Vineman Race Report

Two weekends ago on August 4th I did the Vineman ironman up in Sonoma county.  It was an amazing experience that I will never forget and I was very happy to have a great race.  The ironman distances are a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and a 26.2 mile run.  While the race was the culmination of the last year of training in Poland it really felt like the culmination of the last several years of solid triathlon training.  It was an unbelievable feeling to have a great race after so much preparation.  In Warsaw we were fortunate to live near a 50 meter pool and with all the time I wanted for training my swimming really improved.  And the many many long bike rides in aerobars around Warsaw made me strong enough to keep running through the heat to 15^th place overall!  My splits were:

 

Swim 59:23.0  T1 3:12.5  Bike 5:39:50.0  T2 3:45.9 Run 03:56:10.5  Finish 10:42:21.9

 

My finish time goal was 10:30 and I am really happy to have been close to that goal.  I was originally inspired for ironman by Mirek B.’s race last year at Coeur d’Alene where he broke 10 hours, and I wanted to do that too.  Later on I realized just how hard sub-10 is and adjusted my goal to 10:30!  Two weeks before the race I had the pleasure and honor of talking with Clydesdale Koepf after his successful negotiation of the Hell Week of Navy Seal training.  Clyde’s attitudes about life and becoming a SEAL were a real inspiration to me and really helped me to prepare mentally.  I had a lot of help from Ironman Fujiubear in making my strategy for the race and getting mentally prepared.  It was inspiring to have Lauren, Fuijiubear and Kalil and others cheering me on during the race.

 

This year in March I had a sudden training breakdown with IT band friction syndrome.  It was a serious moment for me because I had already spent most of the previous year injured with a stress fracture.  It really caused me to examine where triathlon fits into my life especially since I wasn’t working at the time and training was the only thing I was doing.  For several months after I was unsure if I would be able to get ready for the race.  By increasing my resting periods I was able to stay healthy, heal, and still build the mileage I needed.  It was a more enjoyable way to train.

         

The swim started at 6:45am at the Russian River in Guerneville.  We got to transition when it opened at 5:30am so I had plenty of time to set up while Lauren volunteered as a body-marker.  I approached T1 just like a shorter triathlon except that in addition to my helmet I had a fresh pair of bike shorts (chamois buttered), spray-on sunscreen, a dry sleeveless bike jersey, and a bunch of gels to stuff into the jersey pockets.  My aero drink was filled with salt water to have first thing on the bike.

 

I got in the water about 5-6 minutes before the start because I didn’t want to waste energy on a warm up for an ironman and the water was a cozy 76 degrees.  The atmosphere at the start was really relaxed with lots of people joking back and forth about how out of shape they were and maybe they should do a warm up to try and build some fitness.  I thought I would be more nervous but mostly I was just really excited to be there and was actually looking forward to the swim.  I was feeling comfortable and confident in my wetsuit from Owen B.’s swim races every Friday morning in Lake Anza.  The airhorn went off and there was some fast swimming in the first 200 yards but then everyone settled in away from each other.  There were about 100 guys in my wave so it was nothing like the hectic swims of the bigger Ironman races.  It was a twice out and back course and it seemed like it took forever to get to the first turn around but I told myself to not worry and just stick to my strategy.  My plan was to swim the first lap breathing bilaterally to keep my breathing steady and to keep my pace down. 

 

When I got back to the start for the second lap I had stayed bilateral.  I looked down at my watch underwater and saw 30:08 and was really excited. I knew I could break 1 hour which had been my goal all year.  I immediately kicked into overdrive and was breathing every stroke and passing people.  It was great to watch people slide by and listen to the water rushing past my ears!  One guy with red sleeves accelerated to my speed and we stayed neck and neck for almost the entire second lap until he dropped off with about 300 yards to go.  We probably could have both gone faster if we had worked together but I guess neither of us wanted to slow down for even a moment to get behind the other.  I was careful to keep my breathing steady and smooth to avoid an upset stomach.

 

When I got out of the water I felt absolutely fabulous and there were quite a lot of people lining both sides of the swim exit ropes.  It was a roar from everyone cheering super loud and I felt like a real superstar running through and the announcer saying my name and ‘under an hour.’  I ran into the changing tent and switched my shorts and then back out to put on my jersey, spray on the sunscreen, stuff the food in the pockets, put my helmet on, and run out.  Lauren was running alongside me on the way out and I said ‘How awesome was that!!’ 

 

My emotions were doing funny things as I pedaled out in the first few miles.  I got a little teary-eyed because I just felt so good and it felt unreal that the race was going well after so much preparation.  I felt so lucky to be healthy and be able to be there on that day to put in my best performance.

 

In “Going Long” Gordo recommends breaking the bike up mentally into four parts: 0-30 mi, 30-60 mi, 60-90 mi, and 90-112.  For the first two parts his advice in a nutshell is to relax, eat and drink a lot, and hold back on your pace and save the pain for the meat of the ride which is miles 60-90.  This strategy really worked for me.  I cruised through the first lap of the bike right on pace for my goal of 5:30 and I had eaten and drank well.  At mile 60 I felt terrible for a few minutes but I knew that this always happens to me on every training ride at mile 60 for some reason so I told myself to not panic and to stay strong.

