Before and After

So I’m back to the blog, and yes, I recognize that my “weekly blog” isn’t so weekly! It’s been a busy time and will continue to be busy, but I’ll keep coming back!

I titled this blog “Before and After” because I want to celebrate my latest new toy, my new bike! A week and a half ago, I went out and got a new Cervelo P2C, a carbon tri-bike that I’m so happy with. It’s all aerodynamic (even the brakes!), and it has ultegra components. Changing gears is so smooth I hardly notice it. And it’s a really smooth ride. I’m so happy with it! Still waiting to name it… oh yes, I name my bikes. And, now that I’ve mentioned it, let me say a few things about my old rides…

My first bike was a hybrid that cost about $140 that I got from the Berkeley bike shop. I bought it to be able to ride around campus and occasionally go on some fun rides. I recall taking it on a few mountain rides, both in Berkeley and in the Sierras where I worked at a summer camp, but it didn’t have shocks on it, so there were some bumpy rides! My husband got me a real mountain bike for my birthday this year, and there’s a real real difference. The bounces and bumps get absorbed by the shocks, not your bones!

So the hybrid I have, which I named Gulliver, had a lot of history for me. I took it on the California AIDS Ride after graduation with my friend Brie. We rode 576 miles in 7 days, from San Francisco to Los Angeles. Holy Shimanos I cannot imagine doing that ride on that bike right now! I made it though, and so did Gulliver, and I continued to ride Gulliver to work when I moved to San Diego, and I also did the Rosarito Ensenada bike ride on it in 2002. I had Gulliver all the way until someone stole it out of my back yard in Ocean Beach L. Lots of history!

Later my friend Adam from high school sold me his old Ironhorse bike, which was a road bike with aero bars put on it. I still have it, and I did the half-Vine Man on it, as well as few other long rides. I don’t know what the size is, but he’s probably about 5’3” and I’m 5’7” so…. Likely not the right fit! It’s carried me far though. And it’s quite finicky. I think I average about 3-4 chain drops per ride on it! You have to really be gentle while changing gears, and practically thank it afterward.

And now.. my new bike! I took it out on its inaugural ride last Sunday. My friend Jackie and I took La Costa to Vulcan/101 in Encinitas, traveled south to Carmel Valley, and hopped on the bike path that parallels the 56. We rode out to the 15, and then turned around to come back to El Camino Real, which we rode up through Del Mar and Rancho Santa Fe, up to Rancho Santa Fe Road, and then over to Olivenhain and back to La Costa. Killer ride, about 45 miles… which is a lot to jump into, but it was fun. I don’t think I took in enough calories, though, because by the 3rd hill on ECR I was huffing. I have a double-chamber water bottle between my aerobars, which makes drinking really easy. I might switch to a speedfill at some point, but we’ll see.

I’m looking forward to my next ride… on Blue Steel!

Jill of too many trades, Mistress of … not really any?

Much of my life is characterized by my love of… just about any and everything. Call me “foodie,” call me “gear-stasher,” heck, even call me “label-whore,” in some ways I will have to concede. I’m the kind of person who finds the buffet at Bellagio anxiety-provoking, simply because I know I will not be able to fit tastes of every culinary offer into my body (I know, I’ve tried). I continue to live under the optimistic if not ridiculous guise that yes, some day I will achieve enough time-efficient scheduling that I will be able to use every piece of sports equipment I have accumulated (lovingly) in a single week… which would mean seven days crammed full of tennis, running, snow-shoeing, SCUBA diving, rock climbing, yoga, hiking, a little ultimate, swimming, skiing, road cycling and mountain-biking, and of course, surfing. Of course I perform none of these activities exceptionally well, but I do have a fun time out there, whether it’s missing the umpteenth wave of the day, falling over in another failed attempt at bakasana, or letting someone else lead the 5-9 climb.

All of this leads me to admit that much of the motives behind my latest absurd self-challenge, are that this time, the challenge befits my attention-impairment. The challenge, is itself a set of physical challenges, which are of course greater than the sum of all parts, but in essence, they are a multisport challenge. Of course, I am referring to the triathlon. Not just any, but the super-duper length version, the Ironman.

I’ve dreamed of entering an Ironman shortly after I discovered that a friend of mine, Jackie, who I trained for a half-ironman distance (70.3 miles) with, had decided to double-down. She’s now training for second, Ironman New Zealand, and I’m absolutely thrilled for her and wish I could come along in her bike box!I made the ultimate plunge last November, when Jackie and I watched our friend Meredith literally sprint her way through Ironman Arizona, to finish tenth in her age group and rock out an under-11 hour finish. Totally inspired, I woke up the next morning, waited over two hours in line, paid my $551 entrance fee, and have felt a strange mix of nerves, excitement, and awe at what lies ahead these next 11 months.

I also decided to start a weekly blog to keep myself accountable, motivated, and keep track of my training follies. I was inspired to do so by Kara Douglass Thom’s book Becoming an Ironman, whose accounts of newbie iron men and women are really making me believe that the totally insane is possible and the impossible can come true! Stay tuned, whoever’s out there!