Tribal Sprint Triathlon

I woke up at 3:30am for an early triathlon which had a start time of 6:15--a 1 hour and 15 minute drive from my house. I'm not even close to being a fast swimmer or biker, but I love to run and I thought my goal for this race is not let anyone pass me on the run. I accomplished the goal. Not a soul passed and yes, there were still people behind me. I'll take the small accomplishments as I can get them. I really love the run course, as it is a lot of trail running, which you don't often find in a triathlon.

Hiking

I hiked Squaw Peak tonight for the first time. It was step after step again. I also saw an old friend I grew up with who was in town. I ruined all the working out I did by eating Australian licorice in marionberry flavor. It tasted like my hometown of Puyallup, Washington when I used to buy berries on the side of the road. So I got a taste of Puyallup with a Puyallup friend. How sweet is that?

Great Wall of China Marathon

On May 15, 2010, I completed one of the hardest marathons in the world and loved every minute of it. I felt stronger than Lima and didn't struggle as much, even though my finish time was longer. I went with a marathon tour group to Beijing and had the absolute best experience—met lifelong friends.

Race Day
My group got up at 3:00am and took a two hour drive to the start line. When I was getting out of the bus, I heard "Jennifer" and turned around and yelled, “shut up!!” A group of people I did Antarctica with were standing right there! It was an Antarctica reunion! Then I walked to the start line and bumped into a bunch of Phoenix runners I know. Shut up again! Apparently we all meet up in random parts of the world to run.

So the race started and up the hill we went for a 5K elevation change of 1000 feet and the entrance to the Great Wall, where I climbed over 5100 steps of various sizes. So hard and the course bottlenecked quite a bit. But then we got to the road and ran through the villages. It was awesome!

Throughout the race in the villages, little kids came out and yelled "hello" with their cute faces. All were standing there wanting to give us high fives. Little girls picked bouquets of dandelions to give to us and when we'd take it, they'd get so excited. I'd ask to take some of the kids’ pictures and they would all give me these incredibly funny poses with the peace sign. They were the most precious thing I've ever seen in my life. Adults came out with their kids and started clapping and I couldn’t stop smiling through my pain. We ran past a school where children would sing a song each time a runner passed. They all held flags and would jump up and down singing. What a beautiful running experience!

We went up many hills and had beautiful views, then through farmland on very strange soil with lots of rocks.

Then came the wall again and this time around was so hard. It started at mile 21 and was the most hilarious thing I have ever seen in my life. If someone ever asks me what the funniest thing you’ve ever seen, I will say mile 21 and 22 of the Great Wall of China Marathon. It looked like a war zone. Bodies were strewn about. People just collapsed over the steps. I looked over next to me and a woman was crawling up the steps and I felt so badly for her, but then three minutes later I was doing the same thing. It actually made it easier to crawl. One guy was cramping so badly he was laying over the whole step and we had to go over him. Men who looked incredibly, incredibly, incredibly athletic would take 10 steps, and then turn around and just sit. One girl sat down and tried going up the steps backwards while sitting. There was also no water for the hardest part of the course. The aid stations ran out (Lima all over again). So there were all these empty water bottles lining the wall and all of us who weren't dead lying on the steps were going through them trying to find some that had just even a little water in them. We all looked homeless or dead. I'm glad my sense of humor was still alive because this was the funniest thing ever. By the end, the last 5K was downhill and I just ran an 8:30 pace.

Beijing
I went to a silk factory, the Forbidden City, saw the flag raising at Tiananmen Square, went through local neighborhoods on rickshaws, had lunch in local person's home and saw all the Olympic stuff--Bird's Nest and the Water Cube where Michael Phelps won all his medals.

We had an evening gala for all the runners, which included an ice sculpture of the Great Wall. The gala took place at the Beijing Hotel, which is grand and luxurious and I was escorted in by men holding umbrellas over my head—how celebrityish did I feel?

I also went to the Temple of Heaven, which lived up to its name. It was a park that had Chinese people doing all this line dancing and exercises and just simply playing together. I've never really seen adults play. They had hacky sack, cards and people doing sing-a-longs. In one area, there was a band playing with a conductor and everyone had song books. So someone would get up and say let's sing page 98 and everyone would turn to that page and this whole crowd would start singing. How cool is that??? One area of the park had people doing all these dances like the electric slide and another area had these couples ballroom dancing, then a designated area with outside gym equipment. I've never, in all the places I've ever been, have ever seen anything like it.

I also went to an acrobatic show with these young men and women who are Cirque de Soleil and Chinese gymnastic team trainees. They are incredibly strong and mold their bodies into very uncomfortable-looking positions. At one point, about 15 women were straddled on top of each other on one single bike as one girl kept pedaling.