 

From miles 60-90 I really started pushing and I was flying especially on the flats.  Then around mile 85 I heard a weird noise like something big had slapped my back wheel.  I thought I might have a flat so I pulled over and stepped off.  I looked at the disk cover on my rear wheel which is a plastic cover over the spokes that is normally held on by 8 bolts around the circumference.  All of the bolts except 3 were missing and the rest had shaken themselves loose!  I was really worried because I thought for sure one of the others would loosen soon also and the covers would start flapping like crazy in the wind.  3 is the minimum number needed to hold it in place without it slipping down and rubbing the brake or the hub.  I tightened the 3 bolts by hand and luckily it never bothered me again!  I checked it twice more before the bike finish and after the third time the bolts were still tight so I tried to ignore it and concentrate on pedaling.

 

By mile 90 I had bigger problems:  muscle cramps in my right hamstring and left quad.  These were the same muscles that cramped in my half ironman two months ago.  The problem with cramping in my experience is that once certain muscles learn to cramp when you are dehydrated then they keep doing it for the rest of the season.  I decreased my pace a little to where I could hold off the cramping and I was happy to roll in to T2 only 9 minutes off my goal time.  But at the same time I was thinking “I’m starting a marathon and I have muscle cramps?”

 

I just started running and luckily the cramps got a little better with the running although they still constantly threatened to lock up.  I didn’t think I could possibly be that dehydrated because I had drunk water continuously on the bike and had taken all of the salt I had planned to take.  But I decided the cramps must be from dehydration so at every aid station I stopped running to walk and drink a cup of water and a cup of Gatorade.  The run was a three-lap out and back course, so about 4.3 miles out to the turnaround and there were four aid stations on that stretch.  The Gatorade and water seemed to help the cramping and I cruised through the first lap at about 8:15 pace. 

 

Heading out for the second lap I still felt great and I gave a high five to Emile who had driven up that afternoon to watch.  I kept cruising, drinking and walking through every aid station.  At about mile 10 it started to be difficult to keep that pace and by the time I finished the second lap I had slowed down to about 9:00 pace or slower.  I ran into transition to get more salt tablets and water and then headed out again.  I knew I could keep the cramps away if I kept drinking and I knew I could run the rest of the way, but I wasn’t exactly looking forward to it!

 

On the third lap most people were walking.  The big exception was one guy way in front of me who kept passing by in the opposite direction and looked absolutely strong like he was charging through a 10K.  It was the most amazing thing to watch him keep pushing and flying at that pace and to see the crazed look on his face.  I yelled at him to GO GO! every time he came by.  It was a huge contrast to most people who were walking or staggering in the heat. 

 

When I got out to the last turnaround both legs were cramping in nearly all muscles and I was nauseous from all the Gatorade.  The problem was to try to balance the nausea with the cramping: each cup of Gatorade would help the cramps but would slosh around more in my stomach and make me more nauseous.  My legs were super tight but I knew I could keep running and I just kept going at just below the pace of total cramping onset.  The odd thing in the last 4 miles, which were like a dream now thinking back, was slowly passing people who were staggering along at 10:30 pace while I was holding about 9:30 pace.  I would come up shoulder-to-shoulder with someone and it would seem like neither of us were really moving but at the same time I was breathing really hard and the speed differential was large enough that no one would stay on my shoulder for more than a second.

 

For some reason the second and third aid stations were spaced further from each other and in between was the hottest, hilliest, least shady section.  Once I got through that on the way back for the last time I had two miles to go and I knew I would break 4 hours on the run.  It was just a matter of waiting for my poor legs to get me there.

 

Running the last stretch in the finishing chute I realized I had become an ironman and that feeling was hard to describe.  Coming across the finish was absolutely unreal since I have wondered so often about that moment for at least a year.  Ironman is a question: “can you keep running?”  I really recommend ironman if you are looking for a test of your will and you will be surprised what you can do when you get out there.  Like Clydesdale told me, you start running, and then you just keep running.  I honestly can’t wait for my next one.

 

After the race Simon and Jiyoun were there and Lauren had a pint of Ben and Jerry’s waiting for me.  We went to In-N-Out and I had two grilled cheese animal style and some of Simon’s animal style fries.

   

Slovenia!

As promised, a full report on our trip to Slovenia…this is a bit long as we really managed to cram in a lot of sightseeing and adventures in a relatively short amount of time. We also really loved Slovenia; mountains, lakes, forests, seaside, and lots of outdoor activities really made it our kind of place. Slovenia would be a great place for a cycling trip so I think we will probably find ourselves back there again some day.

