Thank You!

Thank you to everyone for your amazing support of my journey to IMC!  I treasure all the love and encouragement which has kept me motivated, even in light of this nagging and chronic shoulder injury.

Thank you to my fellow Ironmaidens and Ironmaiden-Men for keeping me on the trails and on my bike when I lack the spirit to train.  Your tireless focus and self-discipline helps keep me going!

Thank you also for your generosity in helping me and Anna raise $ for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  We are both so grateful to all our benefactors and look forward to Hawaii in a couple of weeks where Anna will complete her first Olympic distance triathlon!

Thank you also to my Anonymous donor.  I don’t know who you are, but I treasure you.  You and your reason for making the gift is completely unknown to me, but you obviously have a very personal and special motive which I respect.

Less than 100 days to my big event and I still can’t swim.  My shoulder hurts more than ever.  Nothing thus far has helped.  I am about to resort to acupuncture, so if you know any good acupuncturists in the South Bay please send along their name and tell me why you recommend him/her.  Thank you!

Thank you, thank you, thank you all!

How Did This Happen – Ironman?!

So I got talked into signing up for an Ironman triathlon – Canada, to be specific.  How did this happen?

One nice summer evening after a track practice a bunch of us were hanging out, grabbing a bite to eat and chatting over a glass of wine.  Talk turned to how our friends did at Ironman Canada earlier that day and suddenly someone suggested that we all sign up for IMC 2012 because it is the 30th anniversary of the event and would surely be a lot of fun.

The next day a gajillion of us were anxiously awaiting the opening of the online registration so we could dish out $700 to participate in an event requiring us to cover 140.6 miles on our own power.  In the end about 35-40 friends ended up signing up for this epic event.

Again, I ask you…how did this happen?

I can honestly remember a time in my life where I would be hanging out with friends, drinking some wine and at the end of the night someone would be trying to talk me into sex.  Now I get talked into signing up for an Ironman Triathlon instead?  What happened here?  I think the sex thing was easier!

Thus begins the journey to Ironman Canda 2010 (IMC 12).  Join me and follow my progress!

I am also raising funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in my journey to help find a cure for cancer.  If you have a connection to the cause or would just like to support me in this crazy adventure, please visit my website and make a donation to save lives.  Thank you all for your support!

http://pages.teamintraining.org/sj/kingtri12/vvonscb87

What Weighs Ten Pounds?

• Sugar, Flour, Rice and Potatoes all come in 10 lb bags
• Average weight of bowling ball used by women
• A little more than 1 gallon of water
• 40 sticks of butter!
• One of my daughters at birth
• The amount of weight I’ve gained since May

Yikes!  How did this happen?  Doesn’t help my mood that I can’t run right now due to a heel injury.  So join me on this journey to lose weight.  Let me know your ideas and your progress.  Together we can drop ten pounds and look great again!

I start tomorrow with a 40 mile bike ride. 

Time to shed 40 sticks of butter!

Flat Tire Follies

Don’t worry…it’s only flat on the bottom of the tire!

When I was a young girl, a FLAT TIRE was when someone stepped on the back of your shoe and made you trip or lose your shoe.

For awhile, I thought FLAT TIRE was an amber ale…oops.  Someone corrected me, the amber ale is Fat Tire.

In triathlons a FLAT TIRE during the bike leg is a nuisance.  It can add several minutes to your finishing time and even cause a participant to be pulled off the course if the bike cut off time is not achieved.  You, the triathlete, have to change the tire yourself with no help, thus an important piece of triathlon training is learning to change a flat tire.  We have tire changing clinics; we create a surprise tire changing station during a practice ride; and sometimes we actually get a real flat during a ride so we have to be prepared.  The key to changing a flat tire quickly during a race is learning how to do it during training and to practice it frequently.  Here’s a nifty little YouTube video on “How to Fix a Flat Bicycle Tire”.

Then, of course, we have the classic urban legend about a FLAT TIRE.  Well, this professor has never met the likes of me.

The other day, I noticed that my car had a rear tire that was low on air.  I stopped in at a local automotive repair shop on my way home to see if they had an air station so I could refill my tire.  One of the guys at the shop took over and checked my tire.  He insisted that there was nothing wrong with tire.  I insisted that it was a FLAT TIRE.  He thought I was dumb.  After a few moments of pondering how my tire had miraculously filled itself with air while I was driving, I realized that I was showing him the wrong tire.  OMG!!!  I am dumb.  I laughed so hard and loud that I attracted a small audience of automotive shop guys who spent the next 10 minutes chatting and joking with me until the puncture in my tire was plugged.  Will someone please save me from myself?

