I run for Madisyn!

A few months ago I signed up as a runner on a website called I Run 4 (http://www.whoirun4.com). It's an organization of runners who dedicate their runs (and other workouts) to someone who can't run for themselves. There's a long list of runners waiting to be matched, but today I got my match. I'll be running for Madisyn! Look at how sweet she is:

I can't wait to get to know Madisyn and her family better and to share this journey to China with them!

Lots of climbing

When I first heard the distances for the race in China (4K swim, 120K bike, 20K run), I was most concerned about the swim since I've only done 1.2 in races before. However, now that I've seen the elevation profile of the bike course, I think the bike will be the most challenging part. I need to find a lot of hills to climb this summer to be ready for this:

So far, I've done the Assault on Marion, a 52 mile ride that included Mt Olivet, and the hardest bike ride I've ever done - the Tour de Cashiers metric century. I think Tour de Cashiers had around the same amount of total climbing in a similar distance, but it was a lot of long, somewhat gradual (but it definitely still had its share of steep parts) climbs - we just don't have such short, steep, hills around here. Still, since I'm not going to spend my summer in Weihai, I'll just have to practice on what we've got. I love this picture a fellow rider took during the Tour de Cashiers:

I actually grew up on the road this picture was taken on, and I knew people biked it (it's part of a loop the local riders call the Ring of Fire… for good reason). I never planned to be one of those people, but I did it!!!

Now I'm planning my summer schedule and looking at some more rides in the NC mountains. Maybe Blood Sweat and Gears, Roan Moan and/or Blue Ridge Breakaway?

Low Country Splash

Took advantage of Memorial Day weekend for a quick trip to Charleston and Myrtle Beach. As soon as I found out the swim in China is 4K (2.48 miles), I decided to do the Lowcountry Splash 2.4 mile swim under the Cooper River Bridge in Charleston to try that distance. It's always planned so that it's with the current, so it's easier than the same distance in a pool, but I also wanted to try out the long sleeve wetsuit I'm borrowing and and see what swimming in salt water with a current is like. I really enjoyed this event - it's a beautiful swim and we had an exceptionally friendly current, plus the weather was perfect. The water temperature was perfect for a wetsuit (for me anyway), so I got to wear it and I think it will be perfect for the swim in China.

A full weekend!

Somehow the weekends always fill up, and there are always more fun events to do. This weekend started with a swim at the Y… some people love cold water, but I am not one of those people. The pool was 75 degrees and I had to turn my planned 4000m into 3000 because my hands and feet were numb. After that, we headed to Asheville for the Biltmore Kiwanis 5K and 15K. I did the marathon at Biltmore in March and thought iDaph events and Biltmore did a great job with it (despite the VERY cold rain) so I was excited to do another of their races. This one didn't disappoint, even though it was cold and rainy again - what's up with that?

From the marathon in March:

This time, I did the 15K and my husband did the 5K:

3rd in my age group (the medals are awesome, too):

Still needed to bike, and it looks like the bike course in China is really hilly, so I grabbed a spot in the Assault on Marion (NC) for Monday (part of the Assault on Mt Mitchell but I wasn't sure i was quite ready for that). It was a great day for a ride with 2 of my biking buddies (despite the freezing-ness at the start that had my fingers and toes numb for the first half) and the course to Marion is lovely and rolling with a few big climbs. 75 miles felt pretty good, so I guess I'm on my way. (Michelin was a sponsor, so I borrowed a Michelin jersey, and of course I had my Pro4s). 

Another weekend, another race (and a lot of training)

Decided at the last minute to do the Clemson tri with my Michelin teammates (and my mom for support and photography). Fun day for a fast race - I like the longer races but I forgot how much fun it is to be done in less than an hour and a half. :)

Since I don't have the luxury of counting a sprint as my workout these days, I did a quick mile at the pool Saturday afternoon and a bike+run workout Sunday. We biked up into the mountains in NC for a climb I'd never done - Mt. Olivet. It's tough but the view is worth it.

Here we go!

Back in October, I did the Rev3 South Carolina half in Anderson because I'd been riding more and enjoying it more (thanks to lots of friends to ride with!) than I did training for the White Lake Half. I had heard something about it being the USAT national championships for long course, but I didn't pay much attention to that. It was a great race and I had a lot of fun friends cheering for me. PR in half iron and that was that. Until November, when I got an email with the subject "Team USA China Congratulations." I had apparently qualified to represent the US at ITU Worlds in Weihai, China in September 2014. After a lot of thinking and planning and budgeting and training, I decided to do it! So we are busily making plans and trying to enjoy the journey as well as the destination. After it's all over, I want to be able to make a photo book of the journey, so I'm starting this blog as a place to store memories and photos… and to share the journey.

 Got my uniform (sort of… it still has to be printed with USA and my name)! And I was able to get our plane tickets with Skymiles. :)

Tour de Cashiers - short ride report

I was still a little on the fence about China. Someone found a race report from last year that said the bike course is super hilly. Like 8400 feet of climbing in 70.8 miles. With up to 25% (seriously???) grades. Ouch. So this weekend I decided to go home and do the Tour de Cashiers metric century ride. With 8400 feet of climbing in 63 miles I knew it would be tough. Since I know the area and grew up on Cullowhee Mountain Road, I knew it would be really tough. But I also knew that if I could do this I could likely be ready for China in 20 weeks (BTW, the 20-week training plan starts today!). So Steph and I went up to the mountains to try it out. It was COLD at the start, but sunny and pretty.

The ride is well-supported by local police and fire departments. I wish I was skilled enough to take a picture, but just after the start we rode past a ladder truck with the ladder extended and an American flag hanging down. We were off to a good start.

And then immediately, you have to climb up out of Cashiers Valley on 107. And lots more ups on Bee Tree. Then back to 107 and the left turn on Pine Creek. That hill was TOUGH. Then the first rest stop and a fun cruise down Walnut Creek (fast even for a scaredy-cat downhiller like me!). Once we got down on the Franklin side we meandered around a bit before coming up to 64 (up a hill to a stop sign at a busy road… luckily there was a firefighter there stopping traffic - I told him he was my favorite person I'd seen all day). Then the turn onto Ellijay and I knew what was coming. Up, up, UP Tilley Creek. Seriously the hardest climb I've ever done, and I knew I still had Cullowhee Mountain coming up. Pretty view from the top, though.

Then for a fun downhill on the Tilley Creek side. I got up to 35.1 mph - a new record! Right turn onto Cullowhee Mountain. Cruised through the first part, past the road where I grew up, and we were climbing again. It was hard. Really hard. I was glad that I had driven that road a million times and knew when we were almost done. I couldn't have taken much more. 

After the climb there's a nice downhill back to Pine Creek. Then a right turn back to the first rest stop. But I had seen the hill by that rest stop the first time through and decided I couldn't bear to stop and then have to start again on that hill. So I skipped it. Probably OK, but I didn't realize how much more climbing we actually had! I thought we were basically done after Cullowhee Mountain, but Yellow Mountain goes up and up (thankfully not as long or as steep).  Finally finally we made it through Norton to 64 - left turn and a fun, fast cruise back into Cashiers. The post-ride food from the Gamekeeper's Tavern was really yummy. 

Overall, this was the hardest bike ride I've ever done. But I did it! And I didn't walk!