Merry Christmas!

Howdy from Port Orchard, Washington!

I had a great flight up to Seattle in First Class. I got to watch a good movie that I had not seen before titled Stardust. I was privileged to get to run 6 and a half miles with my brother in the rain and have him smoke me on the hills. I woke up to sunshine and a fantastic view of the Olympic Mountain Range in Olympic National Park. I am surrounded by family and my step-Mom is getting Christmas Prime Rib ready for dinner. I really do not need anything else for Christmas. I have put in my favorite Christmas TV special moment about what Christmas is really all about.

Have a wonderful time with family and friends and have a blessed day,

Coach Liz

Talk About Dumb Luck!

Well, it has been a while since I have posted. I have been busy with deadlines at work. I was getting my peeps that I am coaching for the Houston Marathon ready for their 21 mile run only to have a strong cold front blow through with driving rain and dropping temps that prevented the majority of the group from getting further than 11 miles. I had to do some intensive Christmas shopping and packing for our family trip to Seattle in the morning. Re-take my CPR certification and start to study for my NASM exam in January. Coaching my tri guys and gals. It goes on and on...

And I totally forgot that while I was in Clearwater, Florida for the 70.3 World Championships that I entered my name for every darn give away at the expo. Win a Timex watch! Win a Computrainer! Win a Blue 70 wetsuit! Win Zipp Wheels! Win a box of Powerbars! Win a race entry! Win a Tanita scale!

Well, I was a winner...


I won a race entry to the Switzerland 70.3 race on June 1st, 2008!!!

And to top it off, my training buddies Lauren, Ryan, and Johnny Tri are all going with!!!


I feel like I have already had Christmas. There is nothing more I could really ask for...well, I will take a Computrainer, ha!

Off to Seattle and Port Orchard in the morning...

Liz

Steve, you have some competition...

O,K.,

I have been reading Steve in a Speedo's blog and over the past few weeks he has been blabbering on about his lucky "tighty whities" at the local 5K races and how he has been wining some good SHWAG for his inclusion of the said lucky undies in some form of a costume.

Well...


Steve, it looks like you have some competition!

This just goes to show that even the best looking endurance athletes still look dorky in white Jocky shorts. The water polo helmet and the compression socks add a nice touch, don't you think. The heart rate monitor straps seem a bit much for a race of these proportions. Notice Cpt. Andy Baldwin over there on the far right? He looks great in his black boxer briefs, really great if you know what I mean.

Just as all men should not wear briefs, a similar rule should apply to ladies and thong underwear. I don't want to see your t-back sticking up out of the waist band of your jeans. I believe that the thong is a great way to get rid of pesky elastic line dents in the rear under a pair of pants or a slim fitting skirt. It should not be a fashion statement with the additions of bows, rhinestone buckles, fluffy feather edging, or slinky cut out areas that are on view for everyone else to see. And please, do not go out and run a 5K in one!

Liz

The Dramatic Conclusion--Just for Steve in a Speedo!

OMG!!! I am really taking off-season off, lol.

I have been bad about finishing this and instead I have been baking a lot of cookies. I have been good and not eating them...well, except the peanut butter choco-caramel ones, but I only have one per day. There are still plenty of them left. Steve in a Speedo is eagerly awaiting the stunning conclusion of the run at the 70.3 World Championships. Secretly, I have been waiting because I wanted to include a WAY COOL video near the end of this post. So read on and let's get this race finished!

As I ran out on the course, I noticed one of the Challenged Athletes changing the covering on his right limb and re-attaching his carbon fiber leg as he was sitting on the curb at the side of the course. I thought to myself that it has really got to hurt or just be a mega blister in the making having the end of a limb stuck down in that carbon fiber leg and running on it. I filed that thought away in the back of my head and did my best to look like I really belonged out on that race course with all the pro athletes that were probably running in to finish and the ripped age groupers who were passing me on the start of the second loop of the run. The breeze was nice now that I was off the bike, but things had warmed up and I was looking for the first aid station and the trash can full of cold SPONGES. Near the first aid station and my SPONGE hook-up, I heard a steady "TWACK" noise behind me. It got louder. What the heck was that??? I got my answer soon enough, it was the Challenged Athlete guy passing me up on his carbon fiber leg. How disheartening is that? I am able bodied and a Challenged Athlete passes me like I'm standing still.

And then, there it was...


