Tri-Cal TV

Here's a link for a 3 minute video re-cap of the San Fransisco race at Treasure Island:

http://www.tricaltv.com/index.cfm/San_Francisco_Triathlon_at_Treasure_Island_96.htm

San Fransisco Triathlon at Treasure Island

Yesterday was the 9th Annual Treasure Island Triathlon in San Fransisco, CA. The night before the race, a group of us had our usual dinner at Barney's...gourmet burgers, yummy spicy curly fries and I decided that a glass of wine sounded good as well. It was a relaxing and enjoyable dinner with friends.




Saturday morning I slept in til just past 7am and then Shoz and I took a nice walk to Peet's and Noah's. My race didn't start until noon, so we had plenty of time to take it easy. I pulled up the start list for the race and noticed that I was the oldest elite female! Too funny. I was 14 years older than the youngest elite woman. I had my motivation...Show the young ones how it's done!!



We arrived at Treasure Island just after 10am and I proceeded to the bike check-in. Because this was an ITU Pan American Cup, all elite athletes had to make sure that bikes were legal (aero bars, helmets, etc). I felt pretty relaxed going into this race. My main goal was to feel good on the run as it has been a while since I've felt "fast." My other goal was to place top 3. I did a short run warm up with a few pick ups and felt okay.




There was no pontoon dive start this year; the in water start suited me just fine! We were called out by rank (not sure what ranking system they used) but as they called my name, I turned to the crowd and waved, then swam to my start position. They held us there for maybe a minute and then the rope was lifted and the horn sounded. I was surprised to notice that all 10 women stayed pretty much together until just after the first buoy. It was a pretty good start, no one hitting or kicking; however, I did feel fingernails rake across the left side of my cheek...oops got to close to! A little stinging pain that didn't last too long. After the second buoy I was able to get a draft and stayed with the girl until we made our turn to start the 2nd loop. I was feeling good, so decided to see if I could get ahead of her. I surged and noticed there was another girl just ahead, so set my sights on her. As I rounded the 2nd bouy of the 2nd lap, I passed the other girl and found myself alone, but with clear sights on the swim exit.




Slippery steps were set in place and I crawled up the first one, which was submerged in water. I felt a bit dizzy as I ran into T1 and just hoped to regain my sense of balance.The wetsuit came off quickly as I put on the sunglasses and helmet, grabbed my bike and was out. I noticed that there were a few girls in T1 with me, but as I mounted my bike, there was no one in sight. I didn't know where I was in the scheme of things, but figured I'd find out somewhere on the one small climb; as I was going up, I'd see who the women were ahead of me and how far. I felt great heading out onto the first of 6 flat, fast loops; each consisting of 29 turns. A technical course which suits me perfectly. If you know how to corner, then you can make up some time on those who don't. Friends and family were cheering frantically for me and all i could do was smile, knowing full well that no one could out bike me! At least that was what I was telling myself. By the end of lap 1, I could see 2 girls in the lead, then a few seconds or minutes behind then another set of 2 girls and then me. Okay, lap 2, chase the closest set of girls. Just prior to the end of lap 2 I cought those girls. I'm now in 3rd. Next mission, catch the 2 leaders. I think by the last lap, one girl broke away and left the other. I was able to catch 2nd place and the two of us worked together. I knew she was a little weaker and tried to drop her a few times, but she was tough and was able to hang on. We got to the final climb and I made my move and was able to get a head of her and put a few seconds on her as I made my way to T2. I must mention, that each consecutive bike loop the wind seemed to pick up and no matter how hard I tried to keep up my cadence and speed, the wind made it difficult.