 

 

We started off our trip by flying into the capital city, Ljubljana on one of those tiny planes that only have 2 seats on each side of the aisle. Arriving in Ljubljana you would not guess that you were arriving in a capital city. We walked out of customs into the arrivals part of the terminal which was about the size of a coffee shop, where people were sitting at tables drinking beer, and Pink Floyd was blasting from the speakers. It was past midnight thanks to some delays, so we were a bit worried about how to make it into town. We had missed the last bus and there was only one taxi waiting outside, with the engine running but no driver in sight, so we just stood around for a bit hoping the taxi driver was not one of the beer drinkers inside. Finally the driver came out, told us he was booked, and just as we were getting desperate another taxi showed up and took us into town. We spent our first night in a hostel that was formerly a prison. When it was changed into a hostel, each of the prison cells was designed by a different artist and turned into a double room. The bars are still left on the door and windows, which gives you the slightest feeling of being a prisoner.

 

For our first full day in Slovenia we rented a car to tour the southwestern side of the country. Slovenia is famous for having thousands of caves, and there are two places that are open to the public for guided tours. One of the options is known as the more touristic one where you ride in a Disneyland-like train to see everything. Of course Jeff and I opted for the walk-it-all-yourself and less crowded caves called Skocjan. We arrived about 15 minutes before our tour started, and while we waited another tour group finished so there were maybe 20 people milling around outside. This is when I had my “it’s a small world after all” moment. I point to a girl and tell Jeff I think I know her, that she looks like a student of mine from Albany. And sure enough, in this small little country that most people cannot even place on a map, I find a former calculus student of mine from Albany, now in college and chaperoning a group of singing students from the bay area! The caves by the way were amazing, but they do not allow photographs so you will have to trust me (or look at the link). At one point we had to cross over a little bridge that was 50 meters high with a river flowing underneath, jus to give you an idea of how big they are (you can see pictures at http://www.park-skocjanske-jame.si).

 

 

Next we found our hotel (the Farm) and relaxed for a bit before heading to the coast. The Farm is part of an agricultural tourism movement that seems to be big in Slovenia. You get a place to sleep and can opt for dinner and/or breakfast made from foods produced on the farm. We chose the breakfast option so that we could spend the evening at the seaside where Jeff could enjoy some good seafood. We drove over to the town of Piran on the Adriatic Sea, which was absolutely beautiful.
Crystal clear water, sailboats, colorful buildings, and a nice promenade along the water all made it picture perfect. Being so close to Italy, there is a lot of Italian influence on the food and architecture in Piran and the region is actually bilingual by law so everything is written in Italian and Slovene. What this comes down to is lots of good gelato which we enjoyed while walking along the water.

The next morning, we enjoyed our farm fresh breakfast, and made our way back to Ljubljana to return the car and take a bus to Bled. This is a great little town in northwestern Slovenia, right at the base of the Julian Alps. The town is famous for its picturesque lake, surrounded by mountains, and with an island in the middle that has just enough space for a café and a church. The lake is about 4 miles around, with perfectly clear water since no motors are allowed in the water. To get to the island, you can rent a row boat or ride on a pletna, the Slovenian version of a gondola with a guy who stands in the back and paddles. Or if you are like me and Jeff, you can swim to the island. I don’t think this is a very popular option, as we received many stares wandering around the little island in our swimsuits.

The next day we got up early to do training runs, 16 miles for Jeff and 18 for me. There is a nice walking path all the way around the lake, so we decided that was a good plan for our run. By the 5^th time around, I no longer thought it was such a good plan. That same afternoon we had plans to meet up with Jeff’s family’s friend’s sister Ingrid and her husband Blaz. This was really great for us since they knew the area well and took us to some amazing places. First we went to see another lake and a waterfall, which included walking up 550 stairs on rather tired legs, then they took us for a huge and much needed lunch, and finally to a gorge which was another couple miles worth of walking but in a really beautiful setting. By the end of all of this, we were thoroughly exhausted, but with just enough energy left to try the famous Bled dessert which is like a custard and cream cake that was invented by one of the hotels in Bled.

 

 

The next morning we walked up to see a castle that sits on the hill above the lake. We had a little picnic overlooking the lake and then came back down for our river rafting adventure. We signed up for a trip on a nearby river which was pretty low key, mostly level 2. We spent almost 2 hours rafting which was more tiring than I would have thought with all the paddling. The scariest (and most fun) part was at the end when they suggested we throw ourselves in and ride the current with our bodies. Jeff and I grabbed on to each other and waded into the cold water battling the strong current until we were out far enough to just drop in. The river sweeps you up and you move really fast with the current until it kind of dies down and you have to swim back to the raft.

 

 

Then we made it back to town just in time to jump on a bus back to Ljubljana for our last night in Slovenia. We weren’t sure we were going to have time to see Ljubljana in the end, but we thought well it’s just another capital city so who cares? Luckily we caught that bus which got us to Ljubljana in the evening and we were really happy to get a chance to see the old town. It really isn’t just another capital city. The main part of the old town is centered along the river and a famous bridge called Triple Bridge because there is a driving lane and then two separate pedestrian bridges all at slightly weird angles to fit a bend in the river. The end result is a pretty cool and unique looking piece of architecture. Along the river there are countless bars, cafés and restaurants with tables set up right on the sidewalk next to the river, all filled with people enjoying a nice summer evening. Jeff and I were quick to join them.

