After an evening of nonstop laughter I was so ready for race morning to come at 4am. Michelle, Steve, Christopher and I traveled to the race site and got a primo parking spot. After racking our bikes and getting THE CLOSEST transition spots we hopped in the car and people-watched for an hour. What a total hoot. Triathletes are just funny. They are so different than runners who usually stretch and act calm. Triathletes like to walk around all nervous like, spend unimaginable amounts of time in the port-a-pottie, and strut around wearing too little clothing for 4:30am. They also like to ride their bikes around with no helmets to warm up, which can get them DQed. Doh!

Swim Start

Pook on the beach

Most of the PC crew did a warm up run together, and I probably shouldn’t have gone with them. I was in the second wave and as I got to the swim beach and pulled on my wetsuit I heard the gun for the first wave. I had 4 minutes to get my two caps and goggles on, get in the water, find the right spot to start, and get ready. Boom, I was off and feeling rushed. It was a typical swim for me with a moderate amount of body bumping, and some settling. I sighed pretty well and seemed to hit each buoy with consistency. As we turned the last buoy the next wave started to pass me. I had fun jumping on 4 different guys feet from this group, catching a 30 second draft and giving myself a reason to push push push.

As we exited the water I looked down and my watch said 26 something. My first thought…the swim is short. Ha! Give yourself some credit Sonja! The two minute run to transition was tough in the wetsuit, but a little fun too. Turns out the swim was a bit short, but the swim plus run to transition seemed to be closer to a normal mile swim time. 28:15 was my official swim time…so my first time seeing the 28’s in a race. There was still lots of room for improvement in my swim execution, but it’s getting stronger.

T1 was great. I enjoyed having the primo spot, and it was oddly reassuring to see Steve and Michelles bikes on either side of mine. I was sandwiched by two of my favorite triathletes. 43 seconds later I was on the bike.

So the bike was a total sight unseen course for me. I had heard rumors about the hills and that it was pretty but had never ridden the course. It took awhile to get going. Steve and I just had a pow-wow last week about my TT form and so I was still “messing around” with where to sit, how to sit, how to pedal, how to feel comfortable, and what gear to be in. It took some time. Troy and Chris were ALL OVER the course and they are seriously the loudest cheerers I have even encountered. They really do it up good. Anthony caught me several miles in, and the Tyler caught me a few miles after that. I know I can bike with Tyler so I put some “giddy” in the “up” and started to go hard. I kept Tyler in sight and used him to keep me focused and accountable. The hills were great and Troy said it was fun to be on the course and to watch me eat up all the ladies ahead of me. I just tried to consistently pass people and put in a hard effort. On the last stretch down Wilson Steve passed me and I really wanted to keep him in sight. It was great to ride behind my coach and to watch him in action.

As we came into T2 Steve was first, then Tyler, then me, but we were all within 30 seconds of each other. When I entered transition and racked my bike Steve was departing (and we were racked next to each other). That was cool. I had trouble getting on my second shoe, but even with that, a 38 second T2.

Taking in Water outside T2

I rolled out of T2 and saw Tyler ahead. I worked my way up to him and told him to jump on my shoulder. He hopped on and we ran to mile 1 together. I looked at my watch and in my running stupor I couldn’t get the correct words out and threw down an F-bomb. Poor Tyler thought that I was upset with the first mile split (which was 6:57) and claims that I “took off”. But…this is not true. The f-bomb came b/c I was trying to get the right words out. I was perfectly happy with 7 minute pace. I did however see SEVERAL ladies in front of me, and the truth is when ya gotta go, ya gotta go. I had to go get those girls. So I took them one at a time and tried not to over think things. Whenever I would come up on a girl I would straighten up my form and put a little surge in. This way I would give of the impression that I was running much harder, and then they would feel like they couldn’t go with me. It worked over and over again. Troy and Chris were near the turn around and again…wild and crazy cheering ensued!

Troy and Pook

At the turn around I saw five ladies very close ahead and vowed to get them all. A mile later I had them, but I knew my good friend Amy was on my heels. By mile 5 she had eaten me up, much like I tried to eat up all the other ladies I passed. Ha! What goes around comes around! She had a terrific pace going so I just tried to lock into her effort and drive harder with her.

As we came around the last turns my FIL was there taking pics and Annie and my MIL were playing at the palyground.

