Ironman Texas 70.3 2015 Race Report

Haven't posted here in forever. Been racing triathlons, having fun, made some podiums. Had a nasty bike wreck in August, resulting in a separated shoulder and broken wrist. Came back to race (and win) a baby sprint tri about 6 or 7 weeks after the wreck. Started working with a coach in December who I admire and respect beyond words. He was instrumental in rehabbing my shoulder and now I swim better than ever before. So, been training for Ironman Texas (half distance) with E and a tight group of friends since December.

I wasn't nervous going into the race like I usually am. Even a sprint still gets me wired. But I was calm. Perhaps the recent decision to race for TEAM Ironman Foundation ($3,000 fundraising which benefits Ironman communities.., please feel free to donate to www.crowdrise.com/kristiowen) and race my first full Ironman in Chattanooga this fall terrifies me more than anything else at this point. Maybe I just felt prepared for the day. Training has been intense for our little group, both physically and emotionally.

Tons of teammates from my team and "sister" teams did the race, so it was HUGE to see friends on the course and cheering from the sidelines.

The swim: Race morning the water temperature was announced at 77 degrees. Not wetsuit legal, although a final wave was created to go last if you wanted to wear one. I didn't need it and didn't want to spend any extra time running in the afternoon sun, so I went off at 7:48 with my age group. My swim felt good. The salt water didn't bother me. I had a pretty clean swim, avoiding most other arms and legs. I think I sighted well, although my watch said my distance was 1.3 miles which is about an extra 175 yards. But coming out of the water I was disappointed to see a time of 41:08. That's about 6 minutes slower than I projected. Sure some of that time was due to lack of a wetsuit, but still a bit disappointed here especially given the minutes that would have mattered in my final time... this is the one area where I don't give time away. 30th out of 130 in my age group, the swim continues to be my strongest sport amongst my peers.

Saw Sheri along the swim exit, which was uplifting. Had a pretty solid transition, although it felt slow. I opted to leave my sunglasses in transition and only use the sun shield on my helmet. Good call.

The bike: There were a few miles of winding turns to get out of Moody Gardens and onto the seawall, which I took easy to get my heart rate down (by feel, since I had ZERO heart rate data or cadence registering on my computer- but I did have speed) and avoid anyone riding recklessly. Once we got to the seawall, I got into a groove and flew. It was flat with very little wind. What we did have felt more like a crosswind than head or tail. I averaged 20.6 on the way to the turnaround. I had to pay attention to my body since I didn't have any other data, but my legs felt good and I didn't feel like I was blowing up my heart rate. We had a steady rain for maybe half or more of the bike along with clouds for most of it. At one point I recall thinking the rain was stinging my skin a little, but didn't think much more about it. I've heard some mention of hail, so maybe there was some tiny hail! On the way back, my average dropped to 19.06. I felt an increase in wind for the last 8 miles or so, with most of it coming as head and crosswind. The later waves got that as a tailwind going out and headwind coming back. I ate half of a honey stinger waffle every 20 minutes for the first hour, then dropped it to half a waffle every 30 minutes after that. I used base salts for electrolytes, along with water and Gatorade from the aid stations. Nutrition and hydration plans worked. I averaged 19.9 on the bike overall, coming in 32nd in my age group. I never even entered a bike split that fast when I played the "how fast do I have to go to reach my goals?" game. I've certainly improved on the bike over the past 5 months, and had some nice speed on race days. In this race, I was most proud of my bike leg. Interestingly, my data did store on my computer so in retrospect I can see that my cadence was right where it should have been, but I ran a little higher than the plan on heart rate.

Transition went well again. I changed socks since mine were soaked from the rain. Grabbed my stuff and headed into the 3 loop run course.

The run: Ugh. The run. Always the run. I felt good at first. But the clouds were gone and the early rain left it even more steamy. I started out too fast, but ran pretty consistently for the first half, only walking at aid stations to get ice and gatorade. Then it was a battle to go aid station to aid station. I ended up having to walk between them at times. One bathroom break about mid-way... good job hydrating! Around 10 miles my stomach started to cramp and I didn't know what to do to get rid of the cramping. I walked. I took salt. I ate some potato chips. I just battled through it, watching my sub-6 goal slip away. I was so close, but just didn't have it in me. The looped course was good from the standpoint of almost always seeing friends and getting encouragement. I'm so thankful for those people. My run time was 2:26, dropping my age group rank to 43rd, where I finished overall. Top 1/3, I'll take it. Final time 6:02:36, a 34 minute PR over Austin 70.3 in 2013.