The Bridge (cue dramatic music...). This was my first of four times to run over this sucker! I knew that there would probably be a photographer at the top so I went easy and walked up on the bottom for 2 minutes using my run for 8 walk for 2 plan. Everyone else was running and I felt like a dork walking but I also knew that I had made a promise to myself not to go out hard on the run and have nothing left at the end. About half way up I started running again. I saw David on the way up the bridge as he was coming back over to finish his first loop and I saw Geoff not too far behind complaining of cramps. That SUCKS!!!
I was doing well by the time I passed the photographer. I actually like running downhill and can go pretty fast after running the Hood to Coast Run in August and having to run over 12 miles total downhill I have figured out how to do it without ripping up the legs and being sore the next day. There was an aid station at the bottom of the bridge on the other side and to my surprise it was manned by TEAM IN TRAINING peeps!!! I got a lot of love from these guys and gals as I came running through in my TNT race gear and they made sure to make a lot of noise for me. That was a huge boost and I kept running to do them proud.

Guess what I saw a little past the aid station? I saw the Challenged Athlete guy sitting on the curb changing the covering on his limb. Here was my chance to get ahead of speedy carbon fiber leg guy! I had used my 2 minute walking break earlier so I was in that 8 minute run phase. How far down the road could I get before this guy would finally catch me and pass me??? I was prepared to find out. The route took us on to a hike and bike trail and it was not long before I heard the tell-tale "THWACK, THWACK, THWACK, THWACK" getting louder behind me. ARGHHH!!! NO!!! Passed again by the Challenged Athlete guy. I am starting to feel more challenged than he is at this point. I know I'm slow on the run, but this is ridiculous!

We started running into a residential area with some really nice homes and it gave me something to zone out on for a few minutes before I saw the next aid station. Again, the TEAM IN TRAINING super stars were taking care of the aid station. The other athletes felt a little left out, I'm sure, with all the love I was getting, HA! GO TEAM!!! I slathered some petroleum jelly on a nasty scrape on the inside of my right knee that I had gotten from that sharp plastic piece that keeps the Bento Box from collapsing. I stocked up on cold sponges and downed some Endurance Gatorade. I realized that I had not had to dip into any of my Power Gels and all I had been going on since getting off the bike were 2 orange slices, water, Endurance Gatorade, and my S-Caps. I felt good so I would play it by ear. The route turned left to go down a small hill and make a turn around down at the end of a cul-du-sac. That little hill was a kicker on the way back up and back through the million dollar mansions. Dang it was hot! The volunteers and even the guy reading scripture aloud from the Bible on the sidewalk were trying to stay in the shade. The sound of soggy shoes and wet tri shorts was common place now as athletes had been dumping cups of water over their heads to cool off. I hit the first TNT aid station again and took in as much of the love as I could because I knew what was in store for me...

The Bridge: Part 2


It was time for a 2 minute walk cycle on the way up and I was thankful for it. I got passed by a gal in pink that I had passed on the bike course and who was in my age group. That got me running again and soon it was down hill and on towards the Ford Motivational Mile. Geoff, David, Mitch, and I had all typed in motivational messages to each other at the race packet pick-up. WTF!! No motivational messages! What gives??? Oh, it was only mile 6 and I had to wait until mile 12 for my motivation, DANG IT! And then as if the Good Lord heard me cussin' and whinin', I saw Mitch on the road headed out for his second loop and he was yelling at me to get my attention. I needed that pick-me-up and to see that Mitch was only about a mile and a half ahead of me. He was on his was to crossing The Bridge for the 3rd time. I picked it up and went through another aid station where I gulped down some Gatorade and exchanged sponges to keep cool. I was headed in to the turn around back at the transition area and decided I had better keep an eye out for Johnny Tri and the camera.

Just before the turn around I saw JT and gave a wave and dashed off to get loop 2 started.
There were not as many people on the course on my second loop. All the fast athletes had finished or were on their way to finishing. I grabbed some orange slices at an aid station and noticed that there were not as many volunteers out at the first aid station. Dang, are they trying to close up shop already??? OK, it was now my time for The Bridge Part 3 and I had been running the entire way from the turn around. I took 2 minutes to walk up at the bottom and then hit that sucka running. I saw a motorcycle with an NBC Sports guy on the back zoom by with his camera towards the top of the bridge. I was passing a few people here and there but mainly it was now the older athletes who had started the race ahead of me.

