Team Timex Blog » Jodi

Stuck in the grind….

Jodi — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 01:36:15 +0000

Just hopped off the trainer for a short spin on the Trek. Life has been more than hectic. I grossly underestimated how hard it would really be to work 80 hours per week and try to stay motivated for anything other than sleep! I have survived a month of surgery night float and a month in the Medical Intensive Care Unit at the University. Currently working medicine wards and about to start a 102 hour week working the graveyard shift at the county hospital. The bonus of working nights is the added training you can get in riding your bike to the hospital since it’s always when the sun’s still out.

Training has been pathetic, I’m afraid to admit. Things will turn around, for sure when I get to my on-service (emergency) months. I can’t wait! I just happened to be very front loaded with my schedule. The bonus of that is I should be able to race early next season! I end my year with 4/5 months in the emergency department where we only work 60 hours per week. Yay!!

With my time off (we are mandated to have at least 4-24 hour work free days per month), I’ve tried to do a lot of cross-training. My workout of choice has been hiking. Two weekends ago Roger and I did 18 miles of hiking, climbing a couple mountains in Rocky Mountain National park. It was awesome!

This past week I had to take Maddie to the vet (found a 24 hour emergency vet) because she had developed what I thought was a swollen anal gland. Turns out it was a solid mass and I’m anxiously awaiting the results of the pathology. I’m terrified it’s cancer. So over the weekend I took her out to Indian Peaks on a hike. She liked it so much that I think we’re going to climb Bierstadt (14,000 feet) on Saturday if she’s feeling up to it. I’m hoping to get ahold of the new Timex Expedition series to test it out. It looks sweet and even comes in orange!

Well, that’s all I’ve got for now. Just trying to keep my head above water as an intern. I never fail to be inspired by my teammates at Timex ripping it up this year. I’ll be back to the races eventually!

American Triple T Race 4: The Death March

Jodi — Tue, 26 May 2009 12:59:09 +0000

I finished!!!!

Going into this race I honestly thought my chances of finishing were about 30%. I had been slowly and steadily rehabbing my knee from the injury I sustained during the Cali 70.3 but not at all confident in its ability to take me uphill 13.6 miles and downhill 13.6 miles in 3 days. Miraculously, thanks to ice baths and TP massage, when I woke up on day 3 it wasn’t hurting at all! Not to say I wasn’t in a world of hurt. I spent the night tossing and turning from the soreness and the sound of my heart exploding in my ears. But that is to be expected coming off back to back olympic distance races in the heat.

We got to transition about an hour ahead of time and slowly got the transition area ready. People were definitely moving slower than the past few days but not quite the zombie walk that I remember from last year. One thing that was obvious, though, was there were not nearly as many people starting race 4 as there were at race 1. Curious to see the numbers…

Here I am putting on my race chip. Hurts to bend down a little. Not the best way to start the journey of 70 miles, but that’s life.

The forecast was for rain, but there was not a cloud in the sky. I was really hoping for rain. The humidity was 92% at 5am.

Being goofy before the start:

The start of race 4 is pretty funny. Rather than a full on sprint into the water, most people leisurely walk to the first cone before slowly starting to swim. The contrast from day 1 is hilarious!

Doing my best to run in:

The swim went really well. It’s the only discipline that doesn’t suffer very much with fatigue. I’m not sure if the course was short or not, but when I looked at my watch on the exit it was under 32 minutes. Which would be a new PR!

Heading out onto the bike is when things get interesting. The course for race 4 is again very challenging. Near the start is a long 1.3 mile switchback climb. My rear derailleur wasn’t loving my 27 tooth in the back and was trying to shift down. Making it to the top is a minor victory. It becomes major on the second loop… The descent out of that climb is very technical with several 90-150 degree turns. I am a big big wuss and always err on the side of safety. I’m sure I lose some time on these, but I’m a big fan of skin and collarbones, so it’s all good.

Later on during one of the other long climbs on a single lane fire road an ambulance came screaming by. There wasn’t room for him and us so I had to jump off my bike. I felt something give in my bottle holder but was more concerned with how on earth I was going to clip into the pedals in the middle of that hill. After walking for about 20 seconds I just gave it a go and was able to get moving again. Towards the end of lap 1 the legs were definitely starting to feel the fatigue. The hills just keep coming and coming. The only saving grace is the last 3 miles which are all downhill. It was getting very hot and I was really thirsty. I made the big mistake of trying to drink some gatorade while descending. So of course at 30 mph with my hand on my bottle in the aero position I hit a bump and the water bottle went flying out of my hand and down a steep ditch. DOH! This race is self supported and I just launched one of my 3 gatorade bottles. crap.