Here I am running my guts out and it was crazy to see Annie playing away! As we come around the last turns I see this lady ahead and she looks my age. She is clearly running slower, but I am running out of real estate. I watch Amy kick and eat her up, and even though I am kicking, the finish line is coming too quickly. We cross 6 seconds apart and I see she is in my age group. Doh. That was a tough one.

Can yo see me?

Coming down the home stretch

The point where I knew I wasn’t going to catch her

After a 5 minute section of feeling very near puking (I’ve never had that at the end of a race, but I think it was from the sprinting) Steve and I headed out for a cool down and to chear on others.

Post race Pow-Wow

Post race pook Hug

Practical Coaching had a GREAT day. Steve won his age group, Michelle was 2nd in hers, Beth 3rd, Barry 3rd, Anthony 4th, and I was also 3rd in mine. A great day, and a testament to what a great coach Steve is!

Pook and I on the podium

Michelle and Beth on podium

Results are here
Swim: 28:15
T1: 0:43
Bike: 1:27:17
T2: 0:38
Run: 43:10
Overall: 2:40:04
14th woman
3rd in F25-29

Calling all triathletes!

Have you heard about Trakkers?

Do you often have friends and family hitting the “REFRESH” (F5) button on the results page waiting to see how you performed? I know that my parents and grandparents are often patiently awaiting to hear how I did in my races. Sometimes my friends see the results before I do.

Trakkers is developing this awesome new technology using GPS where an athlete can wear a cute little unit like a watch and information about your race will be displayed on a website REAL TIME. You strap on this little doo-job-er to your race belt, wrist, or arm, hit the start button and do your race. Meanwhile, the Trakker will be relaying location, pace, distance, heart rate, etc to a website that your friends and family can tune into!

Another cool feature…a panic button. If you get into trouble during a race you can press the panic button and your distress call will be relayed to organizers.

Trakkers is still in the development stage (I even get to help out with that process a little bit). They are aiming for a release date closer to the end of 2008. Working with Trakkers thus far has been super fun, they are taking the athletes perspective very seriously! I’ll be updating you more along the way as I get more information.

(Mom and I after the race)

I slept great the night before the race. Like REALLY good. I was afraid that I was getting a little too used to sleeping without a two year old in my bed constantly asking for milk, sticking her finger in my ear, stealing my pillow and kicking me. I had four nights of good sleep, I think that’s the first time in 2.5 years. Steve and I planned to leave for the race at 7am, and we brought along with us Myra and Patty. Myra and Patty were from Portland and they were just great ladies, so upbeat and fun to be around. They were without a car so it was great to be able to give them a lift up to the race site so they didn’t have to take the shuttle.

The race was at Snow Basin Ski Resort. Dad and I skiied there on Friday and it is quite the hidden gem in the Salt Lake City area. Great Resort. XTERRA was hosting the events all weekend and they did a fantastic job with organization and announcing. I think the weekends races will air on TV, although I need to do a little more research on when and where.

After laying down and resting in the lodge for a few hours it was time to get ready. The course was relatively flat, and the snow was very hard so I knew it would be a fast course. A good long warm-up was necessary b/c I would need to go hard from start to finish. I got in a great 25 minute warm up and was able to watch part of the mens race that had started 45 minutes before the women. Steve was doing a great job, he looked really strong, and definitely looked to be in the top three in his age group.

A few race nerves, really my first of the day, started to set in as we got on the start line. It was the kind of nerves that help you get off to a good strong start, so I was happy they appeared. I have had some races recently where I have no nervous energy on the start line and in those cases it usually takes me a while to get going. I am learning that a few nerves before the gun goes off is a good thing.

They counted us down from ten and when we all took off it was a sea of Atlas. It seemed every athlete that was sponsored by Atlas was there, and in bright yellow. Here are two pictures so you see what I mean. The two ladies in black are Myra, and me!

As some of you may remember I applied for the Atlas team this year and wasn’t accepted. I’m a little glad now, as I see those Atlas outfits as a target.