Pulling into T2, I has just a few seconds. However, a quick change to running shoes and I was out; I was apparently 30-35 seconds down on 1st place and could actually see her. I kept my eyes on her. The run course if flat as a pancake with a slight wind and 3 loops. After the first loop I had gained on first place and my goal was to catch her on the second loop at the far end turn around. A couple feet after the far end turn around on lap 2, I cought the first place girl and passed her. She was breathing heavy and I knew that she was givin it all she had. I picked up the pace and eventually I couldn't hear her anymore. The third place women looked strong and I know she was gunning for first. I only had a loop and a half to go and so picked up the pace. I came toward the turn around near the finish and everyone was cheering so loudly for me, I couldn't help but smile and keep up my pace. Only one loop to go; must hold off 2nd and 3rd place girls. Once again I rounded the far end turn around and there was a new girl in 2nd place. I didn't think she'd be able to catch me with only a mile to go, but you never know. With approximately 3/4 of a mile to go, my right hand started to cramp. I tried to relax and keep breathing, hoping that that wasn't a sign of more cramping to come. As I made the right hand turn to the straight away leading towards the finish, I glanced back to see if 2nd place had made any progress. No one is sight. I kept pressing as hard as I could go. One more glance back with about 400m to go, still no one in sight...I did it!! I ran my way into 1st place at the ITU Pan American Cup at Treasure Island!!!










One more cool item, I shared the top podium spot with the 2000 Olympics Gold medalist Simon Whitfield!

Alcatraz & San Jose Pro Challenge

The Escape from Alcatraz, held June 14 started with a very choppy ocean swim. After jumping off the boat, I was unable to stay with the pack and within a few minutes I found myself bobbing through the swim alone. I drank mouth full after mouth full of nasty ocean water as I couldn't get into a rhythm in the swim. I must have swam futher than I would have liked to, but was glad when I reached the shore. I started the 800 meter or so run from the swim exit to T1. Sharp shooting pains in my lower abdomen restricted how fast I could run; I was just hoping that they would disappear once I was on the bike...and they did. I wasn't sure where I was in comparison to the other women, but knew that I would catch a few; at least I was hoping to!




My Felt DA TT bike fits me perfectly and is one of the best bikes I've ever owned. I feel extremely comfortable on it and was able to pass a few women. The technical and hilly course suits me. I have yet to get on a consistent training program, but thought that I could somehow ride a faster time than last year; however, that was not this case this day. I came into T2 in 7th place and headed out onto the run.



The sharp pains once again presented themselves and all I could do was to keep relaxed as best as possible and keep running. The wind had picked up slightly, but wasn't enough to pose any sort of problem. I wasn't sure who was in front of me or how far ahead they were. This run course, with it's turns, up hills and down hills, doesn't lend itself to seeing vary far ahead. I finally made it down to Baker Beach where I coud count some of the girls. I saw Jasmine O. in front of me, but I think she was just enough ahead that unless the run was longer I wasn't going to catch her.



I held on for 7th place, however my time this year was approximately 14 minutes slower than last year...partly due to the swim currents this year and also not being consistent in training and speed work.



There's always something to take home, learning wise, after a race!!




The day before alcatraz, I was reading my email and was happily surprised by an invitation to race the San Jose Pro Challenge a week after Alcatraz, June 21. I gladly accepted.

I drove up to SJ on saturday afternoon for our pro meeting. There were 7 women who would be competing. The format was what intrigued me. It started with a 40k bike TT at 7am. We started in a very small trailer, resembling the Tour de France start, except on a much smaller scale! Athletes were sent off 90 seconds apart. My goal was to catch the woman who started ahead of me. It was pretty chilly when we started, so I opted to wear my Sport Beans/NTTC cycling kit with arm warmers. The course was mostly flat with a head wind on the way out. After the turn around on Santa Teresa Blvd. the head wind turned into a really nice tail wind. There was one hill about half way through which was a welcomed change...I was able to get out of the saddle. I had no idea how fast the other women were going, I just rode as fast as I could. I never did catch the women in front of me; bummer.



After our TT we had around 4 hours to wait around. My friend and elite athlete, Kelly C. hoped on our trainers for a cool down. The amatuer athletes completed their olympic distance race prior to the elites getting ready for their second round of competition...an 800m lake swim, 2.5 mi run, 800m lake swim, 2.5 mi run. Yep, that's correct, one event right after the other!!