Headed into transition to grab my last gatorade bottle from the special needs table I noticed what gave when the ambulance went by. I managed to break one of my rear bottle cages. Double crap! I took one of HFPs water bottles that they supplied at the turnaround and just wished that it would hold:

And then ate a banana!

Loop two was pretty uneventful besides my rear derailleur having increasing testiness with the 27 tooth. Oh, and getting stung multiple times by a bee that got stuck in my singlet… Towards the end of the loop my legs were so tired I started to doubt my ability to get up over the final hills. It’s a very lonely bike course, often going several minutes at a time between seeing another racer, so I was happy to have some company going over the final hill. We were all complaining about having to do that run. One guy told me that he was ok with it since he needed to finish in order to go to the Golden Corral to eat an entire carrot cake. I thought that was hilarious!

Coming back into transition was so bittersweet. Happy to be done with the hills on the bike, but REALLY not wanting to tackle that run course…

This was one of the last smiles in quite some time!

As you can see from the pictures, the rain and overcast day hadn’t happened. The humidity was still in the 90′s and the temps in the high 80′s. At high noon there was no shade on that run course. And being in the middle of the woods there was also not a hint of wind. I simply could not believe how hot it was. I made a decision to allow myself to walk up the steepest hills. The problem was, every time I would walk I would get immediately hot, light headed and I thought I would pass out. Not good. The saving grace was the best volunteers on the planet! They would fill my Nathan bottle with ice and water and were so fast with getting us all the water we needed and even had some salt tablets ready.

I think that if the run course was designed in the opposite way there would be a lot of DNFs. But having the last 2.5 miles before the turnaround be all downhill is a nice boost. Coming into the turnaround I knew that I would finish, but also knew that it was not going to be fast. I told my mom not to expect me to finish quickly and headed back out. The best thing ever happened during loop 2. The clouds rolled in. The temperature dropped (slightly) and I stopped feeling like I was going to pass out every time I walked up the steep hills. To give you a taste of how steep some of the hills are, my heart rate never dropped below 165 walking up them. The run course is so brutal.

Getting to mile 10.5 is HUGE. From that point the rest of the run is downhill. The only drawback is that since you have already run countless hilly miles up to that point, every single step sends shocks of pain up your quads. Running downhill is killer on the quads, shins and knees. But at least it’s not uphill…

I was so happy to finish I would have done a cartwheel if I thought I wouldn’t faceplant.

The finisher’s medals and T-shirts at the Triple T are more coveted than my Ironman finisher’s stuff. I really think this race is harder. The courses are harder than any Ironman I know of (except maybe Silverman) and you have to pull yourself out of bed two mornings after racing, sore and beat up to start another tough day.

But although it is a grueling race, it is honestly the most enjoyable race I have ever done. The race organizers are absolutely top notch! HFP and everyone involved with the organization are the most positive, caring, adaptable and fun group of people putting on races. Their attitude is contagious and attracts a truly outstanding group of competitors. Everyone out there cheers on everyone else, regardless of whether or not the person who needs encouragement is your direct competitor or not. This race is a celebration of the sport of triathlon. A race that I think every triathlete should experience at least once. And then promptly say there is not a snowball’s chance in hell they will do that race again. And then sign up for next year…

Special Thanks to…

- The guy who fired up his sprinkler at the run turnaround and gave me a nice cold water bath

- Roger for letting me borrow his Bontrager XXX Lite Clinchers for the race

- Nathan hydration for providing us with some great hydration products that got me through those tough conditions. Trigger Point for providing the massage products that got my knee through the race. Trek and Bontrager for being awesome. Avia for their most fabulous trail shoes that allowed me to run that race without completely trashing my feet on those rocks. And TIMEX!!!!!! Although I think I would have rather NOT known my heart rate for some of that race….

- And last but certainly not least, Mom for being the best race sherpa/photographer/PR coordinator/race strategist/cheerleader I could ask for

American Triple T Race 3!