At the bottom of the bridge on the other side I saw Mitch walking and I gave him a shout to get a move on and that he only had 2 miles left. Wow, I think I may have made up some time on him.
Come on Mitch, get that sponge off the ground! It's a lucky sponge!!! I got my third serving of love from the TNT crew at the aid station as they took care of me and saw to it that I had plenty of cups of fluids and cold sponges and pretzels to grab. I kept running an tossed the walk 2 minutes/run 8 minutes plan out the window. I was feeling stronger and the Kanye West song was running through my head now. "Dat dat dat dat dat don't kill me can only make me STRONGER...Work it harder, make it better, move it faster, makes us STRONGER...Longer, better, faster, STRONGER!!!" Yeah there were less people on the course now, but the people that were left were my speed and some of them were slowing down. I kept going. I ran through the second TNT run aid station and grabbed some Gatorade. It was on to the short down hill, the turn around and back up the hill in a quarter mile. It was the 10 mile mark!!! Only 3.1 miles to go. It would be one training loop around Memorial back in Houston. I COULD DO THIS!!! The spectators were more sparse but it did not matter now. Mile 11 got me through the last TNT run aid station and they let me know how proud they were of me. I thanked them for all their support and for volunteering to take care of us.

The Bridge: Part 4--The Final Chapter

I ran about half way up and walked a little bit so that I could walk with the oldest participant in the race. 82 year old Robert McKeague from Villa Park, Illinois was out there making it happen on the bridge. I asked him if I could walk with him for a bit and he said I was probably walking faster than he was. I said I was doing good and I had plenty of time because I was going to PR. He looked me in the eye and said,"you need to get moving and quit talking to me if you are going to PR. Get Going!" What an inspiration! I got going and at the top of the bridge I saw Sister Madona Buder going over on the other side. I cheered her on and she gave me a wave. I flew down the other side of the bridge and ran towards the Ford Motivational Mile Arch. YES! My motivational messages from Geoff, David, and Mitch flashed up on the jumbo message board. ONE MILE TO GO!!!

I had expected one of the ladies that I train for Pilates to be out there with her husband. They were visiting family and said they wanted to come out to see the race. They had been in contact with JT the day before but I had not seen them. Oh well, hopefully they got to see some of the action to know what the race was all about. I would be able to give Linda and Chuck the update of how the race went later.

I saw the gal in the pink tri gear again and she was walking. I ran right past her and then I heard her pick up the pace. I knew she was gonna do that because she was in my age group. As she ran past me I told her," yeah, you don't want me crossing the finish line before you. You need to pick it up this last mile here and beat me." She whined back, "But it hurts!" "NO SHIT it hurts, but this is your moment to shine. MOVE IT!" I told her. She took off and I stayed on my steady pace because I was set to reach my goal of finishing this race under 6 hours. I didn't care if she finished ahead of me, I had already won. I started to toss the sponges and make sure that I was ready for my photo finish at the end and that I looked good for the spectators, ha!


I passed up a guy in an Army tri top and zoomed around the round-a-bout in front of the transition area. I saw Johnny Tri in his spot that he had been in all morning and gave him some love for all the support he had given us that morning. I made my way for the FINISH LINE. I ran under an arch and then I heard Tom Reiley over the sound system."Wearing the colors of The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training program, here comes Elizabeth Garcia from Houston, TX! You did it Elizabeth! Look at that smile folks!" You bet I was smiling!!! I had raced with some of the greatest names in the sport of triathlon and I had an awesome race with a finish time of 5:52. I got my finisher's medal, and the volunteers got my timing chip and gave me a wet towel to put around my neck and showed me to the exit to go to the massage tent.

And then, I heard a familiar voice calling my name. It was Linda, my Pilates client. She came running up and threw her arms around me and gave me her Congratulations. She was so excited to have seen me cross the finish line. Her husband Chuck and his brother and sister-in-law came up not far behind and they were all smiles as well. Johnny Tri was next with a big hug and then Mitch walked up. It was time for more hugs and some pictures.



After Chuck and Linda headed out. I had to find something to eat and I wanted to sign up for my massage. My goal now was to see if I could get enough pizza for me and JT since he had not had any lunch and it was now past 1:30 pm. With that mission accomplished and signed up on the massage list I saw David and we all headed to go get our gear out of transition. Geoff was getting his massage and would be done soon. Johnny Tri was nice enough to take my bike and gear back to the pad and I got my massage. I had been thinking ahead that morning and I had put some money in my wind breaker pocket so as soon as I got my massage knocked out, I headed to the event store tent to see what kind of Finisher's Gear was available. I did not get a birthday present from my husband so I decided that this was the time to remedy that situation and by myself a belated birthday gift. And here it is...my Finisher's jacket!


