Hi All! Below is my Quassy race report. I don’t have many photos, I’m sorry. What is here from race day Michelle Beeson took, thank you!!! It’s quite wordy, you’ll have to use your imagination more than usual! Enjoy!

Driving to the race that morning, MIchelle and I in a red little Chevy thing and Kathleen following in a Red SUV we hit EVERY DARN LIGHT on the way there. It was comical as we sat there at 5am waiting for the light to turn green, not a soul in sight.

Red lights or not, we made it with time to set up transition. I had the sweetest spot I’ve ever had in a race. I’m pretty sure it was better than 90% of the pros. It’s such old hat setting up now, doesn’t seem to matter if it’s oly or half, same stuff for the most part. I keep it as minimal as possible: run shoes, hat, race number. My bike shoes are on the bike, all my nutrition is on the bike, helmet on the aerobars. That’s it, do it quick, a little air in the tires and get the heck out of the crazy land that is transition. I tend to race without sunglasses because they bug me…but I do try to train with them (when I don’t forget them…don’t get mad dad).

PIC Fordy-Ford and I headed back to the car and put our bags back. The parking lot at Quassy is right next to transition and all cars are accessible. We Tri-Slided up, threw on a few Trakkers temp tattoos on our calves, and grabbed the wetsuits. PIC headed to the potty and I headed to the water. I got in my exercises from Josh, and sat in the WARM water for a little while. I saw all the waves go off and waited for mine which was second from last. All the mens waves went off before the ladies. PIC was in the last wave 3 minutes behind me. I knew she would pass me in the water and I would need to catch her on the bike, if I could. If not, then the run maybe?

I got a good spot on the start line, and I got out well with little contact, and I found some feet for a little while. Somehow I got stuck in a little group of three, all of us idiots swimming shoulder to shoulder to shoulder. I was in the middle and we were drifting off course. I would try to veer back on course, only to smack the girl next to me over and over. Eventually we got sorted out and went around the first turn buoy. I got on a set of feet that belonged to a girl that was the same speed as me, so I felt like I was swimming too easily on her feet, and I kept tapping them. Apparently she did not like this (I don’t mind people tapping my toes in a race by the way, I just assume I have a friend with me, you wanna join the party…hop on board). She stopped, turned around a little and kicked me. Wowah! So, I swam off. Yikes. Wow, I wonder what her heart rate was! Dude, life, and racing, is soooo much better when you chill out a little.

So then I proceeded to swim in a general off course nature for a while. I actually missed two buoys, but they weren’t turn buoys so I’m assuming that it’s okay. The last several buoys I finally started getting into a rhythm and was feeling some mo-jo. I exited the water 5th in my age group (out of 28) in a somewhat slow time of 34:29. Anthony also swam a 34 and we swam the same at Knoxville as well, so either we both swam bad, or it was a little long (PIC swam a 27, so that makes it seem not long, or…she’s a fish right now). Who knows! Either way, it’s all good!

I was through transition super fast (1:20) cause my spot rocked the house. Off on the bike I knew that I would recognize much of the course from last year (only a few modifications to the bike course this year) and I knew that my Trakkers teammates were manning the mile 29 aid station so I was looking forward to seeing them. I got going into the bike and it’s always dicey the first few miles. It’s where I get an idea if my legs decided to show up. Would they ache and need a longer warm up, would they be stiff, or would they feel good and rested? I don’t know how on earth, but when I took roll call, and I said “Legs?”, they said “HERE”. Boo Ya. I didn’t spend much time easing in, I just started rolling.

About 10 miles in I spotted PIC. From 100 yards back I could tell something was wrong. I got up to her way too quick, I would have expected to reel her in very slowly, if at all. When I pulled up next to her she said “I’ve already flatted”. I immediately thought, “She’s still 3 minutes ahead of me and that included a tire change” (b/c she started 3 minutes back on me). So I told her “Your still three minutes up on me, it’s okay” but as I rode on I didn’t get the feeling that she was coming with me (not in a drafting sense, we don’t draft, it’s not legal, but in a “momentum” sort of way). I could feel her frustration, it’s the first time she flatted in a race. I felt for her.

I rode on and I tried to focus on myself. Getting back into my rhythm was easy, everything just felt so good, and the work was work, but it was fun, and I was racing. I did a lot of smiling because my legs showed up for work and I LOVE it when they do. Since we started behind all the men it was constant passing. Always chasing and passing the next guy. I passed one of my Trakkers teammates Chris on the side of the road with a flat. There were a lot of flats, but really nothing on the road that I noticed that would lead to flats…strange. Chris had it taken care of and he passed me a little later in the bike looking strong. Then I passed him back, then he passed me back. And then he was gone.

This bike course is so dang challenging. It’s definitely the hardest bike course I have ever ridden in a race, and many others were agreeing. If you did Rev3 and you know of a harder bike course, I’de like to hear about it! There were 87 hills…in 56 miles! Steep buggers too! I stayed focused the entire time, taking the turns as strong as I knew how, and being bold on the descents. I watched my heart rate and my power on the climbs and tried to stay consistent and evenly paced. I was surprised to be descending at 40mph in my aerobars. At home I tend to play the chicken card.

The mile 29 aid station ROCKED. My Trakkers teammates were full of so much energy, and I gave them lots of smiles and loves, even though they were directly after this gnarly hill. It’s was a blast to see Michelle (anthony’s wife, not PIC) at the aid station because to me, she is a piece of home, and of family. By the way, she volunteered BOTH days. I love her!

Here is the handoff to Amanda Lovato. Nice one!

Onwards I went. We got to the out and back and I started counting ladies. It was hard to tell who was an age grouper, and really, who was a woman (as sad as that sounds) but I thought I was in the top 5-10 non-pro chickas and that got me excited. I looked for PIC behind me and I didn’t see her, which made me worried that she had flatted again, or had DNFed.

