June 7th - Bonelli Championship Olympic - this race actually is a transferred entry from last year, when a nearby fire forced them to cancel. I'm really excited about this one, though I know basically nothing about the course.
June 14th - Valley Crest Half-Marathon - this will be my first official half-marathon, and I'm SO excited - apparently quite beautiful, and is all trail running, which is my absolute favorite thing.
July 4th - Possibly Palisades 10k, if I'm back from Israel in time.
July 19th - Playa del Rey Aquathon - this is Robert's doing, the sneaky devil. I am not so great with swimming in the ocean, so what does he do? "Suggests" I do a bloody aquathon at Dockweiler, which is not known for the world's smoothest waters.
August 1st - Barb's Race Half-Ironman - the world's only all woman half-ironman, in beautiful Wine Country, Northern California. I'm so psyched - this is the exact course of the Vineman 70.3, just on a different day (on the day of the Vineman full!)
September 27th - Carpinteria Oly - a beautiful race near Santa Barbara (wine country - great way to end a busy season!)
I am so excited, and can't wait to race again, and start my season right.
You see, I started the season by attempting the Wildflower Half-Ironman, a race known as the "woodstock of triathlon" since athletes from all over come to camp out the night before, and race the next day. I worked my ass off training for this, as the course is quite difficult (the bike is tough, with the hard hills coming at mile 40 of a 56 mile bike course) and the run is known as a killer. This season, I have been having an absolute blast with running, and especially with trail running, so I was really excited. Unfortunately, it was not to be, as at mile 2 of the bike, my stomach started hurting, and by mile 41, I was done for. I managed to finish the bike course, which is good, but because I was so sick and spent so much time in aid stations, I missed the bike cut off and couldn't go on the run. This is probably G-d doing for me what I couldn't do for myself, as I wouldn't have made it through that run. I spent two hours in the med-tent, proceeded to collapse, and the next day went to the ER. They are still not sure what's going on, so I have to get more tests in a month. Till then, getting back to training, and am all the more determined to get stronger, faster, and perform amazingly well at Barb's!
Kate, I didn't know you were a blogger too! I know Wildflower was a really rough day for you. You've got an amazing season planned, and I know you're so determined and you're going to have some great races.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, Bonelli's bike course isn't too bad; it's three loops and there's one pretty big hill on each loop.