And of course it seems like at least one person in the group gets a new nick name at each race, there was no exception this time. At the Awards Banquet, Mitch said that he had been slurping some of the water out of the sponges that they were handing out on the run course. David and I looked at each other and made a face. Geoff chimed in,"Dude they take those sponges and they reuse them after people throw them on the ground." Mitch looks at us all and said,"Hey that Sponge Water got me through some tough spots!" And then David christened Mitch with his new name,"Sponge Water Square Pants over here is cracking me up!" ROTFLMAO!!!
Mitch has been know as "Sponge Water" ever since. We love you Mitch and congratulations on your PR of 5:45. David also had a rockin' day with a PR of 4:43. Geoff did great finishing in 5:03 with the cramps on the swim and the run. It was a great experience and one that I will never forget and I hope that I am fortunate to get to do this race again one day.

Sorry it took me forever to get this race report done, but I hope that you enjoyed it and that it made you feel like you were right there with me. Enjoy your off-season and keep your eye out for more posts about my Amazing Triathlon Adventure!


Cheers!

Liz

Let's Get This Bike Ride Finished and Get Running...

O.K., so I left you hanging on the edge of your seats as I was telling you about the self absorbed driver of the SUV who pulled out and parked in the middle of the bike course around mile 44. Well, now it is time for the stunning conclusion to the bike leg!

The bike course took a turn to the North and suddenly I was pedaling straight into the wind. I would venture to say that the wind was blowing at a steady 17 to 20 miles. The few flags I saw were standing straight out from the flag pole. On top of the wind, the road was climbing ever so slightly. I slipped the chain into the smaller chain ring so that I could keep the legs spinning and not muscle through the last miles before the run. I ended passing up the German guy who passed me on the bridge that crossed Tampa Bay. YES!!! I ended passing up this gal who was in my age group. SWEET!!! We hit a bigger bridge that went over some rail road tracks. I could feel the gap was widening between my bike and theirs. Again the police support was fantastic.

As soon as the course turned west again, I knew right where I was on Hwy 60 that goes to Clearwater Beach from the airport. It was easier to have a crosswind rather than a headwind. I had a guy on the sidewalk yelling out to me to kick it into high gear and chase down that guy in front of me. The athletes had an entire lane coned off near the center of the highway. A motorist would have to be a complete dimwit to have driven onto the course because of all of the orange cones, but then again we did find one of those dimwits at mile 44. The only thing left to tackle was the causeway bridge. I set my gearing appropriately and started on my last hard effort on the bike. There were already hundreds of people out on the run and I knew that I had to get a move on it to get in the game. Then I looked down at my watch. I was going to finish this ride in less than three hours. Rock n' Roll!!! I was ahead of schedule! I got my feet out of my shoes and prepared for the dismount line.

I approached the dismount line, swung my leg over the bike and hopped off and ran under the "Bike In" arch. There were lots of great volunteers ready and waiting to take my bike and I ran down the racks of gear bags to get my red "bike to run" gear back. The volunteers in the change tent were helpful and asked if I needed sun screen. What I really needed was a Port-o-can! The least amount of time I could spend in a hot Port-o-can the better, but since I had a shy bladder on the bike, I had no choice but to make a pit stop. In and out, and I grabbed a handful of sanitizer lotion from a volunteer and I was on my way to the Run Exit arch.

My first goal was to keep my heart rate from going through the roof. The first 400 meters was confined to one normal traffic lane. Runners coming in and runners passing me by. Slow girl was doing her best to stay to the inside and stay small. It is a good thing that we were all sweaty and everyone was sliding by each other. The spectators were thick again and cheering loudly. My plan was to run for 8 minutes and walk for 2 minutes and keep my pace around 10 minutes per mile.

More Action From the Bike Course in Clearwater

Hey! The last post left you at the point where I had rolled throught the first water stop and was riding through the residential areas with all of the cheering folks along the course.