The last miles I was feeling the climbing in my legs, but they were still very much underneath me, going strong. I wondered if I was going to beat the 3 hour mark and it looked like I would. Rolling back to transition I started counting ladies in earnest. I could see the numbers on their arms and knew that 2 digit numbers were pros. I saw that my teammate Kathleen was in the lead and I told her so. There was a lady hot on her tail and then I saw maybe 4 other ladies, but couldn’t make out numbers on them. I rolled in off the bike in 2:52:35, good for the 6th fastest amateur bike split. My bike is really coming along and that has me excited. I’m feeling more powerful this year and my legs have gained some “girth”. Yes, I just said that word.

It was go time. I was FIRED up. I rolled into transition and I was back out 0:56 seconds later, socks and all. Boo Ya! By the way, I love my new Saucony Kinvaras. They rock the house. Totally squishy and supportive, in 7 ounces. LOVE THEM and they are my Ironman shoe, FOR SURE! I have found that I do prefer a minimalist shoe. My feet feel stronger when they are allowed freedom. A light weight trainer is about as heavy as I like to go. Except for a trail shoe…but this year even has me thinking differently on that front.

So I take off running and I know that the first 1.5 miles is really the only sustained downhill section of the course. It’s not time to settle in, oh no, it’s time to take advantage of the downhill and RUN. I came through the 2 mile point in 14:05. mile 3 was 7:00. About 1.5 miles in a lady cheering said “nice job ladies”. WAIT, “ladies”, that’s the last thing I wanted to hear. So I turned around and looked. Crap, she’s right, there is a lady in black right on my tail.

Of course it shocked me for a second, how long had she been there, was she gearing to pass? But then I remembered…calm, think, no need to race anybody. Just run the best race you know how and if this lady is still around in about 11 miles, then you can reassess. I generally like to run my own races. So I decided to do just that. I relaxed for a little while and then checked up on my heart rate monitor and settled into a similar heart rate that I had maintained the first three miles which I had run entirely by feel. That really worked for me. Then we entered the hilly portion of the course. And there were lots of hills for 11.5 miles. Big hills, little hills. Short hills, long hills. Hills above, and hills below. Red hills, blue hills, yes I would like two hills, Sam I am.

And again, this was the most challenging run course I have ever been on in a tri. But I had prepared in my head for it, and my legs were on FIRE (in a good way). My abs were working strong and I was standing tall, keeping my form, and smiling for the most part. I came upon Robert from the Terrier Tri Club. I LOVE Robert, he’s adopted us Trakkers folks and he is just the nicest guy, even though he once cleaned up dog poop with a Trakkers shirt. On purpose. I thought about slapping his butt when I went by him, but wasn’t sure if it was appropriate so I pulled up right next to him, shoulder to shoulder, all quiet like. He said “I knew you were coming, how are you feeling” I gave him a big thumbs up and he said “Go get em girl” and SLAPPED MY BUTT! Hahahaha. I felt so loved, in a Terrier tri club kind of way!

And off I went. I reeled in lots of people and it was really motivating. Around mile 5 I finally saw a lady in the distance and I worked hard to reel her in. When I got up to her I saw she had a “P” on her calf for PRO. I felt bad then, knowing that they started 30 minutes ahead of me and she must be having a tough day. On a short out and back section I was super relieved to see PIC. Whew! She looked a little miserable, but I was just happy that she was still putting up the good fight.

Of all the people I passed I only had one guy go with me and he was the cutest dude. At one point I kinda freaked out and turned to look at him because his footfall was so soft and light I thought he might be a chick. After my look back he pulled up next to me and said “I’m sorry to tailgate you but I can’t seem to pass you”. I said “As long as your not a girl it’s fine”. We ran close to each other for most the race. It was really nice and motivating. When he felt strong I would work to stay with him, and visa versa. I think it’s always fun to find a buddy on the course.

There were so many hills I can’t even tell you about all of them. I had an 8:16 mile in there, seriously steep! But I was still running fast(er), taking names, and feeling good. On a second out and back I passed another PRO and I saw I was in 5th (amateur), with 4th in sight. I worked hard to run her down and when I pulled up on her, I saw a “R” on her calf. So I pulled up next to her and said “Are you a relay?” She said “yes and you gals are crazy”. I love that! And then I ran on. The final mile was the most brutal on the entire course with a very demanding and steep prolonged up hill, it was a 8:21 mile! Ouch!

Just before it started I had a visitor. Charlie (owner of Rev3) pulled up next to me on a golf cart! He said “How ya feeling?” and I said “GREAT, I’M IN 4th”. He said “Yea, but there’s a girl right behind you”. He’s ALWAYS giving me flack and I knew better than to believe him. Plus I knew that if anyone challenged me at this point in the race they would loose, I felt super strong. BTW the lady that was close to me at the start never made a pass. Funny how much can change in 11 miles. We chatted a little, and he asked if I wanted a ride…which I did not! Silly Charlie. Rides are for quitters.

Coming into the finish was awesome. I had talked to Troy the night before and asked him what he wanted me to do on the finish line. I knew he would be watching on the live coverage that Rev3 does and he said to jump up and down (original, I know). I came down the finish line and I went CRAZY. I was skipping, and jumping, and leaping, and just being generally crazy, all for Troy. The crowd was laughing and the announcer was getting a kick out of it. I hope I was at least a little entertaining out there! He was watching, and he was laughing. I blew him kisses into the camera too. I was really happy. My run split was 1:40:47, the 3rd fastest amateur split, and only 39 seconds off the fastest amateur run of the day (but not even close to all but two of the pros).

To finish 4th overall non PRO is awesome, a great result for me (5:10:07) on a hilly course. They awarded top three overall, so I was given the age group win, being 4th, although the first overall woman was in my age group, so it’s kinda like a 2nd age group, if we are to get technical. All that is exciting, and always fun, but the best part was my LEGS! It was such a boost in confidence to remember what it feels like to have my legs under me, to feel like I can race hard and strong. The border collie was out in full effect today, taking advantage of being off the leash. I felt like the Sonja that I like to be with lots of smiles, lots of go-go power and lots of Grrrrr. With IM CDA three weeks away this race was a really good confidence booster and I feel ready to tow the line in three weeks.