A few little races over the next month (I'll be the swimmer in a relay, sprint tri, and olympic tri) before everything shifts to Ironman Chattanooga.

Ironman Austin 70.3 Race Report

I don't want to take off my bracelet because it feels like that will mean it never happened! I can see why people choose to get a tattoo. 

I've taken nearly 2 weeks to blog but I want to get the race in writing for future reference... So here goes... I'll add pics later. I'm writing from my phone. This is long. Like, 70.3 long. 

We got to Austin on Saturday afternoon after a late start because both kids had a triathlon that morning. There were several lines to navigate through to get checked in and get all of my stuff. What I really wanted was to get to the merchandise and shop! I was hesitant to buy a ton of stuff out of fear I wouldn't finish, but that feeling didn't last for long. I found a beautiful long sleeve purple shirt with the Ironman logo, a visor, and the last finisher shirt in my size. A sign from God that I was going to finish! I also ordered a frame that will be shipped to me later. It has a duplicate medal, a replica of my bib, an engraved plate with my times, and a space for a finisher photo. 

I separated all of my transition stuff into ziplock bags at home so I could easily switch the gear to the IM bags once I got my packet. Austin was expecting rain overnight, so I left my T2 stuff in the ziplock before placing it in the IM bag and tying it to the rack. I had a great T2 spot, right on the fence line. It was still raining on race morning so I left everything in the ziplock. Dry shoes and socks were very important to me. Separate transition areas was not nearly as stressful as I feared. 

We took Stormy to T1 and I checked out the lake. I had another good spot for T1- right on the fence line. Not much else to do in T1 since I'd be back in the morning. I didn't leave my T1 gear overnight. 

We found a Jason's Deli and I had another monster baked potato. I had pasta for lunch and was starting to get nervous. Not much sounded good. We went back to the hotel where I mixed my Ironman Perform and made sure I had everything for race day. Early to bed. I didn't sleep well, of course! 

My husband needed some breakfast and I always have Diet Dr. Pepper in the morning, even on race mornings, so we found a McDonald's. It was 3.5 hours until my start time so I had plenty of time to continue fueling. I also had an orange juice and dry bagel. I sipped on a bottle of Ironman Perform right up until start time and had a chocolate GU 15 minutes before my swim start. Pre-race nutrition felt good. It was still drizzly, and a little chilly. I went inside T1 to set up and realized I'd lost one of the rubber bands that holds my aero bottle in place. My husband took the rope and cord lock thingy out of the bag that holds our collapsible sport/camping chairs. I used that to tie my bottle into place. It worked! We set up the chairs under a moving truck that would transport gear bags to the finish and watched people as we stayed dry. The race was delayed by 15 minutes but my wave didn't start until an hour after the official start so another 15 minutes didn't matter to me. The time finally came to put on my wetsuit and line up. It had stopped raining. I started a row or two back from the front, started my watch and then it was time to swim! The water was cool, but not bad, and I'm a wimp. I think it was 71-72 degrees. It felt like we kept going out forever. Then we finally made the left turn to swim parallel to the shore. I didn't realize how long that section would be and I started to think maybe we were headed back to the shore. Not so. But I was able to stick with freestyle the whole time. The start was rough water and a few times I would get into a group and hit/get hit. The only other time it got rough was when the wave of men who started behind us approached. It feels like sharks are in the water coming to get you! I exited the swim and was able to easily strip the top half of my wetsuit. The wetsuit strippers made quick work of the bottom half. I took it pretty easy going into T1 with walking and slow jogging.

I never wear socks when I ride my bike but because I'd walked through mud and rocks to get to Stormy I went with the extra protection and put them on. My husband was on the other side of the fence cheering and taking pics. There was rumor of thorns in the field so I, along with most other people, carried my bike to the road. I had a hard time clipping in because there was so much mud caked onto my shoes but just as I thought I'd have to stop I realized they finally clipped. 