 

 

All in all, it was a great trip (and a great year!) Here are some more pictures:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=6saul2v.2dtaq2sn&Uy=cj5hog&Ux=0

 

Thanks for reading!

The End

Well here we are, our last day in Warsaw, frantically packing and cleaning the apartment. It’s hard to believe that 10 months have flown by since we arrived here; it feels like just yesterday that we were doing this same frantic packing and cleaning routine in Berkeley.

People keep asking me how do I feel about leaving Poland? Well, it’s a mixture of emotions: excitement about going home and seeing friends and family, anxiety about all the things we have to do when we get back, sadness for leaving behind our new friends and life here. Overall we are happy to be going home.  Poland has been an adventure, a worthwhile one no doubt, but there’s really no place like home.  Even as home changes from Carmel to Berkeley to Seattle.

Things I will miss about Warsaw:

• my school and my students
• bartek & anna
• wedel chocolate parlor
• 50m pool at Inflanska
• spring and fall colors
• my work schedule
• being car-free and cell-free

Things I will not miss about Warsaw:

• the food/restaurant options
• the not so friendly service people
• the winter
• being car-free and cell-free

The last day of school was intense.  First there was a final mass, then an awards presentation for the top students.  After this, Sister Ruth (the principal) made a speech about all the teachers leaving (some nuns going on to other places, a few teachers retiring or moving, etc).  She saved me for last, asking me to come up on the stage in front of everyone (teachers, students, and parents) as well 6 of my students who came up to make a speech (in Polish and then English for me).  The girls said some very nice things, but what really did it for me was when they said that I had changed their attitudes about math, to the point where they no longer feared or hated it as a subject.  Then they gave me tons presents: flowers, chocolates, a stuffed animal, a jewelry box, Polish handcrafts and more.  As a high school teacher, I feel honored to get a card at the end of the year, so you can imagine how I felt when I couldn’t even carry all of my gifts off the stage with me.  Then there was a luncheon for teachers, where I went around to everyone to say goodbye, which meant three kisses on the cheek, as well as some heartfelt wishes from each teacher, as is customary in Poland.

That same night Jeff and I left for one last trip to Slovenia.  What an amazing and beautiful country!   At the moment I do not have the time or the energy, or even the pictures that it would require to write the post that Slovenia deserves, so stay tuned….the Miodowa blog is not done yet!

p.s.  thanks to all of our faithful readers, I never thought we’d have more than 2,000 views of our blog!

London!

Last weekend Jeff and I took a short trip to London to visit Ankit and Sonia and to see the city for our first time. Cheap tickets and a 2 hour flight made it a perfect weekend getaway. Or so we thought. The 2 hour flight turned out to be just a fraction of the total time it takes to get to and from London…1+ hour bus rides to and from both airports, delays in both directions, going through security, etc made our travel time 7-8 hours each way. It was all forgotten though the moment we set foot in London, hearing English everywhere, finding a friendly Berkeley face at the tube station, and eating Sonia’s home cooked Indian food. Ankit and Sonia live in a really nice apartment in the posh neighborhood of South Kensington.

 

When you study or work abroad there is a lot of talk of experiencing “culture shock” when you arrive/leave. But what about “language shock”? I have never spent so much time in a country whose language I do not speak or understand, and after arriving in London I couldn’t get over the fact that I could read signs again, (mostly) understand people talking, and that I could walk up to a counter and confidently order a nonfat extra hot decaf latte to go.  I loved it.

Trafalgar Square

 Saturday was our big sightseeing day. We left Ankit’s flat armed with his specially designed “free guide to London” itinerary, jumped on the tube and started a walking tour to see all the famous London sights: Big Ben, London Eye, Westminster Abbey, St. Paul’s, Trafalgar Square, Tower of London and Tower Bridge. We also went to 3 museums for brief 10-15 minute tours, saw Borough market, an amazing farmer’s/homemade/gourmet foods market, and finished our day in the theater district to see the Hound of the Baskervilles play, a hilarious parody of the famous Sherlock Holmes story.

Sunday was a beautiful sunny day and we took advantage of it by staying mostly outdoors. We walked around Sonia and Ankit’s neighborhood, and went for a walk in Hyde Park, where part of the Grand Départ (a.k.a. Prologue) of the Tour de France will be this year. Before leaving London Ankit took us to Regent’s Park to see the beautiful roses that are in bloom right now. We were almost run over by an insane BMW driver, and Jeff enjoyed flipping him off while some Spaniards were also yelling obscenities at him. This was not at all our fault, all streets here are labeled with “look left/right” on the ground to avoid confusion with the driving on the wrong side of the street thing.  Then we set off on our 7 hour journey back home, which I admit was made longer by my insistence to take home 2 jars of peanut butter which meant that my bag had to be checked and then waited a half an hour for at the Warsaw airport.