Team Trakkers had many podium finishes!

Love Tony, love PIC. Love sharing these races with them.

I’ll admit, it was hard to see PIC come in, tears in her eyes. She’s such a trooper and the rest of the day she kept saying “That was the hardest thing I have ever done, I wanted to quit 100 times”. By the way, she was 2nd in her age group. Her blog is www.gofastmichelle.com

A huge thanks to Charlie. I love the Rev3 races and was really pleased with Quassy, just as I was last year. The course is challenging, but it’s honest and it’s a true test of your stamina, strength, pacing, nutrition, and heart. If you are all up into your times, or want a super fast course, this is not that. But if you want to find what you are made of, if you want to challenge yourself, or…if you just want to race at an amusement park…then this one’s for you.

Also, I can not thank Vahid and Shallah enough for hosting not one, not two, but THREE of us crazy Trakkers triathletes at their house for three days. They fed us and took amazing care of us. Many humble thanks!

Vahid and Shallah!

Sitting out on their back yard beach the night before the race, having a (small) glass of wine, enjoying life!

Chuckie… thank you Chuckie, thank you Chuckie, thank you Chuckie!!! We are getting there aren’t we?

You may have noticed that that I affectionatey refer to Michelle as PIC. It stands for “partner in crime”, I’m not really even sure when it came about. Maybee when she started her blog? I don’t know. She calls me PIC too. It’s rather fun. Sometimes I call her Fordy-Ford, or Michelley-Elley.

Michelle and I met shortly before our first ever trip to USAT Age-Group Nationals in 2007. That was way back when I had only done two sprints and Michelle was still riding this red bike with like Shimano 105 on it (I don’t mean to offend anyone…well maybe I do a little bit).

Breakfast two days before Nationals in 07

We were roomies in this totally cheep extended stay hotel right next to Nike in Portland. We both had what I would call super solid races, but even bigger than that we began a friendship that both of us never realized would be so much fun.

I think this was probably the last time we got totally sloshed right after a race…we are much more dedicated now (we are the middle two).

We trained together occasionally, mostly on weekend bike rides. Michelle was a working girl with a demanding job, but she was focused and nailed her workouts.

We went through a Twinkie phase (identical, comes in a pack of two). Almost all the group pictures we were standing next to each other, and we had matching helmets, blue bikes (she got rid of the crummy red one…no offense) and ponytails. Check it out.

Twinkies we are

Scary huh?

We came back to nationals in Portland in 2008 ready to kick ass, and qualify for Team USA. We had Australia on our minds. For the first time we allowed another person into our nationals lair, Tyler.

PIC, Me, and Tyler

He proved to be an acceptable addition. It also meant that PIC and I shared a bed for the first time. And we learned that we sleep well together, who would have thought? Probably a fact that our husbands try not to think about too often…or maybe they do. I don’t know and this is going south…

So we both really rocked the house at Nationals, it was the same course as the year before and PIC knocked 16+ minutes off her time, and I took off a little over 6. PIC nabbed that Team USA slot, and I missed it by one, but got it back in the lotto.

Early morning pre race, we are together, there’s a shock!

Several months after Nationals, the best thing EVER happened to my athletic career (and let’s be honest, it’s all about me). PIC got laid off, SWEEET, full time training partner. I think this is when the term “PIC” came about. That year was about becoming super stud kick ass athletes and helping each other get there. We started on the bikes.

Mt.Evans in the back, we two man teamed it all over the place that spring.

We really learned a lot about each other. Usually we knew more about where each other was at than we knew about ourselves. I knew when she was blitzed, she knew when I needed to eat. We shared gels, we took turns on each others wheels, and we had so much fun.

We raced across the county, heck the world, together. We always found a way to get our PIC time even if we weren’t rooming together. We found a camaraderie that year that was sorta “the next level”. I think in the beginning we may have felt a little competitiveness against each other, but any and all of that dissipated throughout last year. When we became PIC’s things changed and we helped each other through the hard times, and the hard races, and we celebrated with each other through the good ones. It helped that we had numerous good performances through the year. At Kansas, we qualified for Clearwater together.

We went to Nationals for a 3rd year together, we added Beth and Tyler to the room, which meant again…PIC and I were sharing a bed. Which apparently meant great races for the both of us. PIC taking 5th in her AG, and me 14th, both earning TEAM USA spots if we so choose to take them. Seeing her on the podium made me feel like I was on the podium, I kid you not.

Red hair extension…it was for CHARITY!

We went to Worlds in Australia with our different families, but we found a way to hook up and train everyday together. Training in unfamiliar adds a whole different crazy factor to things, but when we were together we seemed to have so much more confidence. It didn’t matter that we were riding on the wrong side of the road, we handled it together and we laughed a lot. Meeting up with Michelle was like a having a piece of home with me.

In AUS, training, note that we now have matching TT bikes, and non matching helmets, since I crashed and broke mine.

I think having each other there at World Championships paid off, we went 19th for PIC, and 30th for me, in our age group, in the world. And you know, PIC slept over in my hotel room the night before, I’m thinking that’s why we raced so well.

And at the end of the season we found each other in Clearwater, out there on the race course, and ran together for part of the race. It was almost poetic.

Michelle and I have learned through the years the value of having a training partner. I don’t think either of us could have ever imagined just how tight we would become. Going forward this year we have switched coaching, and we have switched team affiliation. It was a process that we relied heavily on each other to get through. Lots of leaning on each other, and a fair amount of tears.

It wasn’t easy, but you live, you learn, and you try to move forward with an open heart. With Michelle, I’m not afraid to tell her the truth, and she knows I’m in her corner 100%. I’m so extatic that the recent changes in our athletic career have brought us even closer together. I couldn’t imagine racing in a uniform that is different from hers, so I’m pretty stoked that this year we will be Twinkies again.

