It was really funny (Sugoi even gave me props on Twitter for it!) so the SF/Marin Summer ’09 Triathlon Team in Training expanded the list. Some are specific to training in the San Francisco Bay Area but I think everyone can relate

You know you’re training for a triathlon when…

… your targeted facebook ads switch from “Diet” and “Engagement Ring” to “Tri Race Registrations.”
…you carry Clif Shotblocks in your Louis Vuitton purse.
…you have Body Glide residue left on your neck from morning swim, at work, wearing a dress.
…it’s Shark Week but you STILL go swimming in the SF Bay…in the dark.
…you spend more time in the shower with your wetsuit than your significant other.
…your parents give you birthday money for a bike – two years in a row.
…you’ve never been more excited about nail polish because you absolutely must hide the black nail on your second toe.
…tan lines are no longer sexy and you have multiple gradients of color on your leg from bike, tri, and run shorts.
…you wear your Polar heart monitor watch 24/7 to gauge the speed and accuracy of everyday tasks.
…you realize your heavy drinking actually correlates to longer work outs and you pat yourself on the back. Carb up!
… you’re invited to dinner by a beautiful girl and your first thought is “when can i get my training in”, before all of the normal considerations.
… the smell of sunscreen overpowers the aftershave you put on after your shower.
… you look forward to the shower in the parking lot after a swim at AP and look at people funny when they suggest actually going to a gym or home to clean up.
… you open your newly purchased ice chest and see the articles of nutrition are bananas, peanut butter and jelly sandwich, chocolate milk, 4 types of pre and post training drinks, and a beer.
… when you start growing a beard… NO wait, thats just algae.
…when you tell the guy next to you to “get up there and give me a big ‘ol wedgie” and not only does he oblige you, he asks you to return the favor.
…when your friends stop asking you to hang out because they are sick of hearing your self-righteous excuse “Would love to, but I have a 40 mile brick tomorrow,” which, as you damn well know, you are saying to make them feel bad about themselves.
…when the guy behind you says, “Hope you don’t mind if I draft off your backside for a bit,” and you find absolutely nothing wrong with that statement.
…when the words “Blazing Saddles” do not make you think of Mel Brooks, but rather, anger, frustration, and hoards of people who have no clue what they are doing.
… when you wake up on Sunday morning at 7:30 to do a 5 hour workout and are thrilled because you got to “sleep in”
… when you start to notice that any time you come back to your desk at work, you are holding food of some kind
…when you shower after your am swim, go to work, and realize you smell like a wet suit in the middle of a meeting. Thank God you cleaned your wetsuit and only smell like rubber.
…when your date refuses dessert you feel robbed.
…you think shark is the best tasting meat there ever was cuz its either it or you.
…when you’ve made plans for dinner at 7pm and you find youself in the kitchen from 5pm to 6:30pm snack on ALL of the following: A bowl of cereal, PB&J sandwhich, banana, glass of milk, left over chinese, chips, some nuts, a granola bar, a ham sandwich, maybe a frozen burrito. Your thought when you leave the door, “Better grab a cliff bar just incase they can’t seat us right away.”
… a 2 mile run is considered a “warm up.”
…you leave your “friends” place by 10:30, even after being invited to stay the night, just so you aren’t late for the 6am breakfast club swim. Love is a wonderful thing!
…when you stuff your credit card, your driver’s license, and your car keys in your underwear because you have forgotten that your normal pants actually have pockets.
…when you’re on your headed out the door with all your gear on and your roommates says “You look like a friggin idiot.” You think, “cool, I got everything.”
…when you start referring to Edward 40 Hands as “clipping in”.
…when you approach the bar in flip flops and refer to changing into the heels in your purse as ‘T1′ and get shoes ready a few blocks ahead to ensure a smooth and fast transition.
…you’re hoping Spring Team can help you make it past Alamo Square without blacking out in next year’s B2B.
…when your boyfriend asks if Jasmine can join in as a third, and you think he’s talking about a tri relay….
…and you respond, “only if she does a 7 minute split”
…when you carefully screen your pre-ride music choices for fear of having Britney Spears / Celine Dione / Prince / etc stuck in your head for 50 miles.
…when you start referring to spandax as “mandex” and think its ok to roll to brunch in them.
…when your credit card declines. You call your bank to find out why and they inform you that “the recent expensive charges on your card at Sports Basement are out of character for the cardholder; your account has been locked for suspicious activity.”
…when you have a bottle of advil on your desk to address your post-fundraising event discomfort… next to a bottle of motrin to address your post-training discomfort. And yes… they are both ibuprofen, but they are different.
…when you start referring to your bike as “the wife” and swim/run workouts as “guy’s night”.
…when you have to sprint to the bus at 6:45 and you think “this sucks…wait a second, this feels pretty good, this training must be payin off.”
…when you’re getting ready for work in the morning and you think to yourself, “yes i’m totally pacing to make it by 7:45″
…when 15 minutes before an evening bike workout you realize that your tri shorts are still a little wet from yesterdays swim, so in a panic you turn your oven on to 250, crack the door, and hang your shorts for 10 minutes.
…when you go to the gym, do 60-min bike, 20-min run, some core and think “boy, that was a bullshit workout”.
…when you do two loads of laundry. Not because you have too much laundry but because you don’t want your workout gear to contaminate your normal person clothes.
…when you are changing the laundry (load 1 of 4) over to the dryer and find a half eaten package of shot blocks left in the bottom of the machine… and mourn the waste of 1 hours worth of energy.
…when you wake up the morning after competing and see your race number markings from your arm imprinted on your sheets.
…you realize the majority of your pants have a designated key pocket.
…when it’s the night before your marathon race and you lay out your sneakers with the shoelaces untied and one sock placed neatly on top of each for quick transition.

