Twas the Night Before Race Day

I’ve checked in, dropped off my mandatory gear, driven the bike course, etc etc etc.  Random points of note:

The race will be wetsuit legal – we were told the lake measured at 72 degrees this morning (1 degree cooler than yesterday) and that they won’t be measuring it again.  I found it nice and comfortable on my practice swim today.  I laughed at the people who called it cold – they should come swim Santa Cruz and our nice balmy 55 degree water sometime.

I’m dying here, eating bland boring food and avoiding all the good stuff.  I want sugar and margaritas and Mexican food so badly.  It doesn’t help that every street corner in Austin seems to have an interesting looking restaurant.

I got back to the hotel around 1 this afternoon and figured I’d be planted for the rest of the day.  Wrong.  I went to pack and found my goggles used this morning were somehow suddenly short 1 lens.  Being that I’m not interested in a one-eyed 1.2 mile swim and that I hate my backup pair, I hauled ass over to Austin Tri-Cyclist after an internet search showed they carry my brand.  I bought their floor model as that was the only tinted pair left!

So now I’m finally ensconced in my hotel room, watching sports movies to get all revved up.  I’ve started with Invictus, which I am enjoying tremendously.  After I order up some dinner, I’ll finish with Tooth Fairy just to end on a cheesy note.

I’m hoping my legs have one last PR for the year left in them.  Either way, I’ll give it my best tomorrow and love every minute of it, doing something I never thought I could do a few years ago.

A case of the buts

It’s race week.  I’m ready (physically).

But I’m still not (mentally).

I’ve trained more and harder than ever before for a 1/2 IM.

But what if it’s not enough?

I’ve been working on improving my swimming.

But what if it’s not wetsuit legal? (won’t know till race morning)

I’m definitely a stronger cyclist.

But I don’t know the course because I’ve never been to Austin. (It CAN’T be harder than Vineman though, can it?)

Running is my happy place.

But my legs are worn down from last week’s National.  (I’ve been sleeping 9 hrs/night though and they are catching up fast)

Yes, it’s that time of race week where I’m definitely tapering (evidenced by the incident yesterday where I smacked myself in the face with the freezer door) and it’s a little too early to pack but never too early to panic.  Come race day, I will be calm and confident – there’s no other way to be, because it’s the only way I’ll be able to function.  But now is when I get to work through all my worries and doubts.  I would like to think that all my training will culminate in one final PR for the year, but I need to take it one step at a time for now, one leg at a time on race day, and focus on the task at hand.  All week, I’ve been focusing on lots of sleep and eating clean.  Yesterday was tuneup day, both for my bike (dropped it at the shop) and for me (saw my massage therapist for some ritual beating).  Tonight, I’ll pack my gear. 

In 2 days I’ll be on my way to Austin!

Home

What a crazy week!

I finished off the National with showing Stanley in Breed on Friday.

He and Beckham worked off some steam post-show with a wrestling match back in the hotel room.

Cousins

And at 5am on Saturday the boys and I were loaded up and hit the road for home.  We stopped in Elko, Nevada for the night (THERE was an experience, OMG) and then were back on the road by 5 on Sunday. 

It’s good to be back…exhausting trip but a great one.  Now I’m trying my best to rest up because it’s race week! Eeeek!

Catching Up – BCCA National

Basically if I don’t blog now, I’ll fall hopelessly behind on this entire week.

The boys are quite happy to be rooming with their buddies Loki and Beckham – 4 beardie boys in the room equals vigorous playtime!

Tuesday was the National agility trial.  Elayne was kind enough to come and take some great photos – you can see them here!  The boys had pretty good results – Max went 4th place in both Excellent Standard and Jumpers for a double-Q and Stanley went 3rd place in Open Jumpers!

One highlight of the agility trial was seeing Stanley’s son Keegan!  What a chip off the old block.

Another highlight was the fun team relay that is done at the end.  Our team was The Princes and the P (3 boys and Piedra).

The relay is all about entertainment and funny things happening.  We did not disappoint.

Wednesday was rally obedience, obedience, futurity, and sweepstakes.  Stanley and I picked up his last Rally Advanced leg with a 1st place to finish his title!

Later in the evening, I got to show Max for the first time in many years in Veteran Sweepstakes.  It is SO much fun to get out there and show the old dogs again, and I was emotional over it the whole time.  Max couldn’t quite figure out what the heck we were doing but he was having a blast.

In summary, so far, the week has been fun, exhausting, too little sleep, too much time on feet, and wonderful.  I’ve been squeezing in my workouts too – boy can I see how strong an athlete you can be from training at altitude!  Off to another day at the dog show…

1237.5 miles of solo driving later

the dogs and I have arrived in Loveland, Colorado.

Tomorrow (well technically today but I didn’t attend) begins the insanity that is the Bearded Collie Club of America National Specialty.

One hotel.  Hundreds and hundreds of bouncing, wagging, barking, lunging, hypertastic dogs. 

It’s a spectacle like no other.

Inaugural Jan Lipson Memorial Ride For Diabetes

We survived the bike ride day.  Despite not participating in the ride, I’m completely trashed from spending 10 hours working the event and most of it on my feet.  Overall it went quite well – we learned about things we would improve for next year but the feedback we got was mostly positive.  The routes were tough – the long one because it was insanely mountainous and the short one because it was still challenging for the new riders I had recruited to do it (thankfully they all seemed to finish with a smile).  We had a couple folks get lost along the way, one of them an elderly gentleman from out of town doing the long course but eventually he rolled in and we fed and watered him as best we could.  I think for next year a combination of stronger warnings and some course changes would make the day even more enjoyable for everyone.  That said, we had great food before and after the event, a fantastic raffle where nearly everyone won something, and wonderful SAG volunteers to support the ride.

Where is everyone?

I loved this lady, she specifically asked for # 69.

Jan’s wife, ready to ride 

Brief memorial on the ride routes

Ready to feed riders!

Wonderful friends who rode and volunteered!

Ghost bike up on the course at the crash site, in memory of Jan

Finally Friday

It’s been touch and go but I’m surviving the week…I got a huge work deliverable signed off – it was due Sep 30th and I finally got the last signature from Ireland on the 29th – phew!

Tomorrow is the big ride event I’ve been planning the last couple months.  I am optimistic it will go well but also very nervous in general – a lot of stress and blood, sweat and tears have been poured into this.

On the upside, we made the newspaper!

Once I survive tomorrow’s ride, it’s a scramble to get ready for the next thing, a HUGE roadtrip that starts Sunday.