From here, we made a right hand turn and skirted a mall and then we went on to a main road that pretty much had been shut down from traffic just for the race. Once we got under a bridge, we took a left hand turn and we were on a long parkway. The cars were on the outside two lanes and the racers were on the inside lane and the shoulder. There were still more fans in the median and at the crossovers since none of the cars were allowed in these areas. It was fun to see the cars creeping along or at a bumper-to-bumper standstill while were zipping along past them. There were a few large groups that passed me on the way out to mile 20 and the turn around, but for the most part I was holding my own and keeping a check on my speed. Sometimes I would look down and my speed was 19 mph and sometimes it was 22 mph. I was feeling good and my legs were turning. I had started in on the Accelerade and a package of Clif Shot Bloks for fuel. Every once and a while I would here ambulance sirens, but I never saw the emergency vehicles. All that those sirens told me was that someone had crashed on the bike. I made sure that I was not drafting and no one was going to take me down. Not long after I had made that mental note to myself, some DORK (I had a better name for him during the race...)from the Men's 40-44 age group came screaming around me and cut in front of me so close that his back wheel almost hit my front wheel! Was he looking where he was going??? Well if looking ahead is where he was going, then yes, but other than that he was not looking. I had no time to hit my brakes, but I did momentarily pop out of my aerobars and made it known that I was not happy with his race tactics.

I approached the turn around and then headed south and all of a sudden it felt like there was a tailwind. Once I changed my gearing and settled in to my pace, I checked my watch for the time. HOLY SMOKES!!! I had only been on my bike for an hour. That means that my pace was averaging at 20 mph! There should be no problem in finishing the bike course in under three hours if I kept up the pace. Around mile 25, Geoff pedaled past me and gave me a shout out. I was surprised that it had taken him that long to catch me on the bike. That must mean that I was crankin' on the bike. SWEET!!! We pedaled under a pedestrian bridge were a large crowd of people were cheering for us and they had hung motivational banners. The cars in the lanes next to us were still moving slowly. At one point I was hanging tough with a guy in a convertable and I was VERY temped to look over and ask him how fast we were going, but before I worked up the guts to do it, he had to slow down and I rocketed past him. The cars were now being diverted off the road and into one lane. I saw the flashing lights and saw that the traffic was moved over so that we could move over and get around a bad crash. I saw at least two people down on the ground and being attended to but there seemed to be at least 3 or 4 bikes on the ground as well. That was not good, but I just had to keep up with my race and not get distracted.

The cars were exiting off of a ramp so that the racers had the Hwy 19 bridge over Tampa Bay all to themselves. Looking down at my speed I saw 24 mph! Man I was cruzin'!!! I had some German guy pedal past me and ask me a question which I had no idea what he was talking about. I just shouted back "ONE!" Oh well, so much for foreign diplomacy. I was working on my second bottle of Accelerade now and mildly thinking that I had better think about making room for all those extra fluids I was drinking. I had emptied the holding tank on the swim but I had slurped down 48 oz. of fluids since then. I had thought that I was going to take Geoff's advice of not stopping and draining the bilge on the bike, but as much as I wanted to and gave it my best effort, nothing happened. I was suffering from sphincter lock-up. All those men who have to take Flow-Max, just get them to do a cycling race and try to make them pee on the bike. They might be hard pressed just like me. A few times it was a cheering parent and their kid that kept me from relaxing and other times it was just being on top of the game in the race. I figured that I was not in pain and my eyeballs were not yellow yet so I could probably wait for the transtion area. I had been thanking all of the police men and women who were doing a fantastic job of keeping the course auto free and keeping us safe.

The course now took a right turn and we were headed west again. The fantastic tail wind turned to a cross wind, but it was still a fast course. The only traffic problem I encountered was a large SUV that pulled out of a parking lot and then SAT IN OUR WAY. People who were cheering on the street began yelling for the SUV to move and I started my own cussing tirade. They could not move because the lane of traffic they were trying to get into was at a stand-still. I slowed down and got around their back bumper and took off. We were quickly approaching the turn that would take us north back to Hwy 60 and then back in to Clearwater Beach.

Race Day: Part 2

Hey! You're back for more. Cool!!! O.K., the last post took you right up to my swim exit and getting my wetsuit ripped off. Now, for your reading pleasure, we slip past the glistening wet bodies of some of the fittest humans on the planet and enter into a secret world that only the athletes are allowed into...The Transition Area.