I got out well and as things spread out I was immediately in 5th. I felt great, I could breathe (altitude was only 6,000 ft) and things were just coming together. Around mile 1 the camera man on the snowmobile was filming me, and it was nasty. The fumes were all you could smell and I remember thinking “Peaceful snowshoeing, yea right”. Luckily he went off to film someone else. Around mile two some action was happening. The lady behind me was making a move on me and the lady in front of me was within passing range. I was in fifth and I could see that very soon I could be in forth or I could slip to sixth. As the lady behind me passed me, I passed the lady in front of me and remined in fifth. I remember thinking…That worked out well. The new lady in front of me was an awesome up hill runner, whereas I am a bit faster on the down hills. We had a lot of uphill ahead of us so she pulled some distance on me.

When we were finishing up the first loop I saw Steve cooling down and he shouted to me that the second loop was much quicker. What a relief. That was just what I needed to hear. There was a big hill as we came up near the crowds to start our second loop, and thank goodness for that because you couldn’t slack off with everyone cheering for you! My mom was cow belling up a storm!

The second loop was just FUN. It weaved in and out of trees and was all on well packed down single track. I loved it. On the downhills I would make up distance on the lady in front of me, and on the up hills she would make it back. I was trying to attack and stay strong but she wasn’t coming back to me.

As I came into the finish it felt like the crowd was going crazy. The announcer was saying that I was the last to make the national team. I was overjoyed and came through the finish with such a huge grin, and running as fast as I knew how. When I stepped across the line I knew I had just had a great race, my best yet in snowshoeing. I came across the line in front of some ladies that always seem to be ahead of me in other races. The adrenaline rush was intense. There were lots of hugs and my mom was crying. It was just a rush. My time was just over and hour. Here is an article about the race.

A little bit later my teamate Sara finished her race. She did a great job in her first National Competition and we are all super proud of her. Here is Sara and I.

We waited around for the next 3+ hours for the awards ceremony. The ladies in second and third had to leave so the photo is of 1st, 4th, and 5th.

Here is Steve’s podium appearance and race shot.

Here is dad and I after the race.

Here are the Portland girls after the race, they both had great races finishing 8th and 12th overall.

Results are here.

WooooHooo!
An extended race report will be up tomorrow, but the race went fantastic! It was my best race of the year. I felt like my season was a series of small steps upwards, and this was the final step up the mountain. Small successes layered on top of each other, with this being the sum product of all those parts. I also need to say that Steve trained me so well for this. This season my training needs were more of the mental kind than the physical kind. Getting myself to the biggest race of the snowshoe season in the mental capacity to not “get in my own way”. Steve did a great job helping me with that (lots of talks on our long bike rides together). Physically I feel super strong right now, but not so fast, so EXACTLY where I should be.

I don’t want to spoil the race report, but my overall finish was 5th, and the top five men and women are named to the USSSA National Snowshoe Team. In past years the national team has traveled abroad and competed in the Wold Snowshoe Championships, but the word on the street is that this years Worlds has been canceled due to lack of funding. So I’m not sure where that leaves me…but I feel very honored to be a member of the national team.

Thank you so much for all your support and well wishes. I could feel all of your vibes through the entire race. I ran for you all, and I hope I made you proud.

Later today a Mental Monday will be posted, and tomorrow will be the race report.

Tomorrow is the day.
Clock is set back.
I’m ready.
Time to rock.

We arrived safely in Ogden, Utah this evening after some 400 miles of driving today. The drive was uneventful and the scenery was amazing across Utah. We soaked in the Glenwood Hot Springs this morning. It was snowing while we were in the pool, totally cool! Dad and I had a fun drive, we did a lot of singing, and wildlife searching.

Yesterday’s skiing at Snowmass was THE BOMB. Amos (great family friend, and phenomenal Alpine Guide) acted as tour guide and took us out for a great day of “out of bounds” stuff (my first time doing the OOB thing), and man am I spoiled now. We skied in thigh deep POWDER down some steep stuff. It was exhilarating and totally a blast. I was pleasantly surprised that my skiing has gotten good enough to ski beyond park boundaries. It’s made me excited to get into some more backcountry skiing. Even when the resorts are skied out, there is still so much great powder to be had! Fun Times!

After we checked into the hotel this evening we headed out for dinner and to pick up my race packet (see above pic). It seems like this is going to be a great event, well run, and tons of fun. Tomorrow is the Ski Mountaineering Championships, Saturday is the XTERRA Winter World Chamipnships (running, snowshoeing, mntn biking, and then ski mountaineering…all in one race), and then Sunday is my race, the USSSA National Snowshoeing Championships. I definitely plan to go watch the XTERRA Winter Champs on Saturday, but I know I am going to come home wishing I did that race as well. I already had a few people give me a hard time at packet pickup about not doing it. It seems so up my alley…so maybe next year!

