finished vineman, hit a toilet

Today I injured myself on the toilet.

But not the way you think.

I was hanging a mirror on the wall behind the toilet (it's a mirror with little mustaches on it, and I like to hang it behind the toilet so when guys come over -- which really means when the mister comes over since the days of other guys at my house are long gone and not even my dad will visit me because my parents think Minnesota is cold all the time and are afraid of it -- and pee, it looks like they have a mustache on their man parts) and somehow rammed my left shin really hard against the toilet bowl. And now my shin hurts, and a bruise is forming.

But I can't wait for the mister to come back from his business trip to Asia so he can pee at my house.

Anyway, that's kind of what my life has been like lately: Muddling through, nesting, occasionally having misadventures. (Two weeks ago I puked at the ferry terminal in Seattle. But that's another story for another time. And it doesn't involve man parts, so it's not as interesting.)

I did, however, finish Vineman. It seems like awhile ago (especially since the full Ironman Vineman 140.6 happened today, and other bloggers who are better about being bloggers are probably blogging about the 140.6 on their blogs while I'm just now -- almost three weeks later -- getting around to casually mentioning the 70.3).

In a nutshell: I forgot my Garmin, so I did the entire race with no clue what my pace was. (At first, I freaked out a little. But after awhile, not having a watch was refreshing.) I ended up doing a few seconds better than my last Vineman in 2014 on the swim and the bike, and then totally blew up on the run, which was not surprising since I had a late wave start, got caught in the heat and had some stomach problems. And I also haven't been running as much or doing any track workouts this year, so I didn't really deserve a good run anyway.

Out of T2: The best I looked on the run (photo by Layla).

Swim: 47:43 (one day, I swear it, I'll hit 45:00)
T1: 4:03
Bike: 3:25:16 (I love this course more than any other course ever and it will always be joyous)
T2: 3:25
Run: 2:37:17 (I ended up in a port-a-potty for a very long time)
Overall: 6:57:44 (which I'm OK with -- I just wanted a sub-7)

I hate gun time vs. chip time on this thing.

Other random thoughts about Vineman: It's not the race I remember anymore. Ironman completely took it over, so instead of wine barrels at the finish and local sponsors at the expo, the finish line was typical Ironman-style and the sponsors were all national companies. We also had gear bags for the first time ever. And mandatory bike drop-off on Saturday. And there were 500 more athletes in the field, so the race was crowded -- I actually got boxed in on the bike and was worried about drafting penalties (which is something I've never worried about ever because I am usually slow and alone). And at packet pick-up, they routed you through the merchandise tent (which is so Ironman). And no more misting station at La Crema (which was sad, since it was really freaking hot out there).

Pre-race checklist: "Oh shit. My Garmin."

I missed the smaller race feel, and I'll admit I made a few grumpy "back in my day" comments. But that said, I thought T1 was better organized, the buoys on the swim were better and the swim finish was much easier to navigate. I also liked the new T2 setup -- less time awkwardly running with your bike into transition. Oh, and the medals this year were much cooler.

But as always, the very best thing ever about Vineman is how it feels like coming home. I love seeing my friends and riding through my old stomping grounds and feeling grateful for the way triathlon has taught me to be brave when I was going through some really rough times in my life (divorce! death! depression!). I will forever have a special place in my heart for this race.

Best body marking ever.

Vineman isn't Vineman without Layla.

Thank you to Jason, my buddy from IMAZ and sherpa for the day.

Much love also to Coeur Sports -- proud to be an ambassador and represent out there alongside my teammates!