The elites opted to start the swim in wetsuits. The swim also began in time trial fashion with the person who had acheived the fastest bike split. Then in the order of fastest bike split to slowest, each of the male and female athletes were sent off to start their first swim. I started the swim in 5th place and was hoping to swim/run/swim/run my way into 3rd!! I felt good on the first swim. I took off my wetsuit and proceeded to quickly put my running shoes on and tuck my cap and goggles down the front of my suit! I would need these for my second swim.



The run course was 4 loops with a small gradual up hill then down the same hill, onto a bit of trail, through the finish line and around again. This multi-lapped course was nice as you could see who was in front and who was behind. After 3 laps, I was able to catch the 4th place girl. As I was completing my 4th loop, I grapped my cap from down the front of my suit and tried to run and put it on at the same time, a sight to be seen I'm sure!! As I ran into the transition area, I took off my shoes and put my goggles on and ran into the water to start my second swim, sans wetsuit. I had managed to create a 30-40 second gap between me and the 5th place girl.



However, once I hit the water and started to swim, my arms felt like bricks. I no longer had the bouancy of the wetsuit and worked hard to find my own flotation! I saw the 3rd place girl just ahead of me and I thought I was gaining on her at the first buoy. However, once I round the second buoy, she had made time on me. As I took a breath I looked back and was suprised to see someone gaining on me! With approximately 300m to go, she passed me and I was unable to hang with her! I exited the water, ran along the beach to transition and there was the girl, still getting her shoes on. I quickly put the running shoes on and threw down my cap and goggles and I and 4th place headed out for our final 2.5 mi run together. Within 6 steps I passed her and knew that she would not be able to hang.

Next goal: catch 3rd place!! Gina K. was running well and I was unable to catch her. I ended of 4th. This was such a fun format and I would love to do this again.

If you can access this album:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=9dml6snd.4tf3jdll&x=0&y=ricfoa&localeid=en_US&cm_mmc=site_email-_-site_share-_-core-_-view_photos_button

there are more photos here

Stand up Paddle Boarding

Every friday night here in Monterey, a group of us get together for our FNOS (Friday Night Ocean Swim). I will admit that this year I have yet to get into the frigid waters of the Monterey Bay. To be honest, I'm so tired of being cold!

It was a warm sun-shiney day today here and the water temp could have been nice for all I know; and by nice I mean a balmy 55 degrees, but I didn't want to take a chance. So, instead of getting "in" the water, I was "on" the water, stand-up paddle boarding.

Dad has been doing it for quite some time and even made his own board. The one that I was on, however, is from Surf-tech. It is a wide board and probably around 12 feet long. Balancing on the board was no problem and I seem to have picked it up pretty quickly. What a different perspective being "on top" of the water. I even had people on shore waving to me, which of course I had to wave back!

After trying the Surf-tech board, I "graduated" to dad's home-made board. It was lighter and not as wide. It took a bit more concentration to balance on this board, but it moved through the water a lot quicker.

After triathlon training, 40 mile ride followed by an interval run workout, I'm going to meet dad for another paddle board session. Hope to have photos up tomorrow evening.

MBM to Hold 3rd Annual Practice Triathlon

Monterey Bay Multisport is having a practice sprint triathlon in Monterey on saturday may 23rd if anyone is interested in seeing what Triathlon is all about! We meet at the volleyball courts by the beach( window by the bay) at 9am and begin at 10. You will need a wetsuit to swim in the bay (approx 400 meters) any kind of bike to ride 10 miles on the bike path and some running shoes to run 2.5 miles on the bike path also. It is just for fun- no awards! We supply water and sport beans( Alexis is sponsored by them). Free to anyone under 18 and a $10 donation for adults to support our junior team . Please email me if you are interested in attending or helping out.

Wildflower Long Course-The Race

I got down to transition just after 7am and quickly set up. I figured that there was no need for a run warm up as I just ran up the hill to my campsite and my heart rate was most likely through the roof!!