While out shopping at the market, I bartered for a necklace with a Chinese symbol on it. I could choose between a symbol that said “Love”, “Happiness” or “Good Health”. I chose good health. I pondered why I would choose health over love and happiness. Why is health the most important to me? Is it because when you have your health you have everything? I think it is because if I can fill my life with experiences like the one I had in China, running and discovering a new place in the world and doing what I love, it makes me happy. But I cannot do that without my health. I guess if I have my health, I can continue to do what I love and that brings me an incredible amount of joy and happiness.

Danskin SheRox Triathlon

Finished another triathlon today, just a sprint, but loved it. It's hard work and you push yourself to the limit, but it's over before you know it. I haven't been swimming much this year, but it was a short swim and caught up with many in the wave before me. The race was an all-female triathlon and those are sooo much better. I can't say that I miss the men coming at me at 25 mph on the bike. I now leave for China in two days. That is one tough racing schedule:
1. Lima Marathon (which was the worst marathon ever!) on 5/2
2. SheRox Triathlon on 5/8
3. Great Wall of China Marathon on 5/15

Three races, three weeks in a row. I'll rest when I'm dead.

Lima, Peru Marathon

My life is mostly awesome. I have a good life and do a lot. However, there are three instances when my life is not awesome: 1. when I get migraines, 2. when I get sick, 3. when I run a marathon. My life is especially not awesome when all three things happen at once.

I ran the Lima, Peru marathon this past weekend. It was my second trip to Peru. One of my very good friends lives there and is a beautiful, hospitable person and I purposely picked this marathon to also visit her. I had the best time meeting her friends, speaking loads of Spanish and eating delicious Peruvian food of perfect cuts of meats and chocolate caliente con crema. I loved my short, quick trip to South America. However, I cannot say the same about the marathon.

I had just come off a nice half marathon in Salt Lake City and felt fantastic, ready to run a 42K with no problem. I had finished an Ironman last year and ran an easy marathon. So I thought, it'll be fun to see the city on a running tour. Unfortunately, I got crazy sick a few days before I left. I was in my doctor's office the day before I flew out begging for medicine. The morning of the race I woke up covered in sweat and legs cramping--not ideal for running miles and miles.

The race was definitely an experience. The course was open to traffic and people drive like New Yorkers on steroids--only one rule--go as fast as possible and don't worry about pedestrians. As I was running, I heard a honk behind me and turned around to see a huge bus full of people nipping at my heels right on the course. Runners had to obey traffic rules and stop and wait for the light. I ended up getting hit by a motorcycle. Additionally, I was sick and the course only had 7 aid stations, 4 of which had water. But I was so far behind because of the accident and complete leg cramping, two of the aid stations had closed down. I had no gels, no water and couldn't run because it hurt so much. I almost dropped out twice. I even had to borrow a cell phone from a fellow runner to tell my friend I was going to be finishing much, much later than originally anticipated. One cop told me I had to remove my iPod because of the danger and another offered me his half drunken bottle of Gatorade (I think because he felt such pity for me limping through the course). It was hard to find my way through the course because I was so far behind I couldn't follow other runners. I find it funny now, but my humor had disappeared by the 4 hour mark. I had to stop to ask people which way to go. Thank goodness for my Spanish otherwise I would have ended up running half way to Bolivia.

I will not say my time, but it did take me much longer than the marathon I ran in an Ironman, which I didn't start until 9 hours into the race. Better luck to me next time.

Happy Birthday to Me

In my 32nd year, I accomplished the following:
1. Completed an Ironman
2. Completed a marathon in Europe
3. Ran 4 half marathons from AZ to UT
4. Completed another half ironman
5. Lived by myself
6. Completed many triathlons
7. Wrote a lot
8. Had braces for 4 months and now have straight teeth

In my 33rd year, I will do another couple of international marathons (I hope, depending on my health) and work on my writing and cooking skills and maintain a positive attitude. Last year I learned that misery does not always love company.

Los Angeles Times Festival of Books

I spent the weekend in Los Angeles attending the fabulous festivities of the Festival of Books that overtakes the campus of UCLA. I enjoyed celebrities and writers and celebrity/writers. I listened to Bernadette Peters sing, Henry Winkler read from his children's book, Meg Cabot give a very cute Powerpoint presention, Todd Bridges complain about child actors, Jeffrey Ross roast audience members, Alicia Silverstone discuss the power of super hero vegetarianism and female vampire novelists and single female memoir writers. I also ate delicious food, walked a beautiful pier in Long Beach and spent time with great friends. It was the second city stop of my around the world birthday tour. Happy birthday to me tomorrow. The next stop is Tempe, then Lima, Peru.