Once again, I will be training with Team in Training and also volunteering as the SF/Marin Tri Team’s Web Captain.

Aquatic Park here I come…

After training for the Big Kahuna Half Ironman, a few of my teammates from Team in Training decided to continue training for the California International Marathon in Sacramento, CA. Somehow they talked me into it too.

I looked up “5 week marathon training program” on Google. No results.

So I just planned on running lightly a few times during the week and doing longer 18-, 20- and 22-mile runs on the weekends. Though I slacked off on the 22-miler, I felt healthy and confident going into race day. I put my ego aside and decided if I had to walk, that was fine. I really had no expectations at all.

At 6am on December 6, 2009, it was 29 degrees. 6,000 people boarded school buses and unboarded 45 minutes later at Folsom Lake. Most were wearing trash bags to cut the wind, gloves bought from Goodwill and layers upon layers of clothing that they would shed along the 26.2 mile path back to the capital.

To my surprise, I was able to run almost the whole marathon and keep my half marathon pace! I finished in 4:43:53. (I think it had something to do with a rumor that the Governator was giving high fives at the finish).

When I crossed the finish line, I didn’t get a high five from Arnold, but I did get a really cool metallic cape. Is that thing supposed to be for tanning or just looking like a superhero? Special love to Ali and Ali for hopping the fence and hugging me at the finish line. And for CIM refueling me with pancakes and vegetable soup.

And then there were four.

We call ourselves “The Wolfpack.” It started as a joke from the movie ‘The Hangover’ but it stuck — to the point of us howling ad nauseam and choosing wolven nicknames. (FYI I am Polar Wolf or PW for short)

Based on timing and location, we chose the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon in San Antonio, TX as our destination race on November 15, 2009. We flew into Austin Friday, hit up 6th Street and The Highball (bowling/karaoke bar), roadtripped to Salt Lick for some pre-race protein (out with carb loading; in with BBQ loading!) and then headed to San Antonio for the race. Yeehaw!

Sunday was a wonderful day for a run through Ol’ San Antone – 75 degrees and overcast. The course – all 13.1 miles around the Alamo, historic breweries and local bands rockin’ us to the finish line – was flat and so entertaining, I honestly forgot I was running (that’s a first!).

I crossed the finish line in 2:12. Not bad but I’m hoping to get below 10min/mi pace next time.

The Wolfpack and I reunited at the end of the race to polish our medals and house some bananas, chocolate milk, free MGD 64s and P.F. Chang’s.

Rounding out the trip with some ridiculousness at Howl at the Moon, downtown San Antonio’s dueling piano bar, our destination run through Texas proved a success.

First running race success!

Despite Mother Nature’s badittude, Team in Training’s high spirits carried us across the finish line. Here’s how the events unfolded:

Pre-race

Brianna and I drove my trusty steed #1 (#2 being my bike of course) down to Santa Cruz on Saturday afternoon. Using our trusty Yelp iPhone app, we were able to find a 5-star rated Ace Hardware only 2 miles off the highway so we could pick up some car paint and decorate the PT. (Note to all you aspiring car decorators out there: the stuff is not called “car paint”; it’s called “window chalk.”)

