Wednesday, July 02, 2008

WIBA Training Fun

I know everyone's already said this, but the best part about WIBA is the friendships you make. Plain and simple. It was so good to see my old Iron Friends and to meet some new ones.


Saturday we went for a swim...I got to test out my new wetsuit and it was so tight that I felt a bit like a Polish Sausage as I headed to the pier. As soon as I dove in, though, it was ALL good. I felt great and like I could really hold a good stroke. This was my second time in open water and I wasn't sure what to expect, but was pleasantly surprised. Hopefully I won't have dawdling swims like I did in '06, and will actually turn on the jets a bit in my two upcoming races. I was disappointed with both of my '06 swims and Coach Emily has had me doing a lot more intense stuff in the pool than I've ever done in tri training. Hopefully it will pay off!


The best part of the swim was seeing WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY too much of Steve in his shorts. If you haven't seen it yet (seriously, have you been hiding under a rock?) go here. You have been warned.


;)


Afterwards, we all got ready for our ride. I am still a little laughing in my head at my lack of preparation. First of all: zero hills. None. Zilch. Nada. But for some reason, I just didn't feel as worried...more just a calm acceptance that this was going to be hard, so let's get it on. Second, I have ONE water bottle cage on my bike. That has since changed, but I just didn't get a chance to get it before I left. So that worried me a bit, but not too much. I figured I'd just figure something out as I went.


Who is this girl and what has she done with OCD TriSaraTops circa 2006?!?!?!?!?


Anyway, I felt surprisingly chill. I was just excited to ride with Jacks and my buds Pharmie and Wil again. Despite butt-biting mosquitoes (don't ask), a flat, and some lost keys that caused me to leave a cloud of obscenities still hanging over a Wisconsin farm, it worked. We just rolled with it, had a great time, dodged a storm, and got in 60 miles despite a few setbacks. The miles always go faster with friends. :)


Bonus: my watts were right where they needed to be and we had a killer negative split. Hello, sexy tailwind!


It did feel a little like the high school cafeteria scenario, and instead of being a petrified freshman I was more like the junior who still had a long way to go but knew a lot more and had grown up a bit.


Dinner was super fun! I loved hanging with my team members, finally meeting awesome Cara--yay!--and Jonah, swapping stories, and catching up. Can I just say that Rural Girl is my hero? Aside from being hilarious, she is sooooooo talented and yet so humble. This chick is going to ROCK Steelhead and IMW. :)


The run the next morning came too early as my body wanted about 4 more hours of sleep. But once I saw everyone the fatigue vanished, and we had a great run. It was very deja-vu-ish to be on that course again, and I enjoyed it just as much as I did running in the pouring rain. I'm not being sarcastic, actually. I had NEVER been so excited to run in the pouring rain as I was in '06, because it meant I was off my bike and I was going to make it, and I ran with a big stupid grin pretty much the whole marathon. I remembered that, and I smiled again. My buddy Al and I talked about how we ran into each other during that epic race, and then after about an hour, Al grabbed a copy of the ONION and was reading it to us WHILE HE RAN. Gotta love it!!!


My Garmin had no juice, so I just ran by feel and we felt great. I loved every second of it.


Then I was homeward bound, and couldn't wait to kiss my baby boy. It was so good to be home and see all three of my guys.


Thanks to all my WIBA friends, old and new. That's really what triathlon is all about. I can't wait to see some buddies again at Steelhead, and cheer on my other buddies in Racine (XT4 and Al) and at Ironman Wisconsin! Here's a few of my original WIBA buddies, with a pic stolen blatently from Steve :)

14 comments:

SimplyStu said...

Yeeeee Haaaaa! WIBA was a blast. CYA in 5 weeks!

RobbyB said...

In the water, I remember you swimming away from us. Simply rock star quality. I've got my money on you having a most impressive race at Steelhead.

Steve Stenzel said...

Sorry about that "seeing WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY too much of me" part.

Wait, no I'm not...

;)

Great seeing you again!! See you at Steelhead!!

Pharmie said...

I know I've said it a bunch of times, but SO great to spend the weekend with you! Can't wait for Steelhead. You're gonna blow that PR out of the water.

Jumper 2.0 said...

Why did simply stu say to "cover your ass" (cya) is six weeks?

Oh, the biting mosquito's!

Anyway, congratulations on the great training weekend of friendship fun. Would you believe that I have been to Steve's house and he was totally mellow and being a responsible host and everything? I didn't see any shorts, nipples, blood or anything like that!

I can still hardly believe it myself. Question is, do I tempt fate by ever going back to his house?

Jumper 2.0 said...

ooops, 5 weeks, not 6 weeks

(and by the way, I do know he was actually saying "see ya"). I am really behind on culture these days, but not that behind (i'm old, 41);-)

But, I did have to loop up hoopty when you used it on a recent post.

qcmier said...

Wait you're going to be at Racine? Pour quoi? I guess I'll see you there.

PS - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

Scott said...

Hi Sara, it's been a long time.

First (and waaayyy toooooo late) congrats on the birth of your baby. I look forward to reading some of your old posts on that topic.

Anyway, I'm back... starting over... fresh from competing in the Ironman Descent to Hell (i.e. the death and destruction of all things healthy).

I intend to start blogging again within the week (I'm on a one month vacation/sabbatical from work with lots of time to devote) and eventually the name of my blog is going to change to "I BELIEVE I will".

Your blog has always been an inspiration and I look forward to following it once more. I hope that you and your family are all well.

Michelle said...

Great job this past weekend. For all of us, just not tipping over on the bike with the crosswind was a success in and of itself!

Steelhead's a comin' girl, and I see BIGGG things for you! See you soon.

Taconite Boy said...

Missed you guys this weekend. Glad you had a great time!

xt4 said...

waitwaitwait - you're going to be AT Racine!?!? WOOT! Dakota can't wait! Oh, and neither can I!

Alili said...

So, do you want to pull me on the swim at Steelhead? :)

Kevin said...

Reading everyone's posts has really otten me interested in doing WIBA net year. I just hope by then Steve has worn out those yellow shorts

Trisaratops said...

Oh, no...some clarification....I won't BE at Racine...I'll just be CHEERING ya on here at home

:(

Wish I could though! Go, X and Al!