Vineman 2010

Vineman 70.3 July 18, 2010

I couldn't imagine a more cool venue.

Classic or what?

Swimming in the Russian River was delightful. Tim's wave started 8 minutes after mine. He literally caught me on the swim. That was fun and funny. Tim recognized me by my stroke and my watch. I recognized Tim by the turbo propulsion of his flipper feet. Swimming behind Tim is like swimming behind the motor of a boat.

Someday I'll keep up on the swim. My swim time was slow as ever, but the barrels of wine that mark the swim exit. Those are the type of wine supported by this venue, the other whine is not needed.

Time to get on the bike a get moving. My legs and lungs felt fantastic on the bike. I must not be meant to use a Garmin while racing 1/2 Ironmans. My Garmin froze trying to load the satellites that morning. Having no heart rate monitor meant I would have to race by heart not heart beats. I tired to go hard but not too hard. I'm not sure what effect starting the bike 13 minutes back from the fast girls has on me. Psychologically it's great to be passing people but I wonder if it doesn't make me a bit conservative thinking if I am passing all these people maybe I am over doing it. I was a bit nervous about the bumps, the traffic, and pilot error....entering a corner too fast like I did a few weeks ago. I saw two accidents along the way. In the end I would liked to have gone faster through the descent's and the turns, taking full advantage of "free speed."  I just didn't have the confidence to do so today. That means one thing only, I need to get out and ride. Work on the craft until the mojo comes back. That's all. The ride went through some beautiful areas. Scrap that, everything is beautiful there. More than one can possibly take in while racing. Someday I would like to return to this area.  Maybe to race again someday or maybe as a family and friends training/vacation camp. Maybe,when we have more free time. Hee, hee. That's a good one because judging by myself and the company I keep life seems to be chucked full of experiences and adventures 100% of the time. There will never be more free time.

. Speaking of time....it's time to get back to this race report. That's Tim cruising the run. I gave him the annoying summer cold I had just in time for Tim to race Vineman. He could have called it a day and flown home but he didn't .We doped him up on a little ibuprofen and caffeine pre race and he PR'd. I am amazed both at what Tim and the human body can accomplish even when not 100%. "Wow"

Meters or Yards?

I am pretty sure the second runner in this photo is me with about 600 meters to go. Legs felt good starting the run. No cramping, no gut issues. Nothing. When I saw the hills in front of me I worried they might cause me to blow up. They didn't. Oh wait...I run hills all the time. Despite not having my Garmin for the run I negative split by over one minute. It might be good for me to someday not negative split. Go a little harder, "eat shit and hang on". That's someday though for today I am very happy with a new personal record. I knew from the start of the run I could set a PR. I knew from the turn it was possible for me to go sub 5:20. I didn't focus on it until mile 10 though. I waited until I was done with the hills to reassess. One mile to go and I knew it was possible but it was close. I was pretty excited and picked up the pace. It was getting hard to sustain and I needed to see the finish line. I saw Tri club Ron (whose Facebook page I stole these pictures from). He was cheering the usual last 1/2 mile "good job, your almost there". "How much further?" I shouted. I couldn't see the finish. 600 he said. My mind screamed "meters or yards"? Proof, I am becoming a swimmer after all. Special thanks to Julie, if not for the 10 x 400's we did on the track one day I never would have gone sub 5:20. However, because I ran the final 600 like a 400 I made it in with 25 seconds to spare.

That was really cool and I felt redemption for the only "real" mistake I made this day. I didn't fully clasping my race belt in T1 and stopped my bike to fix it in the fist few minutes of the bike.  I probably would have let it blow off if the race belt wasn't $10 :)

As I crossed the finish line the announcer said "Wow, that's the third Neuschwander to finish today. They must be a real racing family". PR's for Tim and Jen, and a Clearwater spot for Bruce not bad for a days work.

Special thanks to husband Tim should have flown with his tight work schedule but didn't so that his wife wouldn't have to drive alone in the non air conditioned car. Special thanks to the in-laws, who hosted us and supported us again despite our semi- sensical and whirlwind ways. I am sure if we would have asked you would have recommended Tri Bike Transport....why didn't we think of that? None the less....what a weekend! What a great life we have.