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watt was I thinking? May 15, 2008

Posted by Kylie in : biking, mike , 1 comment so far

Ok so it’s a geeky title. But no surprise then, right?

I rode this morning — my 20.5 mile out and back that is basically flat. And it was a bit windy, but nothing super crazy. I just had no power. None. Felt like I was running on empty or something. Even 100 watts felt unholdable. Not a great feeling, but I did the whole ride, home, and off to work.

Talking to Mike just now he reminded me that I haven’t been sleeping well at all — or have been working til crazy late for some unknown reason. Oh yeah. I always forget that sleep is a part of performance. But today’s looooow power numbers for similar perceived exertion to other rides sure reinforced it! Maybe next time I’ll remember.

no longer screwed May 11, 2008

Posted by Kylie in : biking , 1 comment so far

… and it was bad — ’cause it was my bike cleat. At my 33 mile turn around point today I finally checked the cleat that hadn’t been clipping out easily. I had forgotten about it with the long stretches without stopping ;)   And it was missing a screw, and the others were loose. So I tighted them, and crossed my fingers that it would get me home. And it did… but slipped out of position pretty well. Guess I need to fix that.

100 lefty steps at a time May 9, 2008

Posted by Kylie in : running , add a comment

I was good! The couch was comfy, I was in pjs since I had been working from home for a couple hours, and I got up and went for a run last night. Telling myself “at least 20 minutes”, by the time I was out the door it had changed to some trails with the last of light, an out and back that is special since it is where I got engaged :)

It’s just over 3 miles each way, with plenty of climbing on the way out. The only climb that sucks is a paved hill up from a trail along a drainage section to the park with the hiking trails. Not horrible, but long enough I think I’ve always walked on it. I started up, and told my self that I could make it to 100 left foot steps. So I started counting, and it gave me a rhythm, and at 100 I was just barely from the top so I kept going and made it. And then I made it up all the trail switchbacks and all the climbs the whole route! I’ve never ran that whole thing before!

So I got up, got it done, and felt great after. Remind me again why I almost skipped it?

guess it is time to move May 6, 2008

Posted by Kylie in : biking, R3, marky , add a comment

With the rides I do all the time, I love that my Trifuel training log lets me compare my times over each course. I often have goal times for “someday”. Recently, my 20.5 mile mostly flat ride had a goal of 1:10, and my rolly 30.5 mile route had a goal of 2:00.

Well Saturday I climbed on my R3 and headed out on the 20.5 mile course. Nothing too exciting at first, but I was feeling pretty good so starting going a bit harder. I returned home in 1:09:29. That’s 4:22 faster than ever before, and 8:15 faster than my average. Wooo! I’ll take it.

Today I went out on my 30.5 mile route, feeling a bit stiff. My legs were not warming up too well, and seeing my power numbers in the first interval put me in a “get it done” frame of mind (not a “grab that PR” one). But I figured I’d still sticking to my coach’s prescribed 5 min on, 3 min off intervals. At the turn around, I though I might be a couple minutes ahead of whenever I’ve done it before, but I wrote it off to remembering the time wrong, and just kept doing. About 7 miles from the end I could tell another PR was coming, and it was good motivation to hold where I was through the set after the intervals were done. Got home… in 1:53:13!! Yup, a good 7:58 faster than ever before, and 11:16 faster than my average!

I’m pleased, and gave the legs healthy food and the rest of the day off. Time to move and find new routes to set goals for… or to just up those. Did I hear 1:05 and 1:50? :)

Oops - should tighten that! May 1, 2008

Posted by Kylie in : biking, mike , add a comment

I started my ride on Tuesday planning to get in just over 20 miles with one of my favorite routes from my door. Mostly flat, and very little traffic (and many miles on a bike path). I was feeling pretty good, but realized I had forgotten my phone. Did the little hill at mile 1, and on the descent from it at about 30 MPH all of a sudden I had almost no control of the bike! I was fishtailing, and heading straight for a T-intersection where I was coming from the hard to see direction. Hoping no car was going to turn and right into me, I braked and looked at the back of my bike, expecting a flat and wondering how that had happened, and so fast.