I don't remember many specifics from the bike. I'd been warned not to go out too fast at the beginning so I held back and caught my breath from swimming and T2 and allowed myself to settle into the ride. It was pretty easy to see when an aid station was coming up. I'd empty my handheld bottle into my aero bottle, chunk the empty bottle at the beginning of the aid station, and take a new bottle of Ironman Perform. It was my first time to take bottles while still moving and only once did I miss the exchange. My salt tabs fell out of the bottle and got mixed up with soggy mini Oreos so I'd have to dig around for a salt capsule then swallow it covered in Oreo goo. I quickly realized that not only did I not want anything that sweet, but I really didn't want sweet and soggy. The Oreos were really only there for a treat, I was prepared to use all liquid nutrition. There were some rough patches of road but overall it reminded me of riding in the country around home. All of the volunteers and police on the course were great with athlete safety. I saw lots of flats and although I'd practiced changing flats a few times during race week, I was thankful to not have any bike problems. It took me a long time to figure out why everyone's backside was muddy and grassy. Duh. It was a muddy mess for wetsuit stripping and they'd been on the ground. The last few miles of the bike were torture. I could see the T2 area but we snaked around the roads to get there. I was happy to be off my bike and happy with my time. I was off the bike earlier than planned. I really didn't know how to gauge race time with the hills. There were a few climbs where I was super slow but overall I liked the course. What goes up gets to come down and it was fun to fly! 

My husband got some pics before I came off the bike and there he was again at the fence line as I changed shoes and got ready to run. I felt really good on the run for about 8 miles. My plan was to run 3 minutes and walk 1 minute intervals. The run course is by far the hilliest 13.1 I've ever done and I didn't do any hill training because I was babying some minor leg/foot issues leading up to the race. My goal for the run was under 3 hours. My nutrition plan didn't hold on the run. I didn't feel like taking GU and the coke was amazing. Maybe I had too much coke, maybe not enough salt caps, I'm not sure. But my stomach started to get sloshy. I stopped taking fluids, hoping it would improve. I walked a lot more than I wanted to. But my pace stayed reasonable. I'd done the math and thought I might be able to finish in under 6.5 hours but once I had to slow down I knew that wouldn't happen. It was awesome to see NTM members on the run course, some I knew, some I didn't. It was a good pick me up just to get a smile or a "good job", especially on the back part of the course where there weren't spectators. It had been cloudy all day, but the sun came out for my last run loop and it was starting to get hot. I couldn't get enough wet sponges and I was trying to avoid liquids still. I'd pour the water on my head, down my shirt, down my shorts, anywhere to try and cool off. I was beyond happy to finally get to turn right for the finish instead of heading out for another run loop. I saw my husband before I entered the arena for the indoor finish. I gave some high fives as I ran toward the finish, and raised my arms for the finisher pic. I walked around the finisher's area for a few minutes. I wasn't ready to eat, but I picked up a coke just in case it started to sound good. I stood in line for a little while for a massage but decided I'd rather just take a shower and warm up. Everything hurt but I wasn't sick. Finish time: 6:36

The number one question I get is when I'll do a full. It won't be 2014, that's all I know. I've got an idea of a couple of 70.3 races I'd like to do next year. I've only done 2 seasons of triathlon and I'd like to get some more long course experience before I train for 140.6. But I've visited some websites and read some race reports. ;) 

Metroplex Sprint Tri Race Report

Jake was going to be in Vegas and the kids at the lakehouse, so I decided last minute to register for the Metroplex Sprint Tri. I got up at 3:30am so I could leave around 4 for Joe Pool Lake. I got there a little after 5, before transition opened, before the park even opened. The RD was still setting up cones for the run course. I parked, then walked a little ways (maybe a half mile?) to the transition area where I was able to score an end spot. I was intimidated hanging out in transition because there were a lot more nice road bikes and tri bikes than the racks at My First Tri last weekend. I picked up my pink swim cap since they'd run out of my color at packet pick up, then stared down the swim course in an effort to make it shorter walked around a little to calm my nerves. It was a little strange to be completely alone at a race, I've never done that.

My age group was the first wave and waves were only 3 minutes apart. It was windy and the water was rough. I settled into the swim pretty quickly and really felt pretty good. At 400 meters, it was the longest swim I've ever done (including practice). I think I switched to breaststroke twice, just to recover from being kicked. I was actually a little surprised that my swim time was so long/pace slower than last weekend. It felt better! I must have been off course or something.