As I entered the Transition area, hard cold pavement gave way to hard, wet astroturf. Little did I know then, but my swim was pretty darn good at seconds over 35 minutes. I had decided that my best strategy was to run down the far left side of the gear racks rather than down the middle row because of traffic congestion. the racks were set up in a large L-shaped configuration with ample room at the bend to go down any of the rack aisles. My bags were on the outer left aisle after the right hand turn. All of the blue gear bags were gone from the first racks that I ran past. That is the only bad thought that goes through a triathlete's head, "Dang! those people are way ahead of me on the bike."
As I made the turn to grab my blue gear bag off of the second rack, who do I see standing along the fence but Johnny Tri! He had his camera out and was ready to catch me, Geoff, and David as we came running through.

I grabbed my bag and dashed into the Women's Change Tent and with the help of one of the super-star volunteers, got my sock on and grabbed my race number, sun glasses, and helmet while she stuffed my wetsuit, cap and goggles in the bag. I was outta' there! There were volunteers ready and waiting to slather on sun screen but I had done that earlier so I ran down the astroturf carpet to the second row as I buckled my helmet and race belt on and dashed to the 5th rack on the left for my bike. It was a grab and go moment and I was making a run for the Bike Exit. My shoes were already on my bike so all I had to do was get past the bike mount line and I was off! Total time in T1 was 3 minutes and 42 seconds.

Once I got past the bike mount line I realized that all the spectators were cheering for us and ringing cow bells. I picked up some speed, slipped my feet into my shoes and took off. I had to keep my heart rate under control because as soon as I got past the first mile marker I would be climbing "The Bridge". I had filled my aerobar bottle with water so that I could get that nice briny deep taste out of my mouth and dilute any sea water in my gut that I had swallowed. I was passing some people, but lots of people were passing me on the bike. My goal was not to get any drafting penalties on this tight course. And then, there it was... looming larger than it did when we approached it in the car. It was "The Bridge". Some used the strategy of coming up and out of the saddle to attack it. Others geared down to spin up it. I built up as much speed as I could approaching it and was going to rely on my fading knowledge of high school physics to use momentum to get as far up that sucker as I could before I really had to hammer hard on the pedals. I am lucky that my light weight and my good climbing legs from all of those rides around Lake Tahoe make me shoot past other riders who really should be leaving me in their wake. Photographers at the top of the climb! Smile and look invincible! After rolling over the crest, I shot down the other side of the bridge but with care as there was a left had curve at the bottom of the causeway.

The course took another left hand turn and we zoomed past the Pinnaelus County Courthouse and the downtown storefronts of Clearwater, Florida. I had some free space so now it was time to dig out my Power Bar fruit and nut bar and start chowing down the calories. I had been smart and pre-opened the wrappers so all I had to do was get the bar out of the Bento Box and keep moving down the road. Riding hard, breathing hard, and chewing a Power Bar is not an easy task! I was slipping by some more riders already out on the bike course but now the hard core men from the 40-44 age group were coming up on my rear. Just the sound of their disk wheels let me know that I needed to get as far to the right as I could to get out of their way. I kept my concentration on the road, drinking my bottle of water and chewing on my fruit and nut bar. I wanted to empty that bottle and be finished with the bar by the time I hit the first aid station on the bike course. A right turn here, a left turn there and now we were begining to roll through a more residential area. The locals were all along the street here with painted posters, cow bells, flags, and lots of cheering for us. That was really cool! Whole families were out with their kids in wagons. Older spectators had set up their law chairs and were settled in for the show. Other cyclists and triathletes from the area had ridden their bikes over to watch us and encourage us. There was even a couple who had dressed up in inflatable "fat suites" that looked like they had beach attire on. They were pretty funny. What I did not see but wished that I would have was the three boys who were around 12 to 14 and had gotten bored with blowing into the horn that you see at football games that make a lot of noise. They had one kid laying on the ground with the dang horn in his mouth and another kid was pouring water into the other end of the horn like some wacked out "Water Bong" while another kid was cheering. See parents, you can never take your eyes off of them!!! David relayed this story to us after the race. He said that he was cheering for them as well.

As I was coming up to the first aid station, I had a "Hero Moment" as I rolled by Rick and Dick Hoyt on Dick's special bike with the seat in front for Rick. As I pedaled past them I yelled out "Go Ricky!". I had reached my goal of emptying the water bottle but I now had to start working on the two bottles of Accelerade I had on the bike.

Stay tuned to Bike Course entry #2...