Having the same coach will enable us to continue to train together and to help each other achieve our goals. We have been very upfront with our new coach (who likes upfrontness) and he has instructed us to tattle on each other to our heart’s content (when it pertains to training). He seems to “get” our relationship and has an idea on how to use it to make each of us stronger.

We feel like we are a little mini-team this year. Our sponsors are the same, we represent them together, and although we are training towards different goals (as we have most years) I have no doubt that this year will yield lots more fun and silly pictures.

Thank you PIC, Michelley-elley, Fordy-Ford for all of your support, for being my “honesty” meter, for not making things harder than they need to be, for traveling with me, planning with me, schooling me in swimbikerun, for not holding it against me when I school you in bikerun, for sharing recipes, and photos, and lessons learned.

Here’s to another year of fun, we’re gonna kick ass!

“Triathletes”, “friends”, yes you.

You are planning your 2010 season aren’t you? I knew it! It’s what December is all about!

Well, if you haven’t looked into the Rev3 races, you just gotta. Next week I am going to have a discount code on registration, but I wanted to give you a heads up so that you make sure to take some time to cruise the Rev3 website. There are three races you need to know about and you can check out the details further with the links below.

The really cool thing about the Rev3 company is that all of their races have options. We like options, Olympic, half, full…we like options. What do we like better than options? We like happy families. That’s why when you race at Rev3 races, your family and friends get access into the race venues….which just happen to be amusement parks.

May 9: Rev3 Knoxville. The main event is the OlympicRev distance, but they also have a HalfRev. The finish is smack dab in the middle of World’s Fair Park. Don’t believe me, check it out.

June 5/6: Rev3 Quassy. I went to this last year, it ROCKED THE HOUSE. They have added an OlympicRev to the docket this year. Your family gets to ride roller coasters at Quassy Amusement park all day while you race your heart out. Win win.

September 12: Rev3 Cedar Point. This the the debut of the FullRev, oh yes folks it’s the real deal: 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, marathon. There is a HalfRev as well. All the action is in the middle of World Famous and grandiose Cedar Point Amusement Park. My mom said she would totally go, but that she would ride the coasters all day. Thanks Mom, just be sure to drag me home after 11 hours or so.

The race experience at a Rev3 event is like no other. Race staff create a forum where the pros are approachable, the schwag is delicious, and cozy, everyone is treated like a world class athlete, and where your family is extremely well taken care of.

Give the site a looksey, you will likey.

DISCOUNT CODE COMING NEXT WEEK.

Oh, and you might want to sign up for the Rev3 mailing list. That way you will stay in the know.

Double Oh, and for all my TBL fan friends, look who is doing the entire series, including the FullRev? If she can do it, so can you!

Triple Oh, I am on team Trakkers, and team Trakkers has an affiliation with the Rev3 organization. I get entry into the races for free. Just trying to keep to the new full disclosure rules. I do however pay all my travel expenses, lodging, etc, unless one of you out these would like to help me with that. Any takers?

What a freakin’ awesome time I had last weekend. Friday morning, waking up in Clearwater, I could tell I was about to get sick. Troy has been really sick for several weeks, and then Annie caught the illness and had it pretty bad. I was feeling like the immunity rock star…until Friday morning. We had lots to do with packet pickup, course recon, and bike drop off, all the while I could feel the illness heading my direction.

My dad was in FL on business so he booked a room for the weekend, and became our extremely valuable, sole support person. Plus, he had a rental car…something we had forgone. He picked me up and drove me to the store and then let me splurge on all sorts of cold “hold-R-off-ers”. I started hitting those hard, just hoping to push back the onset of the bad symptoms for 12-24 hours.

The four of us athletes in front of transition.

Saturday morning we woke up at 5 and Michelle, Tony and I headed to the transition area to pump up our tires, take the plastic bags off our bikes and double check our stuff. Our hotel was this cute little place, just one block from transition so we were able to walk back there before our race. It was really nice to use our own bathroom and to grab “second breakfast”.

I laid down on the bed, not feeling very snappy and threatened to go back to bed. I definitely didn’t feel like myself, but I also knew that the cold wasn’t in full attack mode just yet. I simply felt a little bogged down. I told Michelle and Anthony that I was thinking about “staying home and watching athlete trakker”.

They got a laugh out of that, but they also dragged me out of bed, and into my wetsuit. It’s go time. I may feel mellow, like I want to go back to bed, but really, I was excited to race. I didn’t know how I would be effected, but you just don’t know until you try!

We walked to the new swim start (they changed the swim from gulf, to intercostal b/c hurricane Ida had kept the water quite choppy). I said goodbye to my peeps and lined up in the corral. The new start was a time trial start and I was looking forward to this. Michelle offered me some last minute coaching, telling me that the TT start would help me to stay focused on my own race, to swim my own swim and to kill it.

My masters coach Paul had set me a text the day before “Have fun & it’s fun 2 go fast”. That is really the essence of me, and I decided to use it as my motto. Deep in my heart, I wanted to have a stellar swim, and I planned to go for it. I loved finding Adrienne in the swim corral, we caught up and laughed together. Adrienne is a phenomenal athlete, she spanked me at Rev3, and went to Kona this year. I loved sharing my pre race excitement with her.

Before I knew it I was sitting on the timing mat and sliding myself into the water. I felt strong from the start and just settled into my pace which we spent a lot of time practicing at masters this past week. I struggled slightly with my sighting since we were looking straight into the sun, but before I knew it I was making the turn. On the way back in we had to navigate down a narrow waterway and I got a little off course here. They did great with the buoys, but I swam a bit wide. This made for much less swim traffic, but also involved a little extra swimming.