Jodi — Sun, 24 May 2009 01:37:22 +0000

Race three in the series is the first team race for those doing it with a partner (I did it solo this year). They do a time trial bike start with partners going together. The weather was HOT for the start. About 90 degrees with equal humidity. I am a really late seed and all of us late starters thought we were going to wilt waiting in the sun for our chance to go. I was so tired from the first race that I’m pretty sure that I could have rolled up on the concrete and taken a nap right there. I knew I was dehydrated (my resting heart rate was about 90-100…) but my gut was pretty shut down from the morning. I drank what I could and we were finally off, around 3:20.

Pic from the start

The beginning of the ride was TOUGH. For those of you who ride, for race 3 you feel like you stopped at mile 90 of a century ride for about an hour and have to get back on the bike. The legs are just so stiff. And contrary to how I remembered this race, it’s really really hard! I think it helped that I had Tony to draft off last year. Doing race 3 solo is almost as tough as race 2. The key hill in this race is a 1.3 mile climb that is a consistent 8-10% grade. It’s almost exactly the grade of Old Mill Westbound for those of you in Cleveland. I was seriously melting but got a great second wind on the way back and was finally THIRSTY! That is always such a good sign after going through a gut shut-down. There was hope for this race yet!

Coming back into T1

Putting a wetsuit on a hot sweaty body really blows. I bring my old sleeveless for the job, but it was still tough. One of the race organizers was nice enough to come over and help me get it on. HFP is awesome. I will say more of that in the next post, but these guys are top notch.

Wetsuit donning:

And off to the lake!

By the looks of it, I was one of the only ones delighted to go in the water. I love to swim and it was ungodly hot. Getting in that lake was such a breath of fresh air. I swam nice and easy and just enjoyed every second of it. It was a great break to cool down the core body temp. I felt so good when I got out that I had to let my mom know, who was on the side taking pics:

When I started this run I knew that if I made it the same sufferfest of the morning it would be a very long day tomorrow. So my plan was to Ironman race pace the uphill section and if I felt ok, I would Oly pace the last half, which is downhill. It worked so well! I got such a runner’s high on the way back to the finish line. There was about a mile where I was just so happy I was beaming. The finish line looked so good!

Coming into the finish:

Unlike the first race, where I couldn’t speak and had to find a chair immediately (this is pretty typical, unfortunately), I felt awesome after this race. I had anticipated my knee to give me a ton of problems this weekend and truthfully thought I would be limping by now. But it has (knock on wood) been remarkably good to me.

Chip removal:

Tomorrow will be a very tough day. Everyone will wake up really sore and wonder why on earth they signed up for this. Getting on the bike is brutal. The half iron course is hellish. But if all goes well, finishing is absolutely priceless.

American Triple T, Race 2 (Olympic distance with 6.55m run)

Jodi — Sat, 23 May 2009 16:42:52 +0000

Race 2- Hardest Oly Course ever!

When I finished this course last year I proclaimed it the hardest course of any distance that I had ever done. Now I can proudly say that it is the hardest course that I have ever done at any distance… twice. The bike course is sick, and the run… well the run is the same for the two races today and the Half tomorrow, and it’s just a cruel, cruel joke.

So here is my photo race report for race 2/4 of the Triple T

Here I am donning the wetsuit. This race definitely merited the full suit.

And off to start the hardest race ever…

The swim was great. I love this course. The time trial start makes it relatively contact free and the lake is like glass. The consistency is a little nasty, but as long as you don’t mind swimming in pea soup it’s all good. I think I took around 24 minutes for the 1500 meters

Coming out, SOOOO excited to hit this bike course (NOT!)

The bike was hilly. Big Thompson hill was grueling as always. You start the hill at 18% from practically a standstill after a 160 degree turn. The first 50 meters are 15-18% and then the remainder is about 9%. It’s not a fun thing to do when you know you have a hilly run in your future. But the field is much stronger this year. Last year I saw several people walk up the hill. This year most people took it with no difficulty. The bike course took me in the ballpark of 1:25. Close to what it took me last year.

Here I am starting the run:

The run was really, really tough. It is never, ever flat and quite steep for much of it (all trail). The humidity when we started was 88% with a high of 87 degrees. I absolutely wilted in the heat. There were several times where I took 10-20 step walk breaks up the steep hills. My HR stayed around 180 for the majority of the run. When I started to get the chills towards the end of the run it made me a little nervous. But the last 2.5 miles is all downhill, so it is quite the mental boost after the crazy climbing.