I ran into T1. I felt like my time there was a little long. At this race we had to wear our race bib on the bike and I fumbled a bit getting my belt on. I liked wearing it just on the run last weekend because I could put on the belt as I was running out of T2 vs having to put it on while standing still at the bike racks. I saw somebody else who wore the belt with the bib tucked under their top during the swim and she just pulled it out as she ran into T1. Seems like a good time saver and I'll try that in the future.

I didn't pass much at all during the bike. I got passed by some really fast women and men who started in waves after me. There was a hill leading up to the dam, which was really windy, and another at the other end of the dam where we turned around to head for home. I got passed just before the turnaround, but I made up my mind to pass her going down the hill. The wind was beating me up and I was working hard to get the speed that I did. I was hoping for faster, though.

I felt like my T2 time was good. I can't think of anything specific I could have done to be faster.

I was maybe a quarter mile into the run when the female overall winner passed me, coming into the finish line. Amazingly fast! Not wearing my Garmin and knowing my pace/distance really bothers me but it's probably for the best. I have a tendency to tell myself I can't run "that fast" or I can walk when I get to "x" distance on the watch. Without it, I just have to keep going. I played mental games with myself and kept thinking that if I walked or slowed down, I'd be giving up my spot in age group placings. I had know idea where I stood in my age group at this point, it was just a game. Everytime I'd hear heavy breathing behind me, I'd pray it was a man so I didn't have to worry about my placing. If it was a woman, I looked at her calf. Nobody in my AG passed me on the run. I got a little mental boost by passing a guy toward the end and it helped when he told me good job. I passed another two guys in the very last tenth or so and sprinted it out to pass a girl who paced just ahead of me for the entire run. She wasn't in my age group, though.

I grabbed a snack and talked to a couple girls from my age group. One was the overall winner who I saw as I started my run (so she actually bumped all of us a place higher since she was no longer part of the AG standings) and another girl who won third in our AG. As we chatted, we put together the standings, and figured out I was second in AG! The overall winner is an Ironman and we talked about big races. I may volunteer for 70.3 in Austin on October 28th. That may be just the inspiration I need to train for one next year.

Swim 400 meters: 10:46 (2:42/100 meters) 3rd of 6 in AG, 61 of 106 overall
T1: 1:39 3rd of 6 in AG
Bike 11 miles: 34:25 (19.2mph) 2nd of 6 in AG, 58 of 106 overall
T2: :35 1st of 6 in AG
Run 2 miles: 18:09 (9:05/mile) 3rd of 6 in AG, 64 of 106 overall

I was 15th of 37 women and 2nd in my age group. Good race!

Playtri Festival: My First Tri Race Report

After the race

I've been a lousy blogger. Please forgive me, I will do better.

Today was my first triathlon! I bought my bike 6 or 7 weeks ago. I swam my first lap in the pool 5 or 6 weeks ago. Training was minimal, to say the least, but this is how the day played out...

I met up with Charlene and Joanne at the hotel/race site last night. We made a last minute trip to Sports Authority in search of items we forgot, then had dinner before returning to the hotel. We sat on the back deck of the hotel, overlooking the lake before going to bed fairly early. The alarm went off at 5:15, when we quickly got dressed and went downstairs to set up transition. I was able to get the end spot on my bike rack- first good thing of the day. Then we went upstairs to get dressed for the race and have breakfast. My mom and the kids arrived just as the International distance was starting. I showed them where I would be and when so they could try to see me doing each sport. The first thing my daughter said when she saw me was, "Mom, I REALLY like your tattoos." I can't blame her. So did I. By 8:15 or so it was time to say goodbye to them and join everyone for the pre-race briefing by the water.

All of the "My First Tri" participants in the early part of the swim

I was nervous, so I just reminded myself to concentrate on form as if I was in the pool and not rush. We hopped in the water and after a few minutes we were off! I struggled some in the first 100-200 meters because arms and legs were everywhere. I'd get hit, take a second to regroup, and start swimming again. By the final 100 meters or so, I was in my groove, not tired, and felt like I could easily keep going. I climbed out of the water and ran to my bike. I put on socks, bike shoes, sunglasses, and my helmet before running to the mount line.