Once I was set up I checked the time, 7:20am; I had some time to take a few deep breaths and try to relax from the chaotic morning. I took my time putting on my wetsuit and walked to the water to get a nice warm up swim. It was short, but it gives me time to make sure my goggles are set and to get a feel for the water. I lined up on the start mat behind the front row. I really wasn't too concerned about not starting on the front line, I figured this was just a hard training day! The gun went off and we were in the water I quickly found an open space to the left and held my line (to the best of my weaving swimming ability) and noticed that the usual V-formation was forming. I aim for the first buoy all the while making sure I was aligning myself with the women who were now on my right side. We made the first right around the first buoy and I managed to swim around a few girls and make my way to the inside, closest to the buoys. I felt very strong and swimming felt effortless (well, at least to some degree...I guess I was relaxed)! There was a girl just ahead of me and I set my sights on her and passed her. Then I saw another girl and went for her and passed her too! Wow, passing girls on the swim...that's new for me! Once we rounded the two furthest buoy's I set my sights on yet another woman. I eventually got to her feet and let her pull me into the boat ramp finish.



I exited just behind her in a time of 26:54. Running up the boat ramp into T1, my legs and breathing were on fire! Is it just me or did that hurt??? In the past I've left my cycling shoes on the ground and just put them on in transition and then run to the bike out mount line. I do this at this race only because there in a slight incline from the mount line and I've seen girls not able to get going on their bike. This year however, I left my shoes clipped into the pedals. Not to boast or brag, but for me I had a fast T1!! I attribute that to clipping my shoes to my pedal! As I rode through the finish chute and onto the bike course, I heard people cheering and yelling for me which only encouraged me to ride faster. I had the 5th fastest swim time, but was 4th going out onto the bike (I didn't know that until this morning actually)! I felt strong and confident as I continued to ride out of the park and through the rolling hills.



dad, mom & erin post race

Friday's weather kept us cool and wet as it rained most of the day. Luckily it stopped during the night (camping in the rain isn't exactly what I wanted to experience, especially the night before the race). Saturday's weather was beautiful sun and a little cool. There didn't seem to be any wind on the bike; tail or head wind. Only the wind that I created as I rode along the country roads did I feel. It wasn't until around mile 19 or so did a woman pass me. Then somewhere in mile 22-25 did a few other women pass me. I was okay with it as they had probably put in the necessary training to be competing at this race. I kept going steadily along every once and a while glancing at my mph average. To me it looked good, around 20.8 mph or so. For where I was at with my fitness, that was fine with me...as long as it was above 20.0 mph! Ok, so looking at results, my mph says 19.97 mph...ooohhh, slow! At least for me. Ok, note to self, time to implement operation "Speed."



the kids & christina wanted their hair dyed!

I got to Nasty Grade and just kept plugging away; it's not that it's that steep or that hard, but that it comes at around mile 41. There was an age group guy just ahead of me and I keyed off of him to get me over the top. Thank goodness for the long decent as I really had to "go." What a relief it was and just in time for the last couple of miles. Just past B-Rock store on the gradual up hill, who comes flying by me like I'm standing still??? Tyler S. What a phenomenal cyclist she is. As she rides by she yells, "I was wondering when I was going to catch you." My sentiments exactly! She rides and runs herself into 4th place!! Congrats Tyler. I on the other hand can see a women up ahead and so key off of her. Not sure who it is until I catch her going down Lynch and into T2...it's Pip T. My bike time of 2:48:14 is about 6 minutes slower than my best time. But again, that's fine with me. We enter T2 together and she gets out of transition 1 second ahead of me.




It takes me close to 2 miles before I'm able to pass her. I felt pretty comfortable on the run and continued to make strides. However, by mile 4 or 5 the up hills started to get to me and I knew that it would begin to be a struggle. The flats and down hills were okay, but of course there hadn't been any hill training, so this was to be expected. I did, in the back of my mind, think I might be able to pull something out. Needless to say, I was just happy to have run entire 13.1 miles. I caught up to John D. who was nice enough to give me some encouragement to keep going and that I did. Just prior to mile 9 my friend Greg S. caught me...I was trying to hold him off as long as I could. I think this year I was able to make it a bit further before he caught me...good on ya' mate!


mom 2nd place


Ah, running down to the pit at mile 10 and then back up again...can you say ouch! There was really nothing left in the tank as I saw 2 girls running toward the turn around as I began the ascent. I gave it everything I had to keep my pace, but I knew that it would be a struggle when I felt my hands tingling and my vision getting a little blury. Around mile 11 Gina K. ran by me and I was unable to match her turn over. Ok, I've just moved from 7th place to 8th...I'm not going to let another woman pass me...I was only passed by 1 girl and that's it!! I got to the top of Lynch and it was all down hill from there. I ran as fast as my legs could go straight to the finish line! Wheww, that was the longest run I had run all year long!! No kidding.