Instead I found that the wheel was no longer in the drops! Yes, the wheel had basically fallen off my bike. Luckily the brake calipers held it sort of in place, so it was still in the chain. I smelled burning rubber and took the bike to the top of the T to put the wheel back in. And found a couple HUGE bald spots on my tire. Oh right, 30mph to 0 without spinning… yeah, that will take off some rubber.

Popped the wheel back in place, remembering how I had thought it was a bit loose that morning but hadn’t bothered to tighten it since I had raced on it that way and figured it was fine. Um oops.

I headed down to the running path I was just above, and where Mike had either just passed our would be passing soon on his run. I found him, and just rode home easy next to him while talking.

So it was a short ride, and a pretty easy one, but sure was scary! And next time I will be less lazy.

PossAbilities Triathlon

Posted by Kylie in : running, swiming, Race Tales, biking, mike , add a comment

2 years ago I almost skipped this race, but ended up going since I’d done it every year I’ve done tris. And while there I met a pretty cute boy, and now I get to keep him, so we like doing that race and signed up again this year.

So off we went to the races in a clown car! We took Mike’s 2door Civic. My bike fits standing in the back seat with only the front wheel off, and his fits in the trunk with the seat folded down. Then the wheels and our race gear squeeze in around, and when we get to the race site you wonder where all the stuff we have in there was stored for the drive.

I got ready, leaving my shoes on my bike for the first time. I had practiced it the night before on our street, and figured why not. Then a quick warmup, and to the line. Where I realized I was not interested in running. I felt exhausted and just wanted to play on my bike. As the national anthem was sung, I remembered my bike shoes were still velcro’ed — so getting them on would be a bit more complicated than I had practiced :) Mike told me it was too late — to not race (which I didn’t reallly want to do anyways) or to fix the shoes. And he even noticed how I just wasn’t giggly excited like I usually am before a race. So the horn blew, and I just ran.

I didn’t really push it — cheered for Mike as he went by the other way, and got to run with some of the kids from the Exceeding Expectations program (they were all there racing, so it was fun to see them). Finished the run, put on a helmet and dropped my visor and GPS and jumped on. Shoes on successfully, and I pedaled.

I still wasn’t really in the zone, and the bike was over. Into the water and I swam a bit hard. But it was sooo crowded. With the serpentine swim I kept getting pushed into the lane lines if I tried to pass, or caught up in others arms. So I just swam hard and passed pretty much everyone around me. I’m by no means a good swimmer, I just think that is often one of the weakest things for most people who show up to the little local races.

Out of the water, jog to the line. I didn’t even notice the time, just gave Mike a high five and was ready to go pack up so he could get on his way.

Mike had a conference in Palm Springs all weekend (which meant I got to commute with him on Friday, which was fun). And then he had to leave immediately after he was done racing to go for more, but would be back around 2 or 3, so I just hung out at the race site until he was back — there was a tri club meeting, and it is my gym, and I had a book. I was a bit sunburned when all was done, but it was a good day.

This post has me sounding like I really didn’t like the race. I did — I felt ok for it, and it has a great atmosphere. I just felt kind of blah in general, and for some reason wasn’t too excited about it being race day. It was fun to cheer for some of the exceeding expectations kids (I just couldn’t cheer for the ones that beat me ;) ). And I do like the feeling of that race: some very fast people (Kate Major, Julie Swail) but also tons of people just giving triathlon a first go.

a whole other kind of IM AZ race report April 14, 2008

Posted by Kylie in : Race Tales, pics, Ironman , 4 comments

There is a pretty amazing lady, Cherie Gruenfeld, that I know through tris. She has done tons and tons of races over the years (including Kona every year except 2 injured ones since 1992!). She might be 63, but yesterday she finished IMAZ in 12:51, breaking the course record for her age group by about 20 minutes. A record she set in 2007. And when she finished, she didn’t run for food, or a massage, but to share hugs with 8 students there just for her.

