Oh blah di, March 29th
A few months ago I shared with you smiling pictures of me, stories of dropping boys and race reports. I was hoping to have great pictures of me racing this weekend and some great stories to tell. I have been training. A 9 minute half marathon pr this season says it all. Even Coach Sickie of the UCSD says I'm becoming a swimmer. Most importantly the ride up Kitchen Creek road for the Queen of the Mountain challenge said that I was ready for this weekends 70.3. Just how fast could I go? No injury or strep throat to slow me down this year. I was ready. No excuses.
I spent the few days leading up to the race discussing my tactics with Coach Mike Plumb of Tripower. (Home of affordable training....that's true and I bet per dollar/mile he's the best deal in the country ;) I felt really ready for the race beacuse Mike's had me building a solid base since November. Also I've been training for a full Ironman which means I'm finally ready for a half. In fact, the race day seemed like just another day of training to me. Actually, I had quite an easy week of tapering. I spent most of the final few days hammering out the details.I even went for a mile swim in the ocean just to make sure I was used to the cold and the seals (just kidding about the seals).
Last year I wasn't that trained. I really didn't think the details mattered. Really if you didn't train for the run all the salt tabs and carbo loading in the world isn't going to change that. This year though is different. I was ready to do more than just finish. I asked my coach to help me establish some goals. My goal was to swim efficiently, to make up some time with a solid bike (but not an over the top, rip my legs off bike) leaving enough to give it my all on the run. With my "fierce" pink Guru I shouldn't have trouble beating last years time on the bike. I felt I needed a time to shoot for on the run. If I don't have a pace per mile to shoot for I sometimes drift off pace. I know Mom.... sounds just like me lagging doing my homework, huh? My mom used to set the egg timer and say "no gymnastics this Saturday if you are not finished by the time that timer goes off" Some readers might think this would sound cruel but honestly I'd still be at the kitchen table with the spelling book if it wasn't for this trick. Interestingly enough Tim's mother had to use this same tactic with Tim.
Armed with my Garmin, my pace for the first two miles of the run would be around 9 minutes/mile. After that I would speed up and be on pace to finish with a 1:50 run split potentially minus a minute or two. My nutritional goal was to consume 225 cal/hour on the bike. Simple enough.
Thursday afternoon, after completing an easy (yet stellar) 20 mile bike/4 mile brick on 8 min/miles. Tim and I headed to Oceanside for the expo and entry pick up. Already I knew this year would be better than last years race because Tim was racing. Last year, Tim was up to his ears in his intern year of residency. He could barely get out of work on time to see me finish. In fact, if I hadn't ran so slow, he would have missed me. It's much more fun when we do races together. The car ride to the Oceanside expo was fun. Despite sitting in traffic I entertained myself by looking at designer fashion in the Saks catalog and contrasting it with the attire I would be wearing on Saturday and talked about how lady like I'd be behaving. To be an accomplished triathlete one must be able to pee in his or her wetsuit, launch snot rockets, snorkle energy gel, and if you are really good you can relieve yourself without stopping. I bet you thought this was a glamorous sport with all that shiny pink paint.
Tim and I arrived in Oceanside and checked the competitor list. No Jennifer Yake to be found. Hmm, we looked a second and a third time....no dice. Not worried (ok maybe a little) we headed inside certainly somebody could take care of this mix up. We headed to the help desk poised, calm, and kind the IM officials began to check their record for my name. Still no dice. Hmm, I thought I bet there is record of my entrance on my computer. I ask if there is an internet cafe nearbye and Heather Fuhr offers me her computer.
For those of you who don't follow triathlon or Ironman this is like Mary Lou Retton offering a child gymnast some chalk. Heather Fuhr has won Ironman a zillion times. I've been to lots of races with Heather. She's very inspiring when I am struggling in the middle of the pack I'll see her already heading back the other direction. She's so fast in all womens venues she has nobody to chat withexcept the driver of the pace car. 
Heather made an ecspecially big impression on me last year when I was watching Tim at Xterra. Xterra is a venue that makes triathlons look like a sissy sport. The bike is a gnarly mountain bike course and the run in an epic trail run up mountains with the sun blazing down on the competitors. Anyway, Heather broke her pedal on the bike , finished the bike with one pedal and ran so fast she almost caught Tim and his friend Simon on the run. (Let me tell you ....she was looking a lot better than those guys at that point) I digress......I frantically accessed every credit card statement, saved e-mail, and my active.com account from Heather's computer with no success. At this point my whole body feels like it is shaking and I think I might be sick, maybe cry or even pass out. I bet I never completed the entry. Crap. Crap. Instead of crying, vomitting or passing out I begin to barter? Can't I buy an extra spot, what about an injured friend? Please. Please. No luck.
We meet up with Tim's parents for dinner mourn my race. Oh well, at least I can focus on the upcoming wedding dress shopping with Cindy. I shift my focus to resuming my training and cheering for Tim, Bruce, and all of the San Diego Tri Club members. I guess I'll have to live vicariously through Tim this year. Stay tuned for his race day report. 
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