The water was very murky and I did not catch a single set of feet. Exiting the water was dicy as the very steep ramp was quite wet. I used the handrails and pulled myself up to the pavement. Whew. I looked down at my watch to see the result of my effort: 00:00:00. Opps, I guess with the TT start I forgot to hit the “go” button. Oh well…didn’t bother me, I felt good about it.

Through transition…Ironman style. Grab your bag, hit the change tent, grab your bike, get outa there. I would suggest to anyone that the less you have in your transition bags the better. I like not having to make any decisions, just get what’s in there and go.

I’m off on my bike and barely into my shoes before we have to climb up this large causeway, which is no big deal because we are on a bike…but knowing that I am going to have to run over it 4 times is a little daunting. I had a great bike ride. My nutrition went well, my pacing went well. I smiled at everyone, stuck my tongue out, laughed, and just generally had a good time. In between the fun I put my nose down and pedaled my butt off. Before this race all I heard about was the drafting. I was secretly a bit nervous about the drafting. At Vineman 70.3 this year I had a lot of trouble with the drafting and I felt that I couldn’t get away from it even though I tried. That was my fear with Clearwater, that I would get stuck in the packs and that I would have trouble getting out of them whether it’s off the front, or the back. Staying away from the cheaters was a huge goal of mine.

I am not in this picture

I am happy to say that Clearwater is a race where (in my opinion) you can stay completely honest, if you so choose to. Now I can’t speak for people that are faster than me, but for me, it was extremely easy to stay out of the packs. In fact, there is a huge out and back section in the race and I had a blast “counting” the packs. I counted 12 of them. And each one had 20-60 riders. The road would actually be empty, or would have 1 rider every couple bike lengths, and then there would be a pack. I was personally overtaken by 6 different packs. It was actually pretty funny. I would be riding my own pace, minding my business and then the group would swarm me, overtake me, and spit me out the back, all in about 20-30 seconds. I just did not engage. I would stay to the way right, and just let them do their thing. I had the officials right next to me one time when it happened too. It was odd to see the penalty tent empty.

During one of these incidences I watched my Garmin. I was pedaling along at 23.4 mph. That seemed to be my go-to pace. The road is flat so I was just trying to hold that pace. Then I was “swarmed”. The drafters came past me, I did not engage, just stayed to the right and maintained my effort. After the pack passed me, my garmin said I was going 25.2. Wow, the pack had engulfed me, and then spit me out the backside going 2 mph faster. I got a good chuckle out of that…and then watched my mph slowly drift back down to 23.4.

Towards the end a pack came by and engulfed me and boy did I want to entangle myself, but I didn’t. I had been talking to myself all day about the fact that I wanted a clean race because I wanted to know how good I, Sonja Wieck, was. I didn’t want any little * in my head as to my time for the day. Whatever time I went, I wanted to know it was a solo effort. This allowed me to not even be bothered by the drafters. I know that in their heads, they have an * next to this event, and I don’t. It’s a choice. I was glad I made the right one. There was a little headwind the last 6 miles, so by the time I pulled into transition, I was ready to be off my bike.

Coming into transition for the second time it was nice to see a lot of the racks for my age group empty, that’s always a good feeling. It was awesome to have a volunteer take my bike and rack it for me, I’ll never get over how cool that part is.

On with the new Brooks running shoes and I was out of there. I saw my dad and smiled. Apparently Michelle smiled at him, as did Tony. I guess everyone was having a pretty good time.

That’s because we hadn’t gone up any hills yet! Man, that stinkin’ causeway is STEEP. Mother! Up and over the causeway I went. I didn’t feel lousy, I didn’t feel awful. I just felt like I was going to put down a strong effort. I went from aid station to aid station, running between 7:00 and 7:30 pace and it felt pretty fast. There were lots of people passing me, and I was passing people too.

It was great to see my dad twice on each lap. He cheered up a storm for me. I only heard my name called one other time and that was from TriBoomer. Thanks Dad, and thanks Boomer!

Finishing up the first lap, my dad yelled at me that “PIC is right up ahead”. Those were great words to hear. As I ran through the turn around I looked and looked for her but she was nowhere to be found. I picked up my pace and tried to look through the crowds for Michelle, but she was being extremely elusive.

Back up that monster hill for the third installment. This time I decided to really push it. I suddenly saw Adrienne. That was a major boost. She had passed me early on the bike. I slowly worked my way up to her and when I passed her she said “Good job Sonja” with this super enthusiastic voice. I was so focused I couldn’t say anything. I wanted to tell her to come with me, run with me, but all I could muster was a thumbs up. We ran through my favorite aid station with the pirate theme and then onto the out and back section. That was when I saw PIC Michelle. I was close to her, but she was moving fast. I spent the next mile working really hard to catch her.

Finally on the last hill of the day I pulled up beside her and said nothing. She said nothing as well. We were at like mile 11 or so. I could tell she knew it was me but we just ran in silence up and over that crazy causeway. After a little while she said “You are going to need to go ahead”. I told her “Run your pace, I’m here because I want to be”. And I was. Michelle has been such a huge training partner and friend to me this year (and for many years). She’s a rock and we have leaned on each other numerous times throughout the seasons. It was such a special opportunity to be able to run with her in a race. Again she told me to go, and I told her I wanted a picture and just to run her pace. It was so fun running through the aid stations. I would grab a water and a energy drink and take a sip and then hand it to her. I felt like we were in the tour, sharing water bottles.

We ran together for 1.5 miles. We saw my dad with about 0.5 mile to go. He took these AWESOME pictures.

After that Michelle said “You’ve got your pictures, now go! I’ll see you in a few minutes”. Fine, off I went, into my finishing kick. I ran across the line just as the clock turned 5 hours. I wondered how long after the clock started did I begin my swim? Just knowing that I would be under 5 hours was exciting.

Since I didn’t start my watch on time I had no clue. Michelle was in a few seconds after me, we took a picture together and there was Tony, standing there waiting for us. It turns out that Michelle was 9th in her age group, with a 27 minute swim, second in her age group out of the water, total time of 4:42.