I think this is me, dead center in the pic, breathing to my right with tinted/mirrored goggles

It felt good to get on the bike and fly. I really, REALLY, loved the bike. I'd set my sights on somebody ahead and think, "You beat me out of the water but you're mine now" and then I'd pass. I passed quite a few people while going up hills. I don't like hills so much while running, but I love rolling hills on the bike. Joanne called out my name as we passed each other on the bike. I totally posed for a photographer toward the end of the bike- I saw her ahead, so I dropped down on my aero bars and gave it my best "I'm hardcore" look. LOL, and dorky. But I hope the pic turns out cool. ;-) Right after that I heard my kids yelling "go mommy" as I came off the bike and into transition again. At this point I noticed there were no more than 5 bikes on the racks in the area for my race and realized I must be doing pretty well. I changed shoes, ditched my helmet/bike, and grabbed my running belt and visor to put on as I ran.

Very end of the bike

My legs felt good, but it really bothered me to not wear my Garmin. I desperately wanted to know the distance and pace. I didn't deserve to have a good time on the run. I've literally run twice since the marathon. I just knew I could run 2 miles and focused on the newer things. I was tired during the run, and I hate it, but I walked very briefly (10 seconds, tops) twice in the second mile. Just before the turn into the final straightaway, I saw Libby and she took a picture of me. If only she would have known to yell, "GO, KRISTI! You're about to be passed by the girl who will beat you by 2 seconds and win the race." Yeah, she didn't know and I didn't know. But that girls is *right* behind me in the picture. She had people yelling at her on the sideline to pass me. I tried to catch her. I just didn't have enough sprint left in me to get her. She beat me by 2 seconds, finishing first overall. She was a strong enough runner to beat me in the run and close the gap that I had on her in every other area- the swim, T1, the bike, and T2. But, I cannot be disappointed. I'm thrilled. I had fun and I am in love with the triathlon.

As of right now, my next tri (a sprint) is 7 weeks away. I'm not sure I can wait that long, but that gives me a lot of time to train seriously. I know exactly what to work on and what kind of goals to set. I'm so excited to have a fresh new goal.

Swim:
14th of 77 (women and men), 7th of 41 (women only)
300 meters in 6:40, pace of 2:13/100
*better time than I thought I could do, thrilled with placing

T1:
1:29
*fastest time of all the women, and only the male winner beat me

Bike:
13th of 77 (women and men), 1st of 41 (women only)
12 miles in 40:39, pace of 17.7mph
*first out of the women, 'nuff said... THRILLED!

T2:
1:16
*fastest time of all the women, only the male winner beat me and 2nd place man tied me

Run:
16th of 77 (women and men), 4th of 41 (women only)
2 miles in 18:37, pace of 9:19
*better than I thought I could do, but very motivated to do speed work now

Motivation To Run, Workout, Eat Well...

Motivation. It's so freaking hard. But it's hard for everybody, right? I can't speak for everyone else, but it's hard for me to eat right and workout most days. Sometimes friends, family, and coworkers comment on my dedication to diet and exercise. I usually brush off the comments, because I'm no superhero. I don't workout on days I work and often take days off for no other reason than "I just don't feel like working out today". I eat bad foods when I'm busy, stressed, had a good day, or had a bad day.

But I've had some success. I've become a runner over the past year and a half. I'm expanding my training to cycling and swimming. I don't call it exercise. EXERCISE just seems so infinite, like I'll never be done. I prefer TRAINING. I train for a goal, a race, a competition, something relatively short term. That helps me keep up the motivation. I've lost weight. I hate hearing "skinny", seriously HATE it. I don't watch what I eat to be skinny. I watch what I eat to be lean and healthy. I watch what I eat because I feel better in general, mostly less tired and with less aches and pains because getting old sucks.

Just this afternoon I was walking through Target, looking at junk food that admittedly tastes good, but makes me feel awful. I was thinking about making a small commitment, just one week, to eat clean. I know from experience, that a week is long enough to feel better, and I'd probably just keep going. I finished my shopping, got in the car, and pulled up Facebook. Everybody does that, right? I had a message from a friend who I haven't seen in years. She said I inspired her. She mentioned reading my first blog post (CLICK HERE, if you want to do the same) again. I went back and read it, too. I sometimes forget where I started, when I couldn't run more than a half mile. She asked some questions, so I'll answer them here. Let this be your lesson, friend, don't ask me about running unless you want to open Pandora's Box. I will go on and on until you beg me to shut up.