Overall, I had a pretty good race and am happy with my 8th place result. My next race will be Alcatraz in June!

Prelude to Wildflower Triathlon '09

Because of a few injuries this season, my "training" was limited to about 9 weeks. I put training in quotes because I'm not quite sure I can call it training as much as I could call it "getting back into shape." After 2 months of just swimming and lifting weights, due to my stress fractured foot,I was able to eventually put in about 7 weeks of "getting back into shape training." Then I woke up with a stiff neck that put me out for an additional 2 weeks. Of course those 2 weeks cut into the 4 weeks I had left to train for WF. So, if you do the math, I had 7 weeks to get in some sort of shape, 2 weeks off and then 2 weeks to "train" for WF!! Did I taper??? Not really, as there was nothing to taper from. I considered this first race of the season as a training race, a baseline from which I could only improve.

I arrived on thursday afternoon and after setting up camp...yep, I still LOVE to camp in a tent...no trailers or hotels for me (at least at this race). Then it was off to pass out free gelato with Avia at the gate entrance! It was such a fun time and a really great idea from Avia to hand out free gelato and visors to race participants and their families as well as showcase their new line of shoes. When I was finished here, it was off to try and relax at camp. Relax is something that this weekend didn't offer too much of as you'll soon find out!




It's hard to sleep in when you're camping, so friday I awoke around 7am and tried to take my time eating breaki and sipping coffee. My sister Erin and I headed out for a short ride followed by an even shorter run! Erin will be competing in her first WF long course on saturday along with our mom. I met up with Rachel C. and the two of us decided to go for a swim and loosen up. The water felt great. Not sure how far we swam as we did more talking than swimming!

Friday afternoon I was once again handing out Avia gelato and then it was time for our pro meeting. I had picked up my race packet just prior to the meeting and although I had not received my new elite license from USAT, I was told that I could fill out a one day and so I did. I had emailed USAT prior to leaving for the lake asking if I needed a copy/proof of my renewal. I had mailed it in just shy of 2 weeks prior to WF thinking it would get there in time.



At 8pm friday evening 2 USAT officials find me at my campsite finishing dinner. They proceed to tell me that they gave me the wrong information in regards to filling out the one day license...that is only for foreign pros. I must show proof that I had renewed. I told them that I had emailed USAT prior to arriving and that I had not received a response. Luckily there was internet access, so I checked my email and had a reply from USAT...my paperwork had not arrived yet, so so renewal yet and my license was not valid. Next step, talk to the head USAT official. Shoz went with me and we tried to speak to the official who was a stickler for the rules. He was quite abrubt. We tried calling USAT but all we could do was leave messages. I wrote an email to USAT at 8:15pm asking if I am eligible to race and if she could call or reply to me or the head official.

I pretty much broke down after that and figured that I would not be racing the next day. There was nothing to do except wait and see if there would be a reply in my inbox race morning. I didn't do anything as far as race prep that night as I was still quite angry. I woke at 5:45am saturday morning and went straight to check my email. There was a reply. As long as the head official was okay with me racing than that would be fine. Another pro women was going through the same thing. She even received the same email as me! We proceeded to track down the head official and report in to him. He said if we filled out the pro license form and paid the fee (again) that he'd allow us to race. We went back to the computer, I printed out 2 forms and we filled them out then went to find the head official in the transition area, give him our forms and luckily he said we could race. I ran/walked back up the hill to my campsite and asked everyone there for their help in getting me race ready. At this point it was 6:30am and I had yet to eat breakfast, drink coffee, put race numbers on, etc. Thanks to mom, dad and my sis Erin, they got me ready in about 25 minutes and I was then off to transition to set up!