I had the swim of my life with a 32:30. I biked a very solid (and solo effort) of 2:25:32 and ran a 1:37 to finish in a 5 minute PR of 4:40:25. That was good for 16th out of the 69 women 30-34, and I was the 76th amateur woman (out of 395). Great day for me as well!

Tony flatted but finished very strong with a 1:27 run. Steve had a solid effort from start to finish and was pleased with his race.

The rest of the day was spent celebrating, eating, and drinking. We attended the awards which was a pretty awesome experience, complete with fireworks, and a great speech by Raelert. The next day was spent like this.

And there it is, the end of yet another absolutely fantastic season. Two World Championships, an Ironman, a 50 mile run race, the Grand Canyon. Lots of fun. This season has been brought to you by the letter “T”, as in my main sponsor….TROY. Thank you Troy, thank you Trakkers, Brooks, Core Concepts, and Nuun. Next year will be even better, different, but better.

Thanks to all of you out there that support me with emails, tweets and calls. I love you.

This weekend is the 2009 Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Clearwater, FL. I qualified for this championship at the Kansas 70.3 where I scored a 2nd age group finish. I’m pretty excited to attend this race, but am also trying to keep my expectations low. I have been to some AMAZING races this year: Rev3 Quassy, Ironman Canada, ITU Oly Worlds. It’s hard to believe that Clearwater will be on this level. Many of the pros that were at Rev3 stated over and over again that they wished Rev3 was the World Championships, and that it should be. With that endorsement, I’m keeping my expectations in check.

This will be the last time in 2009 that I take apart and pack up my trusty steed. Scarlet is boxed and ready for her flight. She needs a tune up when I get there, she has a few little shifting issues. Other than that, she is ready to ride fast and hard.

My feet are excited to race too! They will be sporting a brand spanky new pair of Brooks Launch in neon greeeeen, which is odd, because with the Bio MoGo sole, they are green. Wait, are they green? They look kinda yellow? Maybe they are yellow? [Official color is: Mantis Green]

Green [or yellow] with envy? My feet were so excited to get these on, they just couldn’t stand still.

Happy feet for me!

Then I head on over to the fridge, trying to think about what I’m going to pack for my trip, and wow, look who’s all ready to go?

Apparently somebody thinks that we are going to Hawaii, no no, Mix1, it’s the “other” World Championships. But that’s okay, I think they allow hula skirt clad Mix1 bottles on the plane, no really, no need to repack.

I scored a major deal on some Nuun last weekend so I am planning on bringing a few tubes to clearwater to hide in various spots and then tweet where they are hidden. A sort of Nuun scavenger hunt. What do you think? Is this a good idea, could be pretty fun for me too!

So, that’s about it. I’m ready to go, even more ready to have fun, and most of all ready to kick some butt out there on the course. The race is Saturday, athlete trakker will be up and going on the Ironman website.

So Trakkers is doing a beta test at the Denver Marathon this year. Have you been itching to test a unit and do you just happen do be racing the Denver 1/2 Marathon, or the Full?? Well, read below:

Denver Marathon Maniacs!,

Ok, you’re NOT maniacs – well, maybe you are – but in my book this is GOOD maniac. Some of you may be familiar with one of Super-Sonja’s sponsors: Trakkers. Basically, Trakkers is a GPS device for athletes. The athlete wears the device and friends/family can go online to follow them along, in training or racing, in real time. A google map pops up and a dot moves along the map in real time. VERY cool stuff, and the next step in technology for sports, really.

Trakkers is looking for some folks who would like to be involved in a beta-test at the Denver Marathon. We are in the final stages of product development and are looking for another test to iron out the final glitches before the device is available to the mainstream public.

What is in it for you? Aside from my eternal thanks, your friends and family will be able to follow you online (so they can be in another state and get to follow you!) during your race, and you get to use the device for free.

If you are interested, please send me an email: carole.sharpless@trakkersgps.com

Happy marathon!

Kindest Regards,
Carole Sharpless
VP of Operations

Also, I know some of you were pretty jealous when I attended the Rev3 race this year. You saw my Green Iguana Trakkers uniform and you WANTED ONE! I can’t blame you, the Trakers uniform is super comfy, plus Trakkers sponsorship grants you lots of goodies, training camp, and being a part of cool tri team. Do you think you’ve got what it takes to be on Team Trakkers 2010? Here’s the official application. It will download to your computer as a word doc.

As my miles taper down, and my training hours dwindle I’ve started to look back on what was accomplished this year. I think you have to remind yourself what you have done to reach your goals, it’s easy to forget. Steve, Andrea, Anthony and I started off this training block by heading to Canada together to volunteer in August 2008. Being total triathlon geeks were immediately bitten by the Ironman bug. We had way to much fun volunteering for IM Canada and we came home so jazzed and excited to train for the next years race. Steve got to thinking about how he was going to train us and thus was born the 17 hour training day plans. A website followed, and we had introspective meetings once a month. We started to build or base and along the way came lots and lots of fun.

We ran 41 miles on the Colorado trail and dragged way way way too many people with us.

We ran up Red rocks stairs a ka-billion times.

We swam and swam and swam all winter long

We signed up for our first 50K and ran all over Moab.

We ran long long runs in tights…with friends.

We ran even longer runs, through the snow.

We swam more…and more…and more.

We ran 46 miles to Boulder in 19 degree weather.

I tried to run 15 miles two days after running 46 miles and not yet recovered. I hurt myself. My knee kept me out of the running game for about 4 weeks, just had to take it’s time to properly heal. I learned the difference between bad pain, and healing pain. I will try much harder not to make that mistake again. Here is the “I’m happy but I hurt look”.

We ran up Mt Evans in the snow and I turned back early b/c the knee wasn’t quite back completely. I can’t believe I left these two together.