You see, Cherie, together with Jacque, a teacher in San Bernardino, run Exceeding Expectations, a program for at-risk kids. And as I experienced it, a program sharing a positive mentality, approach, and a pure love. Through the program the kids get to race tris and be a part of something strong, with great mentors. Cherie and Jacque’s goal is not to build elite athletes (although some of those kids are *fast*) but to build great people. This year, Cherie chose Ironman AZ because it was close enough to organize a trip, and let some of the EE kids come out and be inspired. And it turned out they needed a person familiar with Ironman racing to help the kids during the day, and to stay with some of them the nights before and after, and I got an invitation to be that person.

They picked me up on the way out of town, and we (Jacque, Craig - a friend of the program an a triathlete himself, myself, and the 4 boys and 4 girls) drove out on Saturday. They got to see the race site, and go peddle boating where Cherie would be swimming in the morning. For most of them, it was their first time outside California and Mexico — and there was definitely a feeling of excitement in the air! That evening they played in the pool, and some admitted they were nervous for the race, and wondered how Cherie could deal with such nerves as they weren’t even racing!


We gave her hugs before the start, and cheer as the race went off. Soon we found Lee, Cherie’s husband and a writer for IronmanLive. He had a Race Support vehicle, and room to take everyone out on the course in two batches. So the first group followed him to see Cherie out of the swim, and I went with them to make sure the kids got to the car as Lee was going to go through the actual swim area for IMLive photos. But the kids kept following him, and no one said anything, so we watched from there for a bit! Up close and personal with the wetsuit strippers.


Then those kids were off, and the others set to meet up again in a couple hours, so I watched the bikers heading out and cheered, especially for Jonny and Teresa.


Back to the kids, and Lee was soon back to take the last 2, Craig and I out on the course. But he didn’t bring the other kids back — they had stopped to cheer near an aid station, and the kids just started handing stuff out and didn’t want to leave! So we made our way out there as well, cheering for Cherie at one of the turns.


At the aid station I got my first taste of handing out gels, bananas, waters, and gatorade. I have a new respect for those who point at the volunteer they are going for, say what they want if there are options in that person’s hands, and slow to where it is an easy handoff. Some were good enough that we got them what they wanted even if it was a person or two down. Some of the really fast (through transition) ones just managed to knock the banana they wanted to the ground — those in particular were hard to grab, and boxes of them were gone in no time!

Soon it was back to the transition area, and the group of kids that were back headed out for a bit of shopping. I made my way down to the run course, and just in time to start doing crowd control with Michael Lovato as there was one spot where people didn’t realize they were on the course until a runner blew by or was heading straight for them. A more official volunteer soon joined us, and it got pretty control, and I helped out there for a couple hours until time to meet the kids again.

We cheered for a now running Cherie, and then the kids were off to Hooters for a late lunch/dinner, air conditioning, and cold drinks!


I saw Jonny a bit after he finished. It was a tough day out there for him with an incident with a cop motorcycle causing mechanicals! But great finish, and I’m so proud of you for keeping going and having such a smokin’ run!



While cheering at the line I also saw Rachel Ross finish, who is another of my favorites. And I saw her come out of the water as well, being right there with the kids. I met her at CA70.3 a month ago, and know her through online stuff, and was surprised that when I congratulated her in the sea of well-wishers she remembered me and thanked me by name. Of course I never had a camera handy when she was coming by. Just like at CA70.3.

And I cheered for Teresa and was happy to see her make it home — it was a very long day for her being a bit sick, and by the line she had no voice left. She is still one of my favorite tri ladies though — I’m lucky to know her through Mike.


So many inspiring athletes out there all day — made me a bit sad not to be doing one this year. But then the fast athletes out there had me remembering why — I wanna go fast next time, and be better than before. I don’t want to just do it next time, but to be really ready for one. So many times tears came to my eyes watching classic Ironman moments. And not every day will a pro well in the race make sure to give his mom a hug before continuing his run (very classy Jordan!).