We picked up our registration packets, our AWESOME BK dri-fit tshirts, snailshell necklaces (it’s Hawaiian themed!) and about 20 other little stickers, tags, chips and other identifying markers. Then we shacked up at the Dream Inn right on the beach in SC.

Race Day Morning

Sunday morning we woke up at 4:45am to make some coffee. Thanks God for coffee. And eat our wheat bread, peanut butter, banana, and strawberry jelly sandwiches. Thanks God for pbbj’s. We got to transition really early which was GREAT. No lines, we got marked with sharpie, we got to all put our stuff near each other and huddle for warmth in the cold dark October air. Then we headed back to the hotel to “eliminate” and mentally prepare/relax before the race.

Time to Race! The Swim

The first wave of Elite triathletes were supposed to get in the water at 7:00am. Let’s just say that didn’t happen. There we were, standing on the sand in our wetsuits and color-coded swim caps, unable to see 10ft in front of our faces due to the thick fog. At first I thought “This is awesome! I’m used to swimming at Aquatic Park at 6am in the pitch black night. I’ll be totally comfortable out there and have a solid advantage.” However, I guess they were afraid boats were going to run us over. Whatever. Flippin boats.

After 30min of waiting for the fog to lift or move or burn off, they made the announcement I was dreading: the swim was canceled.

I cried. Really. I did. But I take it as a good sign that I now love open-water swimming so much that I cried when that part of the race was canceled. There’s always next year…

The gun fired and the 20-29yo females raced from the water exit to the bike transition area. It was a little silly running the .4mi carrying our wetsuits. One girl ran in Uggs. But it did spread out the group a little bit heading out onto the bike course.

Time to Race More! The Bike

The bike course was glorious. I told my fans (my parents, Jeff and Brooke) that the bike section would take me around 3:30. I had done the 56-mile course before and that’s how long it took me. Let’s just say I SMOKED that time and came in at 3:09. Maybe it was the chocolate Gu that I was eating every 45min.? (Note: one of the main reasons I do triathlons is to have an excuse to consume Ghirardelli chocolate Gu). My biking skills have really improved throughout this season to the point that I was almost able to enjoy the ocean views, pumpkin patches and cow pastures that lined Route 1.

Favorite bike ride moments:
- When one of the fast older guys wearing a speed helmet (I called them Sonic the Hedgehogs) zoomed by me going up the steepest hill on the course. He slowed to give me some words of encouragement “Hardest hill of the day! Enjoy it!”

- Seeing Brooke, my roommate at the bike turn around Mile 28! She was the only person out there – apart from the cop blocking traffic. I love you Brooke.

- Eating 3 chocolate Gus and half a chocolate peanut butter Clif bar. Yay chocolate.

- Getting off my bike. And NOT falling because of my clip-in shoes. And NOT feeling like my legs were spaghetti.

Time to Race Even More! The Run

When it came time to run, my life’s motto could not have rung more true: One foot in front of the other. That’s it. For 13.1 miles.

The best part about the run course was that it was an out-and-back, so I got to see all my teammates and cheer along the other Team in Training participants. “Go Team!” At times, depending on my energy level, this was more like a whisper “ooo tmmm” with a semi-spirited fist pump. The girls working the water stops were super-motivating as well – thanks for that! I also loved the huge Tiki man sculpture at the run turnaround though I was kind of afraid it was a fertility sculpture so I didn’t touch it.

By the time I hit the run course, it was noon and around 75 degrees. I was pretty dehydrated and needed to stop at every water stop to drink and douse myself in water to cool off.

When I hit Mile 10, I picked up the pace. I tried to keep pace with the male seasoned vets in front of me that all seemed to have Ironman tattoos on their calves. Speaking of calves, around Mile 12.5, I got stinging cramps in both my calves.

The last section of the race was a sadistic 0.5mile loose sand run across the finish line. It was pretty brutal but I tried to hide my pain for the fans and the cameras.

And that’s that I guess. I’m now officially a Half Ironman Duathlete! Team in Training totally prepared me for the Half and next year they are training participants for 3 different Ironman events. Maybe I’ll see you there?

Thanks everybody for your support and also your donations to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. I could not have done this without you!

534th place Erin Romig
Bib:# 732
Bike: 3:09:47.1 (17.7MPH)
Run: 2:25:21.7 (11:06/M)
Total: 5:42:23.9

All Results: http://results.active.com/pages/displayNonGru.jsp?orgID=218713&rsID=86523