 

Overall, we loved London. Jeff thinks it would be a great place to live for a year, as long as you have a high paying job. It is definitely expensive, especially coming from Warsaw, but the food was great even though people always make fun of British food, and people were so nice and smiley, plus the British accent just makes everything so fun, especially when announcing things on the tube like “mind the gap” and  “destination Cockfosters”.

 

Pictures:  http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=6saul2v.1xkgcnwb&Uy=lb4kx8&Ux=0

Moritzburg Castle Race Report

This is a long report as Moritzburg was an incredible race and part of an incredible weekend of traveling in Germany. I’m really excited about my race because although it showed me there are definitely things I need to work on for the ironman in August I definitely feel I’m on track for it. It was easily the most beautiful venue I have ever raced in and there is a link to more pictures in Lauren’s previous blog entry.

We took the train from Warsaw to Berlin last Thursday where we met Kalil and after a day of fun in Berlin we drove in a rental car down to Moritzburg, a small tourist town outside of Dresden with a big castle in the middle of a lake. I did the half ironman race on Saturday and we stayed both the night before and the night after in a sweet campground bungalow just outside of town. I was nervous about the race because I hadn’t raced in over a year due to my injuries. I was also really sore in my hamstrings from doing too many lunges last Wednesday (so stupid!). But Friday night before the race I had an unbelievable dinner of deer meat + brussels sprouts with bacon fat drizzled on them, sopped up with some squishy bread for carbo loading. Suddenly I felt great and even my hamstrings felt better. Normally I avoid bread because I eat Paleo but the massive insulin spike my body endured from those three slices of bread must have jarred the soreness out of my legs and in the morning I felt great.

One of the best parts about this race was the late start time of 11:00 am. It was an entirely less hectic experience to wake at a normal time and then saunter over to registration around 9 am. The castle loomed over the transition area which was on nice green grass just over a little stone bridge from the castle island. Entering transition a guy inspected my helmet and made sure I had all the numbers stuck on the right places. I had no trouble getting my transition set up except that it was already really hot and I was sweating like crazy in the sun. I drank my pre-race nalgene full of salt water to try to stay hydrated and hung out in the shade. Someone told me no wetsuits because the water was above 25 (= 77F). That was too bad because I had lugged my wetsuit there all the way from the States and it had already sat unused in my Polish closet all year.

The swim was a big loop around the castle including two short tunnels where the castle island met with stone bridges. It was really fun to sight for the tunnels and then go through them. I started out a little fast trying to stay with two guys who turned out to be really great swimmers who left the front pack behind. After a few hundred yards I lost them and I fell in with a small group. We weren’t really much of a group because the water was so murky with the same goose poop that had covered our picnic area the day before and you couldn’t see anyone’s feet to draft them. It was also hard to sight the little tunnel openings and we all diverged and then met up again near each tunnel. I got out with the front group around 32:40 which I was happy with considering no wetsuit. At first I suspected the course was a little long but I learned later that the top guy ‘Spiderman’ had swum a 26:29. The second swimmer ‘Faust’ came in at 28:22.

After flailing trying to get my feet in the shoes with the powercranks spinning in every direction I finally got moving on the bike. In and out of transition you had to bring the chip on your wrist close up to a big screen while a volunteer made sure that it beeped. That way nobody’s chip was unread. Once I got settled in I started drinking the red bull I had put in my aero drink. I felt fantastic even though my legs were burning pretty bad trying to stay on 2:30 pace (22 mph). By the second lap I was already struggling trying to maintain that pace and I was getting passed by all kinds of guys on nice bikes with expensive wheels and aero helmets but no swimming ability. My problem right now is that I haven’t done any fast biking since November, only concentrating on working the endurance of my ‘upstroke musculature’ with the powercranks in the aero position. Now I realize how weak my quads have become on the downstroke that I can’t even push 22 mph! By the third (last) lap I really couldn’t maintain a consistent pace and even had a little cramping in my right quad. By now most of the fast bikers had passed me although I did get to pass one guy on a Principia with a disc and an aero helmet.

I couldn’t help but notice how beautiful the bike course was with winding and rolling roads going through fields of corn and wheat. The roads were nice and smooth not like in Poland. There were lots of slower bikers out there who were doing the full iron distance having started at 7am. Those poor souls were doing six laps on the bike and 8 laps on the run.
The muscle cramp surprised me because I thought I was hydrated enough having drunk three big water bottles of malto and salt mixture and also more water from refilling the aero drink after the red bull was gone. The quad cramp was only for a split second but the cramping came back to get me later on during the run. The bike course was about 3 miles long and I came in at 2:50 for the bike including T2.

The run was an absolutely beautiful 4 laps through shady forest and along the castle’s lake. It felt fantastic to not be biking and I felt like I was running easy on one of my long training runs. After the first lap I was surprised to see I was pulling off sub 7:40 miles and was on pace to run under 1:40! The only problem was my right hamstring was on the verge of serious cramping. At least four times in the first two loops it would suddenly cramp and I would have to immediately stop and straighten the leg, stretch, and then walk it off. Other runners must have wondered about this guy who would suddenly yell and straighten his leg and start hobbling. I decided I was dehydrated so at every aid station I was stopping to drink at least two paper cups of water and collect myself a bit. That really seemed to help and by the third lap the cramping was less and I was still on pace for 1:40.