The kids came back ready to see the finish! We cheered for Cherie over one last bridge, and got Jose to the finish area to run in with her. She had hoped all the kids could do it, but while some family still sent groups our 8 would be a big one, and we respected the new 1 family member per racer rule. When done, Cherie was just glowing — but I’m not sure if she was more excited to give each kid a hug, or if they were more proud of her having done the race. The rest of the night they brought her food, tracked when it was her massage time, and just gathered around her, telling about their day and hearing about hers.



This morning I flew home to get in a full day of work, while the others drove back with the kids. I can’t wait to see all the kids again at the PossAbilities Triathlon in two weeks — I’ll be wearing my EE visor with pride!


(full online photo album)

The 10th Ining April 7, 2008

Posted by Kylie in : Life Outside of Tris, pics , 8 comments

My grandpa is a wonderful man, and I will miss him. He passed away over night. It was not sudden — he battled prostate cancer and recovered, but then had cancer in his lungs, spine, and I think kidneys. Yet he was not in pain — last time I spoke with him and my grandma, he was only occasionally taking over the counter Tylenol. But fluid built up in his lungs, and the risks of draining it while he was still in no pain weren’t worth it. He soon went home, but still didn’t believe it was really about the end.

My mom told him when I got engaged, and while he was very happy for me his face dropped when he heard it was going to be a September wedding. He knew he probably wouldn’t be able to be there with me. That week, he and my grandma sent me a card and let me know they wanted to buy my wedding dress, as he wanted to be with me that day as much as he could. This weekend I got my dress, and the last news he had about me and Mike was that he had bought us a beautiful wedding dress. And the ring on my finger, symbolizing the love of my life, is one he picked out for my grandma.

As he always was, he didn’t want anyone to see his weakness, and wanted us to remember him as the strong man he always was in my life. Talking to his wife, he knew had to start accepting that it was near the end of his time, and he realized all his family already knew. The hard part for him was the waiting — he didn’t like sitting around waiting to die, and he was scared, but hew knew it was time and that was that. A former Boston Red Sox pitcher, he told my grandma he was in his tenth ining. Last night he was coughing some in his sleep, and then stopped. When Grandma woke up, he was gone.

Right now it’s tough, but I’m working to remember him as he would have hoped. He will be cremated as to his wishes, not wanting the body he was in as the end of his days to be our memory of him. He wants us to remember the powerful force he was in our life, so here it goes…

I will be adding more as I go through my memories of him.

Grandpa I love you, and I miss you.


(more grandpa stories are on my old blog but I don’t think they are viewable for the world… I will have to share some of them later).

not a bad weekend! April 6, 2008

Posted by Kylie in : running, swiming, Race Tales, biking, pics, mountain biking, mike , 4 comments

Saturday was a 5k. The same course I set a PR on last year. I went faster :) 23:44! Although their times were a bit odd in that I was in a group and they have no one right by me — my watch had me at 23:19 and a 7:21 pace since the course is long, but also didn’t have the 5 seconds of getting to the start line. Either way, a PR. And yeah, it kinda hurt. But it was a beautiful course, and I’ll take it! Official stats:

23:44 (7:38 pace) — 282/3015 overall, 43/1505 women, 8/171 W25-29

Sunday was Mike’s and my first off-road tri, and from there we were going to head to Redlands and see some of the Redlands Classic bike race on our bikes, so Saturday night we packed up the car and the bikes had a sleepover in the car (which left our house looking a bit empty).

The mountain bike race was chosen since Mike won an entry by winning the Redlands Tri, and since I have wanted to do one for a couple years we went for it. Although it was a bit confusing at the start (missing Mike’s early reg and no one sure what we needed to fill out) we got registered and got a great spot set up in transition. Wetsuits on, and down to the beach. There were only 2 waves (it was a pretty small local race) and Mike’s was off fairly quickly. Supposed to be 5 minutes after, my wave was bumped to 20 minutes after. I watched Mike come out of the water in second :) and got ready to go. And our start time was bumped back by another 20 minutes. So much for that well-planned gel and warm-up! About 20 minutes later, we suddenly we had a 30 second warning, just enough time to wipe the fog out of my goggles, and we were off. I had a pretty good swim, and felt my spotting was not as bad as usual.