Here I am coming into the finish. I think I did the race in around 2:46, a couple minutes slower than last year, but for this course and conditions it’s fine with me!

One of the toughest part of this race is trying to recover between races. There isn’t much time with the starts at 7:30 and 3pm. This is my strategy…

Step one: Ice bath

With Peanut butter bagels (I choked down 2 between races):

Then step two is sitting with my legs in the air for 10 minutes. Lets the blood flow out:

And finally TP massage! I can’t say my legs feel awesome, but I think I’ll survive the afternoon. No telling about tomorrow though…

The next race is in a couple hours and features a Bike – Swim – Run. It’s always fun getting the wetsuit on in transition. I bring a sleeveless for this race because it’s easier to get on. I can’t believe I have to do that run 3 more times. This is a sickness….

American Triple T Ohio, Race 1

Jodi — Sat, 23 May 2009 01:14:29 +0000

We arrived today in Portsmouth Ohio, Home of the American Triple T, otherwise known as:

It was very hard to leave the dogs at home, especially when they looked at us like this:

But alas, with 4 races waiting we headed down and picked up the outfit that I will be wearing for 3 days of races (yeah, it will stand on its own by Sunday). That’s one neat thing about this race. Everyone wears the same thing. Makes it feel like a big team. Very cool and unique (I did wear my Timex visor, though!)

Then time to set up transition for the first of four times in the next 3 days.

And it was time for the prologue- 250 meter swim, 5 mile hilly bike and 1 mile run. Unfortunately it is nearly impossible to resist going out a little too hard for a race of this distance. Here is the start. It is a time trial start with 2 people leaving every 3 seconds.

The water was WAY, WAY warmer this year. Most people, myself included did the race without a wetsuit. Just easier for a race of this distance. And it was very hot tonight. So standing around in a wetsuit for 30 minutes before the start would have been grueling. Here I am headed to T1

The bike went by fast. It’s just basically 2 big hills within the park. I took it way more conservatively this year (downhill) because it’s just not worth crashing on the first day. But it was very fun. Here I am coming back into T2:

And then off to the run:

Being only 1 mile it’s over before you know it. I think my heart rate maxed out around 190. Oops…

All in all a total adrenaline rush! I had a great time and saw a bunch of old friends and met some new ones. Then it was off to carb load and then now to BED! Well, after I spend about 20 minutes doing Trigger Point Massage. 2 very challenging Olympic Distance races tomorrow. 7:30 am and 3pm. Forecast is for 86 degrees and very humid. I’ll be wearing my Nathan hydration belt on the run. The results of getting behind in hydration this weekend are NOT pretty.

Talk after the next race!

What a whirlwind!

Jodi — Fri, 01 May 2009 19:06:21 +0000

So much has happened since my last update, where do I even begin??

Oh yeah…

I FINISHED MEDICAL SCHOOL!!! Yahoooooo!!!!!

The family is coming in to town in 2 weeks for the graduation and I’ve already hyped up my mom’s ukulele campfire songs. Should be good times! It’s all very surreal to me though. I started my MD/PhD 8 years ago and it seemed like this day would never come. Now that it’s here it’s all so… weird! What do I do with myself?

The past few weeks I’ve been busy finishing up my last elective. I spent the month working with local fire departments, the ground critical care transport team, and MedEvac. Here is a pic from my first day with the flight crew. I think the flight suit is damn sexxy.

And now I’m free to train my little tush off for the next few weeks. And train I will. I plan on hitting the roads to ride every day that the weather allows because Triple T is just around the corner. I’m a bit worried about my knee still. It’s finally to where I can run 4 miles without any pain. But 4 miles and 26 miles in a weekend are very different things. I will keep plugging along, every other day and slowly building it up.

In other news, I got my schedule for intern year. Let’s just say… me racing this summer or fall will be a bit of a stretch. Here is my schedule:

Surgery wards (80-100 hours per week, lots of call)
Medical ICU (80 hours per week, lots of call)
Medicine wards (80 hours per week, lots of call)
Emergency (YAY!!!!!!)
Burn ICU (More hours than I care to think about, every other night call)
Anesthesia (YAY!!!! practically a vacation month)
Medical ICU (Christmas/New Years. Ouch. Big ouch)
Emergency (YAY!!!!!)
Emergency (YAY!!!!!)
Emergency (YAY!!!!!)
Neurosurgery (Heinous. Get to wear the intern pager belt of justice every 4th night or so)
Emergency (YAY!!!!!)