Heading out for the fourth lap Kalil was screaming at me that he had only come for two things, to kick some ass and drink some beer!! And he was almost out of beer!! I’m not sure what the German spectators made of that but I was cracking up and it really helped me stay positive for the last lap. I was still pushing and feeling strong and I decided for my stomach’s sake that I didn’t need so much water at the aid stations anymore. That worked great until about 500 meters from the finish when my hamstring suddenly cramped again big time! I was swearing to myself and looking at my watch as I tried to walk it off and stretch it at the same time. Amazingly the cramp went away and I was able to run again and actually accelerate for a nice finish in the last 100 meters coming in just under 1:40!

My finish time was 5:04 which I wasn’t super happy about having done 4:50 at vineman two years ago. But I was really happy at the finish and I still am, mostly because of how great I felt on the run. Spiderman came in at 4:23 and Faust was third about 10 minutes later. The second place guy had out-biked Spiderman by 10 minutes (2:25) and matched Spiderman’s run (1:21). If only he had gone to the pool 4 times a week he could have hung with the front pack instead of swimming a 37, then he would have won the race by several minutes. “We are triathletes not duathletes.” –J. Duff

I drank half a pint of non-alcoholic beer for recovery and we settled down at a picnic table with bratwursts. Sitting next to us were none other than Spiderman and Faust. Neither of them could explain why they had those names and especially Spiderman was confused because the announcer had just started calling him that today. Neither of them said much despite Kalil’s prodding in German and they just hunkered down over their pasta bowls.

Next to the bratwurst tent was the shower tent which I was really happy to use. I wasn’t sure whether I was going to shower in my shorts or what but when I walked up there was a guy standing naked outside of the tent slowly folding his shirt, so that answered that question. I got into the pre-shower tent and waited in line naked with everybody else.

Later when I went back to pack up my transition I wanted to change out of my race shorts. I had no towel to cover with so I looked around to see if anyone was looking. Behind me was a forty-something guy completely nude and strutting around his bike slowly plucking the race numbers off. So I just dropped the shorts right there. I love Germany. Did I mention you can drink beer on the street? You can’t do that in Poland either.

Below I’m listing what I learned from the race and what I’ll do over the next 6 weeks to prepare for ironman. If you’re interested in the training details read on…

Swim: I need to decide between breathing every three or breathing every stroke. With a wetsuit I think I could relax and breath every three and that might be more comfortable but I need to try this for long distance in open water. I breathed every stroke at Moritzburg and it felt like too much breathing and upset my stomach a little. I need to do more swimming at race pace and above to get used to dealing with the hecticness of open water. I’m aiming for a 1:00 flat swim.

Bike: I’ve got to do some hard biking to try to strengthen my quads. Ironman pace will be easier at around 20 mph or less but I don’t want the quads to die or cramp. Last fall the hip flexors (upstroke) were definitely my limiter on the long rides but now I seem to have put myself in the opposite situation. I want to do at least two 5.5 hr rides with some fast intervals included. It’s sad how slow I have become training for ironman and when ironman is all over I definitely want to go back to Olympic distance and get fast again. That is after I take about four months off to drink beer and get fat.

Run: I’ve got to get some hill running in as well as continuing to lengthen my long run. The one tiny hill on the Moritzburg loop was killing me since I’ve only been running in Poland which is flat as a pancake. There are some stairs here that I might go out and do some stadiums on. In Berkeley I’ll probably do my last long run on Nimitz way to try to mimic the vineman hills. Of course the most obvious thing is somehow I have to avoid the cramping…

Muscle Cramping: I hope this was due to being dehydrated already at the start of the race it being so hot and sweaty in the morning and also in the several days leading up to the race. It also could have been the lunges beforehand or the red bull out of the water. I’m going to be diligent about rolling my hamstrings with the PVC pipe over the next month and think about not having red bull (I was planning on having it for the last two thirds of the run at vineman). I need to be really careful to be hydrated on the bike and I think my aero drink will just have salt water to start so that will be my first nutrition on the bike to send me off right.

Germany!

Last weekend was a four day weekend thanks to a Thursday holiday (Corpus Christi) which gave us Friday off as well.  Jeff and I went to Berlin, met up with Kalil, and then went south to Moritzburg, a small town just outside of Dresden.  Crossing the border between Poland and Germany was like entering into another world.  Germany has such a clean and modern feel to it.  The main train station in Berlin looks like an airport terminal, as nice as the new SFO.  There are health food stores so big they actually have aisles, and recycling is available at street side trashcans.  Poland has some catching up to do.