Not knowing if you're able to race until an hour and a half before the race is extremely stressful! I dont' want to feel like that again!

Training???

So far this year has thrown a few curve balls at me, but I remain optomistic in my quest for fitness. Yep, right now that's all I'm working towards. With only 8 1/2 weeks of training under my belt, I am going into my first race of the season, Wildflower, in just over a week. Not quite sure how competitive I'll be but I know that I do want to feel good during the event.

I've had some good training days, a few weeks ago and PLENTY of rest, no speed work, my longst run is 12 miles and that was accomplished at an extremely slow pace about a month ago!! I wouldn't recommend going into a half IM with the above mentioned training plan, but it's hard for me to say no to WF; a race that I've competed at consecutively since 1996.

Race Plan: Have fun and enjoy the day. Do the best that I can do with the "training" that I've put in.

Hair Color for the weekend: Hmmm, it wont be pink...can you guess what color???

Camping or Trailer or Hotel: no brainer...we always camp!

I'll be at WF all weekend, come say hello!

Torti...what???

It's 2am thursday March 26th and I wake up to this horrible pain in my neck. It's stiff and sore and it's hard to turn my head. I eventually fall back asleep but when I wake up to get up, it's really sore. Ok, first thing, no training today; guess I need to take a day off. It's actually been a few weeks as I was enjoying getting back into training after taking 2 months off.

Friday, my neck pain is even worse; an extremely painful sternocleidomastoid muscle had seized on me. The muscle was so tight that even a light touch to the area elicited pain. By 7:20pm, mom and dad called to check in on me and when they found out how much pain I was in, they suggested I head up to the ER. After looking in their medical books and looking up my symptoms, torticollis (stiff neck) seemed to be correct, but the possibility of meningitis (Inflammation of the meninges of the brain and the spinal cord, most often caused by a bacterial or viral infection and characterized by fever, vomiting, intense headache, and stiff neck).
I had vomited a few times, couldn't eat but really didn't have a headache (thank goodness) and wasn't sure about a fever. Best bet to be safe was to have the ER doctor check for sure.

I signed in at 7:50pm friday night and after the triage nurse took my information, the waiting game began. I was finally admitted into a bed and Dr. Harris checked me out...torticollis, for sure. Whewww, didn't want to be diagnosed with meningitis! Dr. Harris was just going to give me a script for some valium & percocet and recommended that I take 600mg of Advil!!! I don't think I've taken 600mg of Advil in an entire year let alone a few times per day AND with the other meds! OMG!! But, at that point I didn't care, I was in so much pain and if it was going to reduce it, I'd take it. After a few minutes though, Dr. Harris returned and asked if I'd like an IV of the above mentioned medications to knock me out..."YES" I said. So, out he goes and a few minutes later a nurse comes in and sticks a needle in me and before I know it I'm O.U.T.!!! Jay tells me later that I was out for about an hour or so and every so often the doctor would come in to check on me and he and Jay and my folks would ask me questions and I'd respond or I'd just correct them if they had the facts wrong...wish I had that on video!! Apparently, even when I'm knocked out I like to correct people! Eventually, in my groggy state they wheel-chair me out to the car and off I go...it's now midnight!!




Thank goodness dad's a Chiropractor, but when my neck is so stiff, the adjustment (at the moment) hurt. But a few hours later the overall pain in my neck had decreased...thanks dad! I have always wanted to try accupuncture and it turns out this was an opportune time. Jay reminded me that my aunt's friend is an accupuncturist and so I called Aunt Denise and right away Bob at Happy Toro Clinic was able to see me Monday at 8pm.





It was a cool experience and I have the pictures to prove the needles as well as the cupping (Cupping is another type of treatment. This is a method of stimulating acupuncture points by applying suction through a metal, wood or glass jar, in which a partial vacuum has been created. This technique produces blood congestion at the site, and therefore stimulates it. Cupping is used for low backache, sprains, soft tissue injuries). I was at the Happy Toro Clinic for 2 hours that night and Bob said if I wasn't so tired (meds) that he'd work on my for another hour!! I went back a few days later for another treatment that seemed to help again.