But NOOO – Electronic Training Meltdown

Saturday was our ‘official marathon training start day’.  I thought completing an 8 mi run after two months of very little running would be my biggest challenge of the day, but NOOO….

Maybe if I flap my arms I can run faster?

I was looking forward to the run and seeing all my running buddies who signed up for the Malibu Marathon.  I set the alarm on my new BlackBerry phone for 7:15 am giving me plenty of time to get up, feed the dog, eat, get dressed and head out.  But NOOO, my inability to adapt to this new phone challenged me yet again (three days in a row I failed to set the alarm properly!).  I woke up in a panic at 8 am, threw some food into the dog bowl, literally dressing as I raced around the place trying to get out the door, brushed my teeth, grabbed some water and sped down the freeway to the trail.

I drove in to the parking lot right at 8:30 am and hurriedly grabbed my running shoes, but NOOO – no socks.  Oh well.  I would run sockless even though I knew I would have blisters to look forward to.  Fortunately only received minor blisters under my arches from the seams in my shoes.

We had a nice, uneventful run from Campbell Park on the Los Gatos Creek Trail out to Vasona Park and back.  I enjoyed meeting and running with Jerald’s sister, Mariviel.  I was especially delighted when at the end of the run, she looked down at her watch and said, “Is it already 1 o’clock?!?!”  But NOOO, it was only 10 am.  I felt a certain camaraderie with her as we are apparently bonded by electronic timing device challenges.

I am working on re-arranging and revamping my blog.  Bear with me as I figure out what I like/want/works.  I’m hoping to create separate categories for Triathlon and Marathon blogs, but NOOO my e-challenges continue.  Suggestions welcome!  Please tell me what you want to see or hear more of.

Post Event Blues…Real or Imagined?

Who else feels it?

The pure elation from crossing that finish line lasts a day or two, then total let down.  What do I do now?

Well, my appetite never figured out that I had stopped training, so weight gain.  Then, illness.  Seems to happen every time…

Now that I am healthy again, I have to diet or get back on the training track.  Both options require motivation which I am lacking at the moment.  How do I get out of this funk?

So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Adieu

There comes a time when good-byes and endings are necessary.

Do I really need to blog about triathlon practices and training any longer?  Anna thinks I should keep this up making it more informational and less like a journal.  I might, we’ll see.  I started this blog as a way for all my generous benefactors to keep up with my training progress.  Now that Wildflower is done and I’m moving on to marathon training, I am questioning the value of this “monoblogue”.

This has been quite a formidable year starting with a good-bye that was unexpected and very emotional, inadvertently turning me into a one-time Cal Bear Backer.  This followed by a continuing personal saga of departures, endings, challenges and transitions has forced me to dig deep to find inner strength lurking beneath all the turmoil.  Some days it was hard to even get out of bed.  Training, awesome friends and knowing my daughters still need me really kept me going; and I’m am so grateful.

With endings come new beginnings.  I am looking forward to a fun, busy summer.

• To kick it off, I cut off a lot of hair yesterday.  Still trying to figure out if I like it – I now have a bit of a hair helmet which I think makes me look matronly.  The good news is it will grow back if I really can’t stand it. 
• My 30th class reunion is this fall and I am one of the reunion co-chairs; we are just kicking off our campaign which will give me an opportunity to reconnect with a lot of terrific classmates.
• I’ve been asked to co-present at a conference in NY this fall for Stanford’s peer institutions – what an honor.  I’m a bundle of anxiety about it, but I have a great classmate (’81) and colleague who is the main presenter and will help steady my nerves.
• I hope to try and complete a couple of sprint triathlons this summer.   I will definitely keep cycling in the hopes of becoming a better, stronger rider…one who falls off her bike less often!  May even try a splash-n-dash event.
• Running will become more of a focus as I start to train for my first marathon.  I will be training with a group of amazing friends and athletes for the Malibu Marathon.  I am really looking forward to this new challenge and adventure.

Thank you all for following along.  You’ve been kind to read this and support my triathlon efforts.  Love you all and good luck always!

Vicko