 We spent the first day in Berlin where Kalil is temporarily living.  He took us on a walking tour through some famous Berlin spots like the Tiergarten and Brandenburg Gate.  Then we went to the Pergamon museum, which is an impressive collection and display of artifacts from Pergamon in ancient Greece.  Of course I was thinking of Curtis the whole time, and how this museum was probably his idea of heaven.  Then we had dinner in a trendy part of town at a great Vietnamese restaurant that made us feel like we were back in Berkeley again.  Jeff and I were both in Berlin in the summer of 1999 (but not together!) and agreed that it has changed quite a bit since then, becoming even more modern with its glass and steel structures, and even more hip with its shops and restaurants. 

Moritzburg Castle

The next day we rented a car and drove about 2 hours south to Moritzburg, which is in the Saxony region of Germany.  Moritzburg itself is not much of a town, but it draws tourists because it has a fairytale castle sitting in the middle of a lake.  It drew us because of a half ironman triathlon that Jeff wanted to do, and we considered ourselves lucky to be in such a great place, with lots of small lakes and forests all around us.  We stayed at a nearby campground in our own little bungalow which was a nice change from our usual city dwellings.   We went into Dresden for the afternoon, enjoying the sights but not so much the 90+ degree temperature that lasted into the evening.   Picnic by the lake

Saturday was the big triathlon day, which Jeff will give you all the details of, and it was another scorcher.  While Jeff was getting ready I went on an 18 mile training run, scoping out the run course for him, part of the bike course, and also some of the nicely marked forest trails.  18 miles gives you a lot of time to explore.  Kalil and I spent most of the afternoon waiting for Jeff to come in off the bike, and to watch him pass on the 4 loops of the run and cheer him on with words of encouragement.  Kalil was quite good at this, shouting and running alongside Jeff about drinking beer and kicking ass, enough to make Jeff smile and keep up his solid running pace.

 

Later that night, after recovering a bit at the bungalow, we walked the 2 miles into town, had dinner and made some friends at the only bar that we found.  The bartender Sylvio kept giving us strange alcohol to drink, and usually joined us for drinking it.  On the way back to the bungalow, Jeff insisted that I take them on one of the marked trails I had ran on that morning which would lead us back to the campgrounds.  This turned into quite an adventure when we got to the forested part of the path and realized we could not see anything and only had some matches from Sylvio’s bar to light the way.  Kalil was scared of the forest creatures and wanted to turn around, but I refused since we were so close to the campgrounds and more than a mile from town.  And so there we were, creeping along holding hands, stepping in mud puddles, with Kalil complaining about how ridiculous this was and screaming obscenities and Jeff and I convincing him that it was an Adventure and it was Fun.  We definitely lost our original path but managed to stay on some sort of groomed trail, eventually making it to the main road just few minutes from the campground.

 

It was a really fun weekend, reminding us how much we enjoy traveling with the prospects of triathlons or running, or other non-standard tourist activities.

 

Sadly my camera is starting to fail me but Kalil also took pictures, so here are links to his album: http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=7u7ybn49.6rr0idch&Uy=-8tsiwc&Ux=0

    

Na Zdrowie! (AKA: The Polish Wedding Extravaganza)

 

Last night we went to Anna and Bartek’s wedding which was quite an experience, all 12 hours of it!

I first became friendly with Bartek at the beginning of the year at our teacher retreat, otherwise known on the blog as “religious boot camp”.  We sat next to each other on the bus in what I later learned was an organized conspiracy by some of the nuns and teachers to set us up.  Of course by the end of the weekend we had discovered that we were both engaged, taking away any awkwardness of the situation, although doing nothing to dispel the rumors that eventually spread amongst teachers and students that we were an item.

Polish weddings are notorious for being wild all-nighters fueled by endless bottles of vodka.  When I asked Bartek if his wedding would last all night, he said “no, no…I only booked the band until 5am”.  Oh, only 5am!  He also mentioned that he needed to buy more vodka because he originally planned on half a liter per person, but he was worried that it wouldn’t be enough.  This was going to be an interesting night.

 

The wedding started at 5pm at a church not too far from us.  We got there about 5 minutes late and it was already in progress.  Lots of people were still trickling in and standing around in the back so we were able to slip in unnoticed.  After an hour long mass the ceremony was over, and it took another hour for everyone to individually congratulate the couple.  Then we jumped on a chartered bus that was ready to transport us to the reception across town.

The reception was in a conference style hall, with three long tables already setup for the guests.  The tables were filled with plates of salads and meats, bowls of fruit and candy, and bottles of wine and vodka.  There was just enough room left for the band and a dance floor.  There was some kind of ceremonious breaking of the bread when Anna and Bartek made their entrance and then the party started.  Throughout the night, the food never stopped coming, soup (3 times), the main dish, pierogis, bigos, meat, meat, and more meat.  The last soup was served sometime after 4am.  There were lots of funny games, like musical chairs, blindfolding the bride and groom and seeing if they could find each other by feeling stomachs (for Anna) or knees (for Bartek), and then my personal favorite, the pantyhose game…five different couples put pantyhose over the guys’ heads, and then the girls stand behind them and pull off the pantyhose, distorting the guys’ facial features in very entertaining ways.  Whoever looked the funniest (as decided by the crowd’s cheering) was the winner.  Jeff and I won and a bottle of vodka was our prize.  We left the reception close to 5am, into the daylight of Sunday morning.  Definitely a night to remember.

