vineman, here I come

Back from the Penisula (yes, that was on purpose). Listening to my triathlon playlist. (Trust me, you don't want to know. Remember, I'm the girl who sings love songs to her bike.) Thinking about Vineman. And how I'm planning to paint my nails black. And race the shit out of that motherfucker. (I am also the girl who writes about love songs and motherfuckers in the same paragraph.)

I had a lot of fun training this weekend. Nothing like exploring a beautiful place while doing the sports you love. Here's a quick recap:

Swim

Never in my life did I ever think I would bring a wetsuit on vacation and voluntarily go to the second-deepest lake in the entire state of Washington and jump in like it's no big deal.

But that's exactly what happened: I went to Lake Crescent -- 600 feet deep and carved by a glacier -- and was the only person crazy enough to go for a swim. I entertained quite a few people during their family barbecues, especially when I swam through one spot that had a ridiculously cold undercurrent that tried to tug me out farther into the lake, and I popped out of the water long enough to yell: "Holy shit, that's cold!" (Yes, in front of children. I don't discriminate.)

Other than that small section, the temperature was nice -- much better than Aquatic Park in San Francisco. And the water was amazingly clear and so, so incredibly blue.

Not the best shot, but you could see rocks and sand under the water, and you could tell exactly where the shore suddenly dropped off into a huge blue abyss, with the outlines of vague large shapes -- I told myself they were trees, but ravenous lake monsters were also a possibility -- floating in it. I stayed the hell away from there -- it was like a giant cerulean hole just waiting to suck me in with its icy glacier waters. Instead, I swam laps back and forth along the shore. And the water was so clear that I didn't really have to sight -- I just looked down and stayed away from the giant dropoff point.

And then I got out of the water and promptly realized I had forgotten to pack underwear and a bra. Apparently, clothing was not my strong point during this trip.

Bike

Two rides this weekend: On Saturday, I was supposed to do an easy hour-long ride in Zone 2. When you're staying in the mountains in the middle of nowhere, there is no such thing as Zone 2. I ended up doing hill repeats for an hour.

One hill was so steep I found myself caught in the slow cadence of death, with my heart pounding so loudly I thought my eardrums were going to burst. I had to dismount and do the walk of shame the rest of the way.

What humiliation looks like.

Other hazards of riding at elevation in the middle of nowhere:

My worst nightmare.

The roads were littered with these horrible, horrible creatures. They were enormous. And when they got squished, they were five times more disgusting. I want to barf just looking at that photo. In fact, I probably should excuse myself and wash my finger with lye, just in case.

Thankfully, yesterday's ride was not as traumatic, though it definitely was an adventure. I took the Olympic Discovery Trail toward Sequim. Imagine riding in aero, against a backdrop of waves gently hitting the shore.

And then you burst into a tunnel of green.

And then, just as you are marveling over how wonderful and gorgeous the world is, and how your bike is the best thing ever and you should really start lobbying to legalize bike marriage, this happens:

 

And then you find yourself stumbling and carrying your bike. I eventually turned around and went back the other direction. Ended up riding to the Elwha River, which was also amazing and did not involve carrying Muppet across large portions of gravel.

Although I may or may not be humping her in this photo.

Run

Best transition run ever after yesterday's bike ride: Thirty minutes at an 8:53 average pace. I don't think I've ever done anything like that ever. I'm going to conclude that all those track workouts are paying off.

I also ran Friday -- did an easy 8-miler along the waterfront.

 

And now it's time to taper: Five days and 14 hours until Vineman.