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Ohio 70.3 July 2023

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  I flew in Wednesday morning and stayed at my parents’ place in Sylvania. After having lunch with the family on Saturday Mike and I drove to Sandusky. We stopped at the IM village so I could get my bib and rack my bike.   We then checked into a motel a couple of miles away. It was well run with good people, but wow, did the room ever smell like mothballs. I had forgotten to grab a bowl and spoon from my parent’s place, so I ended up eating my yogurt with my toothbrush out of a coffee cup - I was laughing at myself the entire time. Mike dropped me off at transition early and went to park (parking is plentiful BTW). There is a single transition located at the swim exit. I got lucky and forgot to reserve an AWA number via active (had no idea I was supposed to do this) and ended up with a high number at the end of a row right by the bike out exit. Perfect! These days, since Ironman does not assign bib numbers until registration (an artifact of covid), the bikes are packed really ...
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Ironman California 2022 - Full IM #24

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  Since I came down with COVID during my race at Kona, I was not sure I would be able to race in Sacramento since the start was just 17 days later. I took my recovery very seriously and threw the kitchen sink at myself so covid would not get into my lungs. I ended up with a negative covid test on October 14 th – that gave me 9 days to sharpen the saw before the race started. I was going to race! Mike and Max were freshly COVID positive (since I gave it to them) and the plan was for them to test Saturday morning (10-22) to see if they could drive up and spectate. I drove up on Thursday by myself. A pelican flew right over my car near Berkeley. When I had a pelican fly over me while doing a bike check before Texas, the meaning I found was “…could be a sign that in the near future, someone might try to win something that belongs to you rightfully. The very idea of it is bound to make you feel anxious and threatened, but you need not be. Do not let these feelings get to you. If the st...
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IM World Championship - Kona 2022 Full IM #23

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  I was fortunate to be able to do a training block in Kona in August. It was in the high 80s and much hotter than the actual race day, although race day was hotter than usual for October. My oldest daughter was not happy that she couldn’t go to Kona for the race (college) so the training block, in part, was her consolation prize, and it was also just what my coach, Jason McFaul, had ordered. This training block was so helpful for my mental health on race day. Knowing that crosswinds would pick up at mile marker 14.5 on 270, memorizing the rolling terrain back from Waikoloa, and running in the energy lab was helpful even though the winds on race day ended up being relatively calm.    I got to Kona again in October the Friday before the race. During ace week I participated in a few choice activities – the TriDot lunch with Michelie Jones and Mark Allen, the underwear run with Kathy Harris (a fellow Zooter and friend who came to spectate – we had fun), and a Zoot lunch fo...
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