Some differences between Polish and American weddings that I noticed:

• You hand deliver your invitations instead of sending them

• You can invite people to the ceremony and not the reception without it being considered rude.  In fact there were probably twice as many people at the ceremony as the reception.

• The bride throws her veil to the single ladies instead of her bouquet

• The groom throws his tie/bowtie to the single men instead of a garter belt

• The lucky catchers of these two things have a special dance together and are supposed to kiss

• The best man and maid of honor are expected to kiss as well, regardless of their relationship status

• All the guests are encouraged to hold hands and make a circle around the bride and groom during their first dance.

• Every time the happy birthday song (more like the jolly good fellow song) is sung, you stand up, say na zdrozie! (cheers!) and take a shot.  This happens quite often.

My flash wasn’t working, so many of the pictures are either too dark or blurry, but you can still get the idea.  Here’s a link for the pictures: http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=6saul2v.7n9p1y8b&Uy=-vqki0t&Ux=0

Kazimierz Dolny

 

On Wednesday Jeff and I tagged along on a field trip to Kazimierz Dolny, a town in southeastern Poland.  It is about a two hour ride from Warsaw to this picturesque little town, which is famous for attracting artists, writers, and film directors (sounds like Carmel!).

 

Before actually seeing the town we stopped first at a Jewish cemetery.  The cemetery was destroyed by the Germans during WWII, and the gravestones were used to make cobblestone roads.  After the war, these gravestones were saved and returned to the cemetery, some of them still in the broken pieces that were used to make the roads.  These were formed into a wall to make backdrop for the few graves that were still left.

 

Our next stop was to see some small canyons, formed over the years by animals and people using the same paths over and over again.  The dirt is very soft and clay like, so it gives way easily.  There were some impressive tree roots around us, which I tried to capture in the photos.

 

Finally we visited the town itself which, like most Polish towns, has a nice town square, a few ornate churches, and plenty of outdoor cafes serving up pierogis and kielbasa.  Kazimierz is more on the cute and quaint side than most other Polish towns we’ve visited, although after a few hours you have really seen all there is to see.

 

The reason for this field trip is that today (June 1st) is Children’s Day.  It is a pretty big deal here, children get gifts from their parents and get to go on field trips or do other fun stuff instead of having lessons.  Almost all of the students from my school went on multi-day field trips, leaving me with most of the week off, not a bad deal!

 

Some pictures:  http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=6saul2v.7h9xftiz&Uy=-2ae9xz&Ux=0

The Fulbright Life: Part 2

Summer is here in Warsaw.  I know technically it is still spring but when it’s light out at 9pm and temperatures are in the 80’s, it’s hard to not think that it’s summer time.

Last Friday was our Fulbright end of the year luncheon and awards presentation at the US Ambassador’s home.  We started off with lunch at a nice Polish restaurant, which thankfully was not serving fried cheese for the vegetarians (instead it was some sort of mushroom stew with a baseball sized dumpling in the middle).  Next we made our way to the Ambassador’s house, whose upscale neighborhood was given away by all the Range Rovers, which are rare in Poland (as are any cars bigger than a mini cooper).  The house is all about elegance with marble floors, chandeliers, strange art, and of course poster sized framed photographs of George W, Cheney, and Condoleezza smiling down on us.  The reception was outside in a nice garden, where champagne, wine, and fancy finger foods where passed around.  The Ambassador gave us a speech congratulating us on our accomplishments and then awards were given out to all grantees, American (finishing their year) and Polish (about to begin their year).  The intelligence in the room was intimidating.  Polish grantees were going to top notch universities, like MIT, Berkeley, Stanford, Harvard, UCLA and more.  My award was made out to “Professor Lauren H. Picard”.  Now that’s a keeper!

The K. Oldhams came to town!

 

We just had the pleasure of back to back weekend visits with Kenn and Kalil, both taking side trips to Warsaw during their own European adventures.  Now that spring is in full effect here it was a nice (although slightly wet) time for a visit.  As Jeff kept saying, “a month ago Warsaw was an arctic wasteland and now it’s a tropical jungle”   Maybe this is a bit of an exaggeration, but Warsaw really has been transformed by the sunshine, bushy green trees, and colorful tulips that have sprouted up all over the city in the last month.

 

While the Oldhams were in town we enjoyed some nice long walks, trips to many different parks, kielbasa and pierogi tastings, a Chopin concert on the grass, peacock sightings, Wedel hot chocolate, and shots of homemade vodka that made you feel like you were a fire-breathing dragon.

 

And that marks the end of our careers as Warsaw tour guides; with only a month and a half before we leave we don’t have anymore visitors coming and we will be busy traveling ourselves for most of the weekends that we have left!

Pictures:  http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=6saul2v.66ugwlcz&Uy=nth9gd&Ux=0