I also got a bit of information about the XTERRA 21K XDURO trail races. These sound like a total blast with the World Championships being held in Hawaii in December. How fun would these races be? Trail running, half marathon, trees, logs, rivers, and mud, all in one event…sounds like me!

The snowshoe Shuffle today went great. I think it was one of the best races I have had this season. The weather was quite wintery! Most of the course had 8-12 inches fresh powder from the night before. It was snowing cats and dogs, and I’m pretty sure it stayed well below 10 degrees. I love adversity.

I got a great warm up in, mostly just to keep warm in the snow. I lined up for the Dash for Cash as usual, and had a great dash! I got a good start, sprinted as hard as I knew how, and won the $100! Woo Hoo, 2 out of 4…not too bad of a record. Here is a photo near the race finish.

As usual after a D4$ win, you really feel the nervous energy fade away for the start of the race. I was relaxed and ready to have a fun race. I lined up on the start line and after a countdown we were off. Very soon into the race the 10Kers were in the powder. One lady post-holed with her snowshoes up to her upper thigh! Eek! She got totally stuck, and it wasn’t until several miles later that she passed me, what a bummer for her. I had a little lazy section around mile 2, but after reminding myself that this was the last BC race, I picked up my chin and kept chipping along. Even though it was really snowy it was beautiful to be out there, mostly alone, enjoying the race and the peace. I loved it. Around mile 3 I was amazed that I was only half way done, it felt like I had been out there for eons and covered so much terrain. At mile 4 I woke up and really started pushing, knowing that I had enough in me to finish strong. From here I continued to ramp up my effort all the way through the finish, and as I came down the last downhill, I was in full stride, running as hard as I could, and making all sorts of wonderful noises. I think the 5Kers that I passed (who were walking) thought I was a total weird-o as I came by grunting, and spitting. Dad and Amy were cheering their heads off for me and boy did I appreciate it! Not one of my prettyist moments, but definitely an intense one. Here’s a shot dad took of me coming into the finish.

the post race was all about warming up…I highly recommend bringing a thermos of warm fluid to snowshoe races, total saving grace! Troy and Annie had already headed back to the condo b/c it was so cold. Dad, Amy, Amy’s mom and dad, and I hung out at the post race raffle. I got to collect my $100 for my win. Here is a shot of me on the podium with the mens D4$ winner.

And here is a shot of me acting very giddy b/c I just won money!

Lastly here is a shot of Amy and I. Allthough we missed all of our friends that usually do the races with us, it was great to spend time together, doing one of the sports we both love. Good Company! She has come so amazingly far this year. She’s such a RACER now, and I love watching her continue to outperform herself.

My time was somewhere between 1 hour 5 min and 1 hour 10 minutes, and dad told me I was fifth, but the results aren’t out yet. I’ll update the post once things are out.

Tomorrow is the final installment of the Beaver Creek Snowshoe Adventure Series. I’m sitting here in a condo in Avon (thank you Roger), just reminiscing a bit about all the fun Beaver Creek races I have done this year. Last year I was always attending these crazy races alone, but this year they have been packed full with friends and family. I have seen so many people grow and change from scared newbies to experienced racers. You all know who you are…congratulations! Most the people that show up to the races have helped me in some way shape or form, as have every one of you who are reading this. I am constantly amazed by all the support I get, and what awesome feats your support allows me to accomplish.

Next weekend I get to travel to Ogden to race in the National Championships, and I sit here tonight, thinking about how both tomorrows race, and next weekends race are the icing on top of the cake (or the whipped cream on top of the Butterscotch Malt I had at lunch…mmmm). The training is all there, nothing different is going to happen on that front in the next week. My support system is behind me, and you guys aren’t going anywhere, right? It’s time to look up, enjoy the view, take it all in. Because if I didn’t I would be letting you down. So here’s to the start of an AWESOME FUN BODACIOUS next week, and my final two snowshoe races.

PS Do you like today’s photo? My dad took it this afternoon. It’s the bomb huh? We went out this afternoon and took a ton of super great photos. When I say “we” I mean he did all the work, I just ran around pretending to be a model. I plan to roll them out slowly, because they rock. Can you tell my dad loves me? I love him too!