So the good news is I’ll get the hell months out of the way early. Bad news is that it is summer. Triathlon season. If I make it to the start line of Boulder 5430 awake, it will be quite the interesting day!

One final note for the day-

Go check out the new Timex website. They have all of our new pics up and profiles. The age group woman page is here. They’ve worked a ton on the new site and I think it looks pretty awesome!

Team Timex Mania!

Jodi — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 14:36:18 +0000

Team Timex mania has taken over the household. My dog, Maddie, has been known to pick through my clothes from time to time (see this post here), however I was still a bit shocked to come home yesterday from the market with the Mad Dog prancing around in my team kit

The kicker, however, was turning around to the sight of her best friend, the Mookster, running around with my new Rudy Project sunglasses.

I seriously have to do a better job of hiding stuff around this place. Although the thought of the dogs out hiking with hydration belts and coming home to work out those muscles with TP rollers makes me chuckle….

About that market trip… So I have decided once and for all to clean up the diet and try to follow the guidelines from May’s Bicycling magazine. Cleveland’s West Side Market is an enormous farmer’s market with fruit and veggies around the perimeter and meat, cheeses and specialty foods on the inside. It’s truly a sight to behold and you have to come prepared to weave through hundreds of people holding up money and trying to get the attention of the vendors. The place rocks. I tend, however, to show little purchasing restraint. I mean, I’m eating healthy, right? That means I need a TON of healthy options….right?

I can’t wait to see how much weight I am going to lose this week eating 2 avocados, 2 mangoes, 2 pineapples, 2 pounds of grapes, a cucumber, box of spinach, fingerling potatoes, a cantaloupe, broccoli, mushrooms, tomatoes, a bunch of bananas, garlic, basil, strawberries and a spaghetti squash (there was a watermelon, but I ate that already…). By the end of the week I’m sure my agent will be getting calls from the Victoria’s Secret swimming suit catalog for their upcoming photo shoot…

Sometimes you just need a good old-fashioned butt kicking…

Jodi — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 00:39:32 +0000

I was long overdue to have a good old-fashioned triathlon death march. The kind of race that you finish and want to just walk away from and pretend it didn’t really happen. But the thing is, turning your back on a bad race is also walking away from a prime opportunity to learn and grow. Analyzing exactly what went wrong is the key to preventing it in the future. So here goes some race analysis of Oceanside…

Swim: My favorite triathlon swim ever. I felt strong from the gun to T1. I was confident. I found feet to follow, avoided contact and just really, really enjoyed the entire thing. I’m not sure what my official time was (which includes a pretty longish run), but the swim portion itself was just a tad over 32 minutes. Which I believe is a PR for me. Very happy with the start of the race.

The good: This was the first season that I took a break from swimming. I didn’t swim at all for 6 weeks and then gradually worked up my yardage until I was comfortable with 20,000 yards per week. I really think the break allowed me to come back regenerated and work on my form. It was also the first time I lined up in the water and didn’t allow myself to feel intimidated by all the fit people around me.

The bad: As always for ocean swims, I ended up with the nastiest, ooziest case of wetsuit rash on my neck. Gross.

Analysis: Keep doing what I’m doing. Focus on good, quality, long sessions with focus on form. Use more body glide…

Bike: I actually really enjoyed the bike portion of the race as well. It’s one of my favorite courses. Challenging and scenic. Big hills and some technical turns. Lots of wind on the return. I was much slower than anticipated though and got off the bike pretty disappointed. I think I averaged 19mph and I really thought I was capable of 20 on that course.

The good: I followed my heart rate race plan pretty well (possibly too conservative) and kept a positive attitude for most of the race. Really had fun with the other competitors.

The bad: By the halfway point it had become obvious that I had just monkeyed with the bike fit too much and still wasn’t totally dialed in. I did one long ride where the seat was too high and it flared up my IT band. Then I overcompensated and lowered it a tad too much. By the middle of the bike my knees were starting to feel very uncomfortable. I also felt like I wasn’t really putting out the power I should be capable of.

The ugly: I have always flirted with disaster with my hydration and nutrition and gotten away with it. Well every year as I train I have noticed that sweat more and more. I started the bike with one water bottle and still had a bit left when we hit the aid station right before the hills. At that moment I must have been shunting way too much blood away from my brain since I decided to skip it so I wouldn’t have to carry an extra pound of gatorade into the hills. BAD IDEA. By the time I got to the next aid station I wasn’t just a little thirsty. I was parched. And catching up on hydration on a warm day during the run just isn’t such a prime idea.