Between the meds, the Chiropractor and the Accupuncture, my neck is healing. It was locked for over a week, so it might take just as long to unlock it, but it's getting better thanks to everyone, including my husband Jay who has lost just about as much of sleep as I have over this past week and a half!

Volunteers Needed

I am in need of some volunteers to help out at the VIP Tent for this year's Sea Otter Classic Bicycle weekend in Laguna Seca, Monterey. It's a fun event to help out with as we have the BEST volunteering station. I am this year's volunteer coordinator and we are looking for people to help set up and tear down (Tuesday April 14th & Sunday April 18th) as well as people to do bridge patrol, bussing and front door duties. We are the ones that will let VIP onto the island for breakfast and lunch in our tent and outside catered food area! Volunteers will receive complimentary entry into SOC, yummy catered food and time to wander around the venue.

If you are able to help for a few hours, please let me know. Again, the dates are April 14-April 18th.

Thanks!

Team Sport Beans/NTTC

I recently went up to Fairfield for our Team Sport Beans/NTTC camp. This will be my
3rd year on the team and I'm looking forward to another great season. There are four returining athletes, including myself, and four newbies. It was a great weekend of getting to know the new team mates, connecting with those we haven't seen in a while and of course hangin' with our peeps at the Jelly Belly Factory!! If you have never been to the factory, I highly recommend it; even if you don't have kids! My aunt went up there last year for a tour and LOVED it!!



She raves about it all the time.



Our team camp began thursday evening with a team dinner. After dinner, however, the plans started with what workouts we'd have time for tomorrow morning!! It's always a tight fit working in training while taking care of other business at the factory, but we always manage. I knew that there would be no cycling for 3 days, so I put in a rather large week prior to going up to Fairfield. Swimming, running and lifting were on the schedule for this weekend.



Friday was an early morning and we headed off to the YMCA pool where we swam last year. We arrived at 6:15am and to our dismay, the YMCA was dark...where was everyone??? No signs posted, no lights, no people, no cars in the parking lot, hmmm. What was going on. Apparently, the Y was closed...for good, we found out when we got back to our hotel. So, we were flexibe with our schedule. A quick change into running clothes and I met Brad S., Ben H. & Daniel B. in the lobby for an hour run! It was a rather hilly run (the most hills I've run since, ummm, last year??? Yep, that sounds about right! Beautiful rolling hills on a golf course as the moon was still in the sky and the fog that had yet to burn off! I wish I had my camera with me.



The rest of friday was spent in a conference room listening to the marketing director speak about Jelly Belly & Sport Beans, going over "how to interview" protocols, lunch (Mmmmm) at the factory and photo shoot!



Friday evening we went out to dinner with our team, casual and within walking distance of our hotel.




Saturday was another early morning run, this time with the girls, Lauren J., Jessica J. & Leah D. We ran an hour and a half (my longest run) around the same hilly golf course...needless to say I was happy when we were finished as I was getting pretty sore the last bit of that run! It was nice to run with a group of girls and thanks to Lauren for hangin' in the back with me. Still just trying to get my running legs back in endurance shape!









After our run, we headed over to 24 Hour Fitness, where by the graciousness of the manager there, we paid our way in Sport Beans and Jelly Belly's!!! What a sight to see, the three of us, Jessica with her amazingly muscular arms, me with my pink, plumb, turquoise, orange and red hair and Leah, your girl next door, walking in together! I wish I had a head cam to show you how many stares we got! It was hilarious!! We proceeded to lift weights, all of us pretty much on our own routine; only sometimes working in with each other or one of us showing the others a "new move." After lifting, we had just enough time to squeeze in about a 1000yds. swimming. It was nice to float a little in the water and then it was back to our hotel and then off to 2 wineries and dinner in Napa!





Sunday morning found us back at 24 Hour Fitness for another easy swim.



It was a great weekend and thanks to Mark W. our team director and Tammie G., Stephanie S. & Rob S. from Jelly Belly!!