We went to Catalina Island and I watched Steve, Andrea, and Anthony run 50 miles. It was a hoot, and I gained perspective on being on the sideline. I had a ton of fun, and drank a few too many pomegranate margaritas.

We ran up Highgrade…a tough climb for most local cyclists

I progressed through another great snowshoe season, this time with more depth to my running and made my second National Snowshoe team.

I got two new bikes which made me way faster

Michelle and I raced the boys over our entire Shadow loop, and we won (because we’re better).

We rode everywhere. Shadow, Epic, Shadow, Epic. Climb climb climb

We went to Las Vegas and slaughtered a half Ironman

Then turned around 40 hours later and ran across the Grand Canyon….twice

I ran a mountain marathon in Gateway Colorado

I raced my first road race

I went to Connecticut and raced the Rev3 Half Ironman

And then the next weekend raced the Kansas 70.3 half Ironman

and then the next weekend raced the Loveland Lake to Lake Oly

And then we rode our bikes home

It all involved a lot of this

and this

Then we cranked up the mileage and rode out east week after week after week, hundreds of miles. 156 mile rides, 100 mile rides, and lots of 85 mile rides.

We trained for 17 hours in one day. The “official” 17 hour training day. 7K swimming, 100+ riding, and 30+ running.

I went to California and competed in Vineman 70.3 Half Ironman

Then came home, rode a couple hundred miles, and entered my first crit

Then we rode 225 miles in one day

And finally we endured a hail storm after 100 miles on the bike and 18 on the run, incurring substantial “hail damage” to our bodies.

So, all these experiences. What if I completely choke at Ironman? Doesn’t matter. No really, won’t I be so disappointed if it just doesn’t go my way on the actual day? Nope. Because, for one, I know what it feels like when it’s not going my way. I’ve been to that ugly place on runs, on swims and on rides, and you know what, I’ve persevered through it, I’ve figured out how to keep going. So does adversity scare me? Nope. Number two, I’ve enjoyed this training, I’ve enjoyed the Ironman lifestyle. If you haven’t seen much of me lately it’s not because I’m out there painfully toiling away on my bike, it’s because I’m out there living it up doing what makes my soul happy. I have found out that there is something in me that loves to go long. I love the outdoors, and I love the way this training makes me feel in both heart and mind. If all this was for nothing…I would sign up again tomorrow. The adventures and experiences have been priceless.

I don’t know how I can encourage you all out there, but I want to let you know that I don’t consider myself to have any special powers. I don’t see myself as an unusually hard worker. What I do have is a passion to live life to it’s fullest, and the ability to smile. If any of what I have done in the past year sounds fun to you, please find a way to talk to me about it. Do you see all the pictures of all the different people that did just some of the fun stuff I did last year. Well, that could be you. So please don’t sit by and think “Man, I wish I could join them”. I would love to find a way to make that possible for you.

This is totally the week of product endorsements! When you train the distances that I commonly do, you become very fond of certain products that gracefully allow you to do your work. The good products, the helpful products, have a special place in your heart, because when your gear goes wrong, your training tends to follow suit.

One of the most important places that you want your gear to work is your feet. When you love to run A LOT, as in you love it A LOT, and the amount you run is A LOT, you have to have more than a good shoe, you need a great shoe.

This last year I gave up having three different shoes: a lightweight trainer for short fast runs, a heavy weight trainer for long road runs, and a trail shoe. I found a shoe I love and I wear it for everything except races. And crazy as it sounds, it’s a trail shoe.

Oh my, what shoe is this Sonja?

It’s the Brooks Cascadia.

I love it so much I rotate through three pairs. I have 3 pairs of the Cascadia 3…maybe next up I will buy 4 pairs of the Cascadia 4…which I hear is MORE comfortable, and boasts an environmentally friendlier BioMoGo midsole, the world’s first-ever biodegradable midsole for running shoes. The laces are made out of recycled materials as well!

Brooks has a great site that helps you figure out what shoe would work for you. Check them out at www.brooksrunning.com

They are also on Twitter…they are so cool! Follow them: @brooksrunning

Have you received any of these crazy Sport Science shirts in your race packet lately? You can tell because they have the little bright yellow tag on the sleeve. Last year our Phidipides shirts were Sport Science and I found myslelf working out in it a lot. At first glance it looked like your run of the mill cotton t-shirt. The first time I put it on I couldn’t believe how well it fit. They make women’s and mens shirts separately. The other track club members were pretty jazzed about it too.

A little about their philosophy:

In 2003, we launched sport science™ smarter performance™ for the fun-having, sport-playing, running, walking, hiking, commuting, climbing, training, traveling, going, doing active people of the world.

Our mission is to create products that do more so you can do more – clothing that can go anywhere and do anything, not just in regards to function, but to comfort and style as well. When true technical performance fuses with incredible comfort and versatility, smarter performance™ is the result.

Then I worked out in it and I knew something was different about it. The fabric that Sport Science uses feels soft and nice like cotton, but it wicks. Normal race shirts are either cotton, or tech. I never feel like I can wear my race t-shirts that are tech shirts around town because they are a little thin and breezy, and somewhat see through. I definitely can’t wear the cotton race tshirts to workout in. Not for any considerable workout at least. But these sport science shirts really bridge the gap. Practical Coaching used this company for their shirts this year…I bought three!

Cruising through their website it looks like they make all different cuts of shirts. I would love to try out a sleeveless and a long sleeve, I definitely see a tied dyed shirt in my future, and the wool line looks really enticing.

Oh, and this isn’t just a chick thing. Troy has a habit of wearing things he likes over and over again until they die (usually beyond when they die). Despite the fact that our 17 hour training day shirts are pink, he wears it every other day (when he’s not wearing the grey Practical Coaching shirt). I haven’t told him it’s pink (he’s color blind). He hasn’t worn them out yet, and he said that if it was his choice he would wear only this brand of t-shirts. Pretty strong feelings from my mellow-smellow hubby!

