time has come and by the end of the weekend I'll be an Iron(wo)man!

Thank you to everyone who has coached, mentored, supported, and loved me throughout this amazing Iron Journey. I couldn't have done this without any of you. My only hope is that my Iron Journey will inspire others to do something as great as this: saving lives one mile at a time. GO TEAM, IRONTEAM!!!

Thanks again : )

Race Day Report

As I stood on the banks of Johnson’s Beach my eyes filled with tears as I waited with my fellow Iron chicks to get in the water and begin the 2.4mile swim that kicks off our long awaited Ironman journey. Someone said “there’s no crying in an Ironman”. Little did any of us know that most of the day would be filled with tears of happiness, frustration, pain, and finally joy! We made our way into the water, bobbed around for a few seconds then the buzzer (or whatever it was) went off and so began my Ironman race.

The swim consists of two 1.2mile loops; the first half of the first loop went great! I felt strong, confident, and most importantly calm. I stayed in the back of the pack before we started so I wouldn’t risk being climbed over; however I conveniently forgot that behind us the relay teams were beginning their swim. Just before the first turn around I started to see red swim caps pass me. “Ok, go ahead, I’m taking my time” I thought. Then it started to get a little more vicious. The relay racers (mostly the men) were swimming as fast and as hard as they could (mind you they only had to swim 2.4 miles, they didn’t have a 112mile bike ride and a 26.2mile run after)! Climbing over, hitting, slapping, and kicking their way through the mass of swimmers. I kept reminding myself to keep steady and in the words of P90X’s Tony Horton “do your best and forget the rest”, but I kept getting pelted! I started to get pissed then reminded myself again that I have a loooong day ahead of me and to not waste my energy on payback and anger. At one point, I turned my head to take a breath and saw a white swim cap next to me and immediately recognized the face as that of my Ironman and captain, Les. “OMG! Hi!” I smiled and kept on swimming. It was so nice to see a familiar and trusted face out there among the hoards of other racers. Swim, swim, swim…finally I was out of the water! My Ironteam peeps were standing at the swim exit cheering “Go Jen”, clapping and taking pictures. I got to T1 and was told “sit down!” so they could strip my wetsuit off me (Thanks strippers!) then headed to my gear, grabbed my transition bag and made my way to the changing tent. I calmly changed out of my swimsuit wriggled into my bike shorts and jersey, put on my shoes and headed back to my bike. I quickly drank some of my nutrition, put on my helmet, gloves and sunglasses then walked my bike out of T1. The start of my Ironman bike ride…

Like the swim the 112 mile bike ride also consists of 2 out and back loops. We depart Johnson’s beach and finish at Windsor High School. As I began my ride a thought struck me “this is it! I’m doing an Ironman!” A few miles down the road I finally got comfortable in the saddle, had warmed up a little after the swim and was settling into a nice pace when I heard a familiar voice behind me, it was Captain Les! I have no idea what he said but I was sooo happy to see him. We chatted a little bit but with the cars and other cyclists going by it was difficult so we just rode on with me leading the way. The first 56miles of the ride were great! I was feeling really good, but a little worried about dehydration so I decided to drink my nutrition every 15minutes instead of every 20minutes, which was a costly mistake because by mile 65 or so I started to feel nauseous. Not just a little either, really nauseous, like I was gonna loose it at any moment. I could’ve have easily pushed through this, but out of no where my left knee began to hurt, it felt really tight and sore which is not good considering I still had 40 some miles left on the bike plus a marathon to do. At every stop I stretched, took deep breaths, tried my darndest not to cry and got back on the bike. In no time Les and I were along the home stretch, I could here the crowds cheering and see my Ironteam peeps clapping, waving, yelling “Go Jen!” I rode to T2 racked my bike, changed into my running shorts and shoes, grabbed some other essentials and hit the road.

The marathon. The part I thought would be easiest for me, since I’ve already done 3 full marathons, 3 halves and countless other distances, became the hardest leg of the race. Les and I walked the first 1/4mile then started to run at our race pace. We quickly came upon the TNT water stop where some of our awesome coaches, mentors and captains were waiting to cheer us on. Mentor Margaret said “how ya feeling?” glad to be off the bike : ) Off we went to complete the first of 3 out and backs. That first loop went by so fast! I couldn’t believe it when we got to the turn around point at the finish line, they put on my loop 1 bracelet (actually a hair tie) and we headed out for loop two, now joined by our friend Wendy. By the time we got to the 3rd water stop my knee was killing me, so I took a pain reliever, gulped some water and continued on. There were a few times I just needed to walk for a bit, but once I did I could feel my knee get tighter, so I’d start to run again. Then as it got dark I got a little crazy and started singing, mostly songs like You Light Up My Life (it was dark, I was nearing the end of an Ironman, I may have been a little delirious). By the time we got to the “out” part of our 2 loop it was 8.30pm and one volunteer said “I hope you can make it by 9pm” I thought what is she talking about, the cut off is at 9.30pm, but we continued to push on and as I rounded the last corner I thought “I’m almost there, I have about 7min before the 9.30pm cut off”. We got to the turn around and they said I was too late, the cut off was 9pm not 9.30pm. Devastated, choked up with tears I let them take my timing chip. I’ve never felt so robbed of anything in my whole life! I had pushed so hard and wanted so badly to finish with an “official time” that I didn’t know what to say or think. The only thing I wanted to do was run. I had come this far and was not about to give up. No way in hell was I not going to finish this race. Through my tears, like Forrest Gump “I started running” and I couldn’t stop…didn’t want to stop. I didn’t want to face my family knowing that I had “lost”. I just wanted to finish the damn thing. At some point I just couldn’t run anymore, I was crying so hard it was difficult to breathe and run at the same time. So I walked, I walked most of that last loop. I just didn’t have anything left. I just wanted it to be over. Finally it was.

After 17 hours and 15minutes, with my Ironteam peeps, sister and Nick cheering us on, Les and I crossed the semi-dismantled finish line hand in hand. At a moment like this, one would normally be elated but I was still so devastated about missing the cut off that all I could do was cry. Coach Sedonia hugged me and said “don’t let this take away from what you’ve just accomplished. You’re an Ironman!” I wish, with every fiber of my being that I could’ve been happy about just finishing, about not caring what time I got, about being an Ironman (hello!?!) but it just wasn’t in me.

Looking back on it now, it was a truly amazing experience, one that I wouldn’t trade for the world. I am completely humbled by what this experience has taught me (strength, courage, determination to name a few) and so grateful for the support I received from every one of my donors, family members, co-workers, teammates, coaches, captains, and mentors. I couldn’t have done this without any of you and am so honored to have you in my life. You shouldn’t be surprised to hear that I have signed up to be a mentor for the 2011 Ironteam so in a few months I’ll be at it again…with a vengeance.

Go Team! Ironteam!