Analysis: It’s time to take hydration more seriously. Bontrager has a new front aero drink system that puts the Profile Design system to shame. I will give it a shot as soon as it’s available and stop trying to cheat my hydration. I will do another sweat test to dial my needs back in. In the next couple weeks I am going to tweak my bike fit until the Trek feels like a second skin. I will ride that beautiful bike every chance I get.

The death march… errr I mean run

I really think that the Oceanside run course is one of the most fun courses out there. The aid stations are just awesome, the fan support is second to none and the views of the ocean are spectacular. That being said, this was the most painful run I have ever had, and the slowest triathlon run I have ever done. I think when all was said and done I finished in 1:55. My goal was under 1:45. Yikes!

The good: I finished and didn’t walk…

The bad: My heart rate was jacked from the dehydration (never dropped below 170 for all 13 miles even though I was running 1 minute per mile slower than goal) and I was really hot. I started taking as much fluid as I could from each aid station and felt like I was just keeping up but never filled up the tank. I was probably running on the edge of a bonk as I look back. I only took in about 5-600 calories on the bike and went all liquid for the run. Because I was so dry it was hard to use my heart rate to guide my calorie intake (I usually know I need to eat when my HR dips down a bit)

The Ugly: I started at a good pace although I felt pretty bad from the thirst. But when I got to about the 3 mile mark the right knee started to hurt. IT band. By the turnaround for the second loop it was starting to lock up on me and as I went through the sand portion of the run coming up to the turn I really considered whether I should just pull out. I knew the knee was not going to get better. And that when ITB pain gets really bad you don’t have much choice but to walk. Pulling out probably was the smart thing to do. But for me, the mental damage from pulling out of a race is way, way worse than the physical damage of 6.5 more miles on a bum knee. I headed back out. The left knee actually started to hurt at about mile 9 but never got as bad as the right. I kept looking at my watch and telling myself that I had to break 5:30 to save my pride. I had to. I ran as fast as I could with a knee that didn’t want to let me extend. I finished just a tad past 5:30, largely incoherent from the thirst, hunger and pain, but I really wasn’t as upset as I thought I would be. My best friend, Justine was there, my amazing cousin was there, and I had my new teammates who just dominated that course. And I was done.

Analysis: A couple things contributed to my disappointing run. I showed up to this race way over race weight. There’s just no excuse for that, especially since I’m now a sponsored athlete. I owe it to my sponsors and teammates to show up, not only prepared from a training standpoint, but also to ensure that my body is prepared. Light is fast. Light is healthier on my joints. The next race will be different.

I also truly believe that screwing up nutrition and hydration can make you more susceptible to injury during hard training. The only time I ever truly bonked on a training ride I ended up with nerve damage so bad in my left hand that I couldn’t open doors with that hand for months. Your body needs fuel to stay healthy. Needs volume to stay lubricated. This will be different at the next race.

This was my first race with Team Timex and I really wish I could have represented the team better. But the great thing about having the race I did right before camp was that it really allowed me to go into all of our sponsor talks eager to learn about ways to make myself better and faster. I can’t wait to use the Trigger Point products to heal these legs, Nathan Hydration products to help work on training and race nutrition, my new Timex Race Trainer kit that integrates directly with Training peaks to log my training and diet progress, information from our nutritionist from Power Bar on daily nutrition, use the Gaiam core strength products to tone my body and get more flexible, and to really use all the incredible resources of our other sponsors to get better as the season goes on. I do really realize what a truly fortunate and unique experience being on the team represents. And I will not take it for granted.

I am officially a Trekkie!

Jodi — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 11:53:20 +0000

Bike companies all have their own reputations. Trek has always been known for its outstanding customer support. I realized this week that its not just their main office, but also the Trek franchise stores.