If you haven’t raced a race that has Sport Science shirts you’ve got to find one! You wont be disappointed. If you know of a race that is putting Sport Science in their packets, leave the name and link in a comment below. And if you are Sport Science and you are reading this, I really love your product!

All photos taken by my dad, Eric Willis. I love him!

The hype for this race was pretty wild. Vineyards, wine, a beautiful location in California. This race was meant to be a treat. Troy flew in Friday night and mom and I had the van packed and ready to go camping. Saturday morning we hopped in the car and drove two hours up to Windsor for packet pickup. It was a scorcher of a day and the projections were that it was going to be even hotter for race day. I grabbed my packet and we spent the day checking out the swim, bike and run courses. The evening was filled with a great salmon dinner by dad, some marshmallow roasting, and a luxurious night of sleep in the van.

4am wake up call and we were off. We had scoped a good spot to park the van where my parents could skedaddle after the swim without getting into a traffic jam. The race area is extremely congested and difficult for friends and family to maneuver through. The two transitions are 15 miles apart and it’s all a little tricky.

I headed down to the water, racked my bike and got ready for the swim. The swim is in a river, you swim up river first, and then back down river to finish. It’s so shallow that you can stand up at almost any spot in the race.

Lining up I really didn’t feel nervous. I got a spot on the line off to the left. I liked my spot and it made for some good pictures for my dad.

That’s totally me sighting in this shot.

When we went around the turn buoys I stood up and dolphin dived and the water was at my knee/thigh level. I got a good start out of the gate and spent about half the race on some nice feet and then the second half by myself. I didn’t feel the nice rhythm that I was quite used to in the water, but I felt ok, and emerged ready to get going on the bike.

Transition was crazy. I was allowed to hand my wetsuit over the fence to my mom, so I did that, but it was a little weird. The transition was in a dirt lot and by the time I got off with my bike I was a muddy mess, and my bike was a dusty wreck.

I obeyed my 5 mile rule to chill and get my legs under me. We had a nice flat section, but then they took us into a curvy crazy section where all the volunteers were telling us to slow down and one volunteer yelled that there was a bad accident at mile 7.

We head up this big hill and just on the other side I see about 30 racers stopped in front of me. There are ambulances, and police. A lady is yelling that a tree fell onto the road and pinned two cyclists. They were halting the race because they had to see if the wire that was down was live or not, and they had to get the racers safely into the ambulance, and they had to remove the tree. I just unclipped, stayed calm and messed with my new Garmin that didn’t seem to be behaving how I envisioned. People in the crowd were going crazy, one lady was yelling “Can you release the names of the cyclist”? I slowly moved away from her. Sheesh, calm down. Cyclists piled up behind me and I couldn’t help but think about how this would effect my race. I’m a slower swimmer and I spend so much of my race trying to catch the fast swimmers. Anyone in my wave who was a faster swimmer would not have been stopped in the accident, so they were long gone.

Note: There were actually 3 racers involved. The tree was about 4 feet in diameter and came down between two cyclists. For the one in front it hit him in the back, entangled him and his bike in the tree and I believe he either broke, or nearly broke his back. He is still in the ICU. For the one behind the tree it ensnared him and his bike and he broke his collar bone. The next rider crashed as a result of the tree falling and ended up in the bushes and broke his collar bone.

After about 10 minutes they opened the road again and everyone took off, like a road race. People were riding 6 across, on a very narrow twisty road, they weren’t obeying the center line rule, and the road was still open to traffic. And…they are triathletes, with triathlete handling skills…need I say more. I have never felt more unsafe in my life in a race. It was total Danger Will Robinson! I waited for the congestion to dissipate but a mean little pack was forming.

I’m not going to do the whole tattle tale thing on this blog, but I will just say that the rest of the bike was a tad frustrating, and I had trouble enjoying the scenery. I will say that I will think twice about ever doing another race where the course is left open to drivers. If you can close down the roads in San Francisco for Escape from Alcatraz, then you should be able to close down the back roads in Sonoma county. I felt very unsafe and at one point watched a police officer wave a car out in front of me. It was just odd and not what I was at all expecting for a 70.3 with such a great reputation.

Into transition and off to the run. It was hot hot hot. I have heard reports from 95 to 106, and to me it felt like about 102-103ish. Ice down the sports bra, ice down the pants. Water with ice, Gatoraid with ice…just lots of ice. From mile 1 on I could tell that it wasn’t going to be a repeat Kansas performance. I was hitting around 8 min miles, and didn’t feel motivated to go much faster. I did enjoy myself through. The course was quite hilly, lots of little ups and downs. I liked the run, but was begging for cooler temps.

I love this one of Keith with the “No Dogs Allowed” sign

I came through the finish glad to be done, ready to sit in a tub of ice! It was great to see my dad’s coworkers Jonathan, and Jeff out there. They both knocked it outa the park! Also Keith was on course, but I didn’t see him. He was out there though. It was a bummer not to have all my practical coaching hommies racing with me, but I thought it was a good effort on a day that was riddled with challenges! I made a few friends, and had the wonderful support of my parents and Troy. Many thanks for all the well wishes and congratulatory notes.

Jonathan and Jeff, my tour guides and training partners for the week

Pook post race. She was such a trooper in the heat!

So..at one point during the race a guy rode by and said “nice bike”. I was like “thanks” cause, you know, I get that a lot. Then I looked at his bike and WE HAD THE SAME BIKE. Now if you ride a Cervelo I know this is nothing new for you, but it’s RARE RARE RARE to see another Isaac. So, after the race we took some pics together. Notice how I just cozied up to this guy, apparently if you own an Isaac I’m more apt to snuggle my sweaty body up to yours. Oh, sonja…

Swim + T1: 36:45
Bike: 2:49:07
T2: 2:24
Run: 1:45:31
Overall: 5:13:49
11th F30-34 (1st,2nd,and 3rd overall were in my AG, and all three of them were under 4:35, pretty tough competition)
46th female