How do I stay motivated?  - So, I touched on that above. I love competition. At first it wasn't with anyone else, I certainly wasn't looking at Age Group placings in a 5k or some other race. Competing against, and pushing myself to do better was enough of a challenge. That's one thing I love about running. A PR is a *PERSONAL RECORD*, not a judge-yourself-against-some-super-hot-chick-with-God-given-running-talent. It's for you, and only you, to compare your effort for the day. Being a beginner runner is a lot of fun because you PR often. If you want to run, pick a race. A 5k is a good start. 3.1 miles is a challenge, but it's attainable in a fairly short amount of time without devoting hours upon hours to training. Register for the race. Not on race day, ahead of time, so you're monetarily committed. Dropping cash is always good motivation. Go watch a race if you're scared. I used to think that only badass athletes did half marathons and marathons. People of all kinds do both. People actually walk. It's allowed. I promise. There are training plans all over the place online and Couch to 5k is a popular one. Go to a real running store and get fitted for good shoes (be prepared do drop $100, and no you can't save money by buying the same brands but different styles at TJ Maxx. If you could, I'd be the first to point you in that direction). My friend isn't local, so I don't know where to direct her (we have Run On!, Luke's Locker, and CK Sports here). Running stores also have running programs if you don't want to do it on your own. My biggest recommendation for new runners is to run slowly. Running fast hurts. Hurting sucks, so you quit. Run slowly, so you can talk easily. I prefer to run outside, and I wear a Garmin watch to track my pace and distance, but I determine the pace because I run based on how I feel. Punching a number in on the treadmill gives me bad feelings. So, I say all that to say- I stay motivated because I pick a race, pay for it, train for it, and go do my best on race day. So can you. I'm proud of you for running a mile. I hope it was a good experience and you want to do it again. I'm here for you whenever you want to ask a question or share your achievements.

What do I mean when I say "eating clean"? - There's probably a huge variation in what this means when you ask different people. I'm probably super liberal on that spectrum. Eating clean to me is not eating processed or sugary foods. I keep it simple. I pretty much try to avoid anything out of a box. I eat lean meats, fruits, veggies, reduced fat dairy, stuff like that. I try really hard to avoid alcohol and even diet Dr. Pepper. That's as good as it gets for me. I told you I'm no saint when it comes to eating healthy.

Thank you, friend, for inspiring me. I needed that today.

Swimming Progress

I've made some huge improvements in swimming. I've been to 3 Masters classes and dropped from 63 strokes in 50 meters to 40 strokes in 50 meters. I was able to do that twice today, toward the end of the workout. I don't think I can hold that for 300 meters. Ha, I don't know that I can swim 300 meters! But I'm getting there. The funny thing about dropping my stroke count is that it feels like I'm not swimming well... I guess because I'm not working as hard. That's all I'm hoping for in this first triathlon- to get out of the water feeling like I didn't work too hard. I think I can make up some time on the bike and maybe even the run (despite my lack of running since the marathon).

My Mother's Day Gift- My Specialized Dolce

I got my Mother's Day gift early, about a month ago. I picked it out myself, although my 3 year old son was with me. The guy who sold it to me was super awesome and played with coins with my son while I tried riding different bikes outside the store. I sent my husband a text and said, "Can I?" and he replied yes, just give him a few minutes to move some money around. I had chest pain. I didn't know if I'd love cycling, triathlons, the bike itself... and I pretty much doubled my original budget to buy this bike. When people say running is cheap, I think they lie. When people say cycling is expensive, I know it is true. The bike is just the beginning. I walked out of the store with the bike, a bag that fits under the seat to hold a spare tire tube, a CO2 cartridge for airing it up, and tools to pry the tire off the rim... basically the absolute minimum I needed to get started. I was borrowing my husband's helmet for a few rides. Since then, I've bought: a helmet, clipless pedals, shoes, covers for my shoes, bike shorts, 2 jerseys, gloves, lights for the front and rear, a mounting bracket to transport the bike in our truck, a bracket for my Garmin (which reminds me to research cycling computers because I'll probably go that direction over the Garmin watch at some point), chain oil, and I'm probably still leaving something out. My husband has asked me to wait until payday to buy more a couple of times, but he's never given me that look that says, "Seriously? You do not need this". But better than all of these things I've accumulated, my husband bought a bike and I have a riding buddy. We did 40-something miles together this week, some of which in the rain. This is what happens when you're 10 miles from home and the rain on the radar catches up to you. It was fun, like being kids, except we had to carefully dry our precious bikes when we got home.

I gave my son my phone so he could play Angry Birds and discovered that he took some pictures

My Specialized Dolce (2010)