I planned my trip to Florida with the Trek in mind. I wanted to get the new bike on the road before racing Oceanside. Well, since I ordered an Equinox WSD and not a TTX, my frame came in a little bit late. I got the call that the bike was ready to ship on Friday, after already arriving in Florida. I knew I needed to have the bike shipped here so I could still ride it, but how on earth was I going to fit this bike, which is a different size and shape than the one I was already riding??? On a whim, I walked up to the Trek store and asked for some information. I figured all I really NEEDED was a trainer to set up the bike and maybe I could fumble my way through the fitting if I could have the Cervelo set up next to it. They gave me the email address of the owner, so I sent him a quick email to see if I could use their shop after the bike arrived. I am not exaggerating- I got a reply 2 minutes later! Not only could I fit my bike in their shop, but he had me set up an appointment with their best fitter.

Yesterday, less than a day after receiving the bike I spent 4 hours at the shop going through every aspect of the fit of the Trek. We had to swap out the stem, cut the bars, and make dozens of minute adjustments. I picked up my bike today and spent 32 miles tucked in the aero position of the new bike, enjoying every second of it!

Here is the Beautiful Little Miss Bigwheels, fresh off the press!

And here are the wonderful people who helped me- Joesph Du Bois and Alex Saputo of Trek Naples/Estero Thanks so much, guys! You’re the best. If anyone out there finds their way to South Florida, stop by their shop and say hi!

And the obligatory riding pics

I love my new bike!

:-)

Match Day Madness!

Jodi — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 21:47:34 +0000

Today was my first day in Florida for the second phase of camp (I call it, the anaerobic phase…) with Lanny and the crew. I knew that I was going to be super nervous for the match so we filled up the morning with some amazing training. The morning ride wasn’t exactly what I had planned, as Lanny said it would be an “easy” 22mph ride. On the way out I said to Lanny- I don’t know if it’s my nerves or my fitness, but this ain’t easy! He assured me it was my nerves. The fact that the roads were soaking wet and I was getting pelted with rocks in the face from the tire in front of me didn’t help…

Then on the way home I figured it would get easier since it wasn’t against the wind. Then I realized that I was clicking into bigger and bigger gears until I was maxed out. And cars weren’t really whizzing by us as fast as they had been. I asked Lanny how fast we were going (which is a fun feat when your heart rate is 178. We were traveling at 28.5 mph. On the freaking flat. This went on for about 15 miles. I almost died. Seriously. And TOMORROW is the hard ride. Lovely.

Anywhoo, I didn’t die, but we all did get absolutely COATED in grime. Sometimes getting dirty can be fun

:-)

This is me after the ride, posing how I felt- as though I had been run over by a truck

Lanny:

My friend Anita, who hosted me on her boat at Steelhead last year:

Lanny and I, posing in our matching, grime covered jerseys

Then after the ride we went to the pool for 3000 meters (again, to keep my mind off the match..) I felt really bad on the ride, but felt like a million bucks in the pool. Every once in awhile there is a day where it just feels like I’m flying over the water instead of in it. That was today. A former collegiate swimmer was in the pool and told me that I have a great stroke. What a compliment!

Unfortunately the swim had to end and I had to do the inevitable. Wait for the match results. We counted down the minutes to noon waiting for the big email (my whole class was sitting in a big room celebrating together). At noon, no email. 12:05 no email. Classmates were excitedly posting on facebook their match results. Still nothing. So my great friend and former roommate Matt walked over to the big room where they have their ceremony to find out where I”ll be spending the next 4 years of my life and gave me a call….

DENVER!!!!!

I was so excited and relieved I can’t even really explain it. It was such a tough decision for me. I changed my rank list twice in the last week before the deadline and ended up ranking Denver first. There are a multitude of reasons, but here are a few:

One of my very best friends and former roommate of 4 years, Colleen and her most amazing husband Eric. Colleen will be my colleague once again as she is blazing a trail as an intern in Emergency at Denver General right now. She was an amazing mentor and support person throughout this craziness

My brother and his family. We aren’t related by blood but we grew up together just the same. He and his family have been in Denver for years and years and I can’t WAIT to spend more time with them!

Fast Will and Stephanie are up in Denver. Just awesome people

Big Will (on the right of the picture) and his family are also up in Boulder. I haven’t seen him in years and hope to be able to pop up there to visit the crew.

And rounding out the Boulder gang (although I think about half of Team Timex is up there and I’ll soon have even more semi-local peeps!) is MarkyV, self proclaimed king of the camera self-portrait. But of course, I’m posting a pic that he actually DIDN’T take of himself!

So all in all, I am completely thrilled with the day and the match. Lanny bought a nice bottle of Champagne and we are having a dinner party in a couple hours. Then of course, that “hard” ride tomorrow. yippeee…..