PPS Okay, Okay, just one more…but then you are cut off…

I have a quick second to post some photos and to write a quick blog entry so here goes. First off, we are having a BLAST up here! We have been skiing, I have been training and skiing, and everyone is generally happy! We had a quick bout of the flu that went through mom and Annie, but they are now on the mend.

Jeremy Wright Snowshoe Champs were CRAZY. Like I thought, everyone came out with their A game and it was tough competition, to put it lightly. The course was awesome and started at the top of the strawberry lift at Beaver Creek. It was defintely a “high altitude” race and you could feel how thin the air was. We had great weather, blue skies, light whispy clouds and in the 40’s. The dash for cash was once again a total riot. I got second this time, and boy, I was close…but just not quite there! After a teary moment of silence for Jeremy Wright (avid snowshoer, died in Afganistan) we were off.

The race started uphill and went up up up for some time. I just wasn’t feeling it. Last week I had to take Sunday/Monday/Tuesday off due to illness, but I’m not sure if that was it. My legs were heavy, and I felt sluggish. I had to remind myself several times that it was 100% okay to treat this as a training run. Once I believed myslef, I calmed down. Somedays you just don’t have it. So I tried to enjoy the course which had a nice mix of powder and groomed trails. Around mile 3 I started to feel better, like I had a little more in me, like I could actually start racing. So I picked it up. I started making up the huge gap that had developed between me and the lady in front of me. I continued to feel better and better and by mile 5 I was racing hard. I passed several people and was able to stay strong. Coming over the last hill my dad was there taking photos. I totally would have walked that hill, but he was there, so I ran it. Boy was I pooped. The finish was downhill and I was really glad for that.

I finished in the 8th place overall for the women. I am happy with that given the way my race went. Steve had some really kind words after the race, and I know in my heart that this is where I need to be right now. It’s easy to want to enter the 5K and win and get to stand on the podium, rather than race a race that is twice as hard and not come close to the podium. But racing the with the top of the top is what makes you strong, both in body, and in mind. I was not trained or tapered for this race. They are just strength training exercises, and they will make me a stronger triathlete. So, as I told Steve yesterday “I will keep on keeping on”.

I hope that some day Beaver Creek hosts the USSSA Championships b/c it would be the IDEAL location for a Championship race, as it was on Sunday!

We hosted lunch back at out condo after the race. We had lots of friends and teammates over and I had a blast! Massive amounts of Pasta, salad and cookies were eaten, and the company couldn’t have been better.

I am hoping to blog at least once more, but since we don’t have internet in the condo it makes it a little tough! Dad, Vahid and I have been skiing with the helmet-cam and we got a GREAT clip of dad and I crashing one after another that I am definitely going to post soon.

Here are a few pictures from Sunday. Here is me coming up the last hill.

Here is Troy, Annie and I after the race.

Here is Jon, Beth, Me and Jewles after the race.

Here is Amy on the lift on the way back down.

I LOVE this shot of my dad that I took. We never have pictures of him b/c he is usually the photographer!

Lastly here is an awesome shot that I took when I was on the lift coming back down. My dad was skiing under the lift and I got this awesome photo. I should totally be a sports photographer…not!

VACATION WOO HOO. My parents flew into town yesterday and we are heading up to Avon/Beaver Creek/Vail for 9 days. We have a nice little 2 bedroom condo rented and we are ready to have some fun. Food and beer have been purchased and packing will take place this evening. We pick up a good friend from the East Coast tomorrow at the Eagle Airport and then it’s party party party…okay as much as you can party with a 2 year old and some serious training to do.

This Sunday is the 3rd installment of the Beaver Creek Snowshoe Series. This race is the Jeremy Wright North American Snowshoe Championships. All the fast folks come out of the woodwork to race at this race and it’s usually very competitive. Exciting! If you are planning on coming up, my parents and I are hosting vegetarian lunch/dinner back at the condo afterwards, so be sure to let me know so I can send you directions!

After the race on Sunday it’s all about SKI SKI SKI. If you plan to be up skiing next week be sure to let me know so we can hook up. We will be at Beaver Creek and Vail most the time. We would love to see you!

Hopefully I can get some posts up during vacation, wish me luck!