It has been a while since I had to wiggle out of a wetsuit on my own! I made it, pulled on bike shoes and a helmet and was off in about 5th or so according to one of the race guys telling us things. I passed a couple other women early in the loop, and later was passed by a couple. Oh, and in one section, there were TALL weeds, taller than me on my bike, with just barely a path through them. One of the weeds caught my handlebars and pulled me into the weeds. Where I didn’t fall over since they were strong, and just had to pull out of them and keep going. And then I made it up and over a curb without pausing (I still feel like I have TONS of mtb skills work to do!). One loop down, off the bike at the dismount, run through the TA, and then back on the bike at the mount line for loop 2. Weird, but it worked (there was a one loop race as well).

Second (and final) loop about 10 miles into the race I could feel that PR from the day before. My legs were tiring fast! The 2 women I had just in sight moved well ahead, and I started wondering how that hilly 3.2 mile run would feel. But first things first, and I kept pedaling. And found that I had launched one of my 2 gels, so I had one and wouldn’t have one at the start of the run. Oh well, keep moving. As I came around the final turn there was Mike (and a camera)!

Back into transition, and a nice smooth change into the run gear. My mtb shoes are so hard to get off! I will have to try out my new ones (with a tongue instead of elastic) next time.

I got off the bike in about 7th place Mike thought, and I started my run. My plan was to enjoy it. There were some pretty trails, and I knew my legs were fairly shot. Someone forgot to tell my competitive side though! It was a tough course, with the first part having tons of climbing. I guess the ultra training has helped — feeling pretty bad I still passed the 2 women right in front of me! And then later another one that had passed me on the bike, and into a fun little single track, and with .8 miles to go I could see another. But she had a decent lead, so I didn’t think I’d make it. Then she walked a hill, and I went for it and made it past. Since most of the climbing and harder downhills were all in the first half, this last mile was a lot of fun. Almost done, around a turn, and again Mike. He was chatting, so I had to talk for him to see me. But he still got a picture as I told him that if I beat him to the finish line he owed me lunch *and* dinner (he already owed me lunch).

He did beat me to the line, but still ended up buying me dinner. He’s that awesome.

The other nice thing about a first off-road tri is the automatic PR! :) Although I didn’t do too shabby:

2:29:36 — 53/112 overall, 5/20 women, 2/5 W25-29

After the race we hung out for quite a while waiting for results. They still had nothing, and finally announced that they’d have to mail out the awards and weren’t going to get them done that day. It was chipped timed, but they were having computer issues. Honestly, I’m not so impressed with the race organization. For how expensive it was, I expected better. While I had a lot of fun, it was so behind schedule and disappointing to not get results, so I’m not sure if I’d do it again. When they announced results would be online this evening, we left, and headed to Redlands and had a nice easy 11ish mile ride around the Redlands Classic course. With In N Out burgers on the way, and then great Thai food before heading home.

Mike had a great race as well and was 2nd or 3rd overall! He says 3rd, but right now results have him 2nd. So the results might all change — oh, and it now says splits won’t be available until Wednesday night. So there are definitely some issues still there.

Oh… and for those of you still wondering how Oceanside was, Mike did a great job and I got some great photos. It’s all over on his blog, and I don’t have the energy to type it up now :) But I had fun cheering for people and hanging out with Marky and crew.

good motivation to get in the pool March 14, 2008

Posted by Kylie in : swiming, mike, marky , 1 comment so far

I was sleepy this morning, but Mike was getting up to go swim so I dragged myself out of bed. It’s just easier when he’s getting up, too, since bed is less cosy when only I’m in it. I tried to come up with a way to get myself in the pool and getting in a full workout. I know if I have a set plan (especially one someone else knows about) it is a lot easier.

Well my coach (Marky) was asleep on the couch, in town for a power conference. And he woke up to the sprinklers and then gave me a workout of 2100 yds. So that’s one way to get a plan ;)

So I got to the pool, and I got it all done. Oh, and held near my goal pace of 1:50 for the 100s at the end of it. I want it to be my crusing pace, and that was definitely a bit higher effort than that, but it just showed me another step in the right direction.