Highlights of our weekend in Portland

Friday evening, we headed off to Portland. After many relentless attempts at getting Kelli & Laura to learn the words to my new favorite song (wadsyaname by Nelly), I finally gave up only to find myself laughing so hard I couldn't breath....and I just MIGHT have peed my pants-jury is still out on what actually qualifies as "peeing your pants". I'll leave it at that.

We got into our lovely accommodations only to be "shushed" by the hotel manager. Shocker, I know. Kelli parked the car, Laura took their two bikes up to the room (this was quite a feat for Laura to get two bikes moving in the same direction at the same time). My job was to get this luggage rack and my bike into the elevator and up to the third floor. Let me tell you folks, it looks a lot easier than it was. There was an art to getting my bike in the elevator and then the luggage rack without the door closing on me. After getting the evil eye from the hotel manager (because now I was laughing all by myself), Kelli saved me and helped with my tasks. I had to shush her so we wouldn't get three strikes against us and kicked out of The Sleep Inn so early in our stay.

We woke up bright and early the next morning to head out and cheer on our friends racing in the sprint. We loaded up our gear so we could get a little training in while we were there. After loading up, I chucked my keys up on the drivers seat and closed the back of the car. We all went to get in.....and um, the car was locked. WHAT? I have such incredible luck that when I threw the keys, they landed "just so" that the lock button successfully was pressed and therefor locked us out of the car. An hour later, AAA arrived and our buddy broke us in. All I gotta say is good thing it happened that day. Sad to say, we missed the swim start but were able to cheer Tim & Andy on and see their finishes.



Foof! Here' s Kelli & Laura in their cheering positions.


We headed out for a little pre-race ride and Steve got a flat. He changed it in 6 1/2 minutes....which is a lot faster than my flat change in Hawaii. We got out of helping him change it by convincing him that it's good race practice and that we should time him. Worked like a charm and he changed it fairly fast so we didn't have to wait around long. ;)

Laura busting some kind of dance moves. I wasn't the ONLY one dancing. Love the "sash" prop.

After we got some training in we headed out in search of a pre-race pedicure. If you don't like feet, skip these photos. Here's mine:


Kelli's:


and Laura's:

Here's me with my own gang-sign. This was adapted the day before when we were in the car driving and Kelli was taking my picture and I turned to her while driving and put three fingers up instead of the more common "rocker" sign (I must admit, this was not intentional, I just don't know my signs). This was one of the many causes of the rumored, peed-in-pants and now it is "my sign".

Kelli & Laura getting pedicures. What-no gang signs?


Me & Laura at dinner the night before the race.


The weekend Crew. Me, Laura & Kelli. Good times, good times.

We headed back to the hotel to get jammies on, read our important pre-race material (People, US and OK magazine) and eat some cereal. Here are Laura and Kelli eating their dainty bowls of cereal before bed.


Maybe I didn't get enough to eat at dinner. And yes, I did consume that entire bowl of cereal with the exception of the soggy bits at the bottom. In this case, my eyes were not bigger than my stomach. I wish I could say they were.


Photo documentation of the peeing-in-pants/bed.

After getting Tiffany to sign a waiver, I helped attach her aero-bottle and Trish was a pro with the velcro placement. What'd you need me for??? Here's Tiffany with her big mouth and Trish with her strong thighs. What a team these gals make!


Yes, my race number really was #69. Where's the content of my blog headed? I only report the facts.

Blue Lake Club Championship

This was such an incredibly FUN weekend filled with a lot of laughter and a small helping of disappointment. I think the highlight of race day was Laura and I, hiding in the car after the race, laughing and crying simultaneously (it is possible). Crying because we both had less than stellar performances and laughing because-why are we crying? Seriously, pull it together. Not to mention the fact that we were sweaty with crusty noses, matted hair, snot on our shoulders (our aim on those snot rockets still hasn't been perfected) and puffy eyes. We got it out of our systems, were able to laugh at how lame we were and then get over it and move on. My husband left a note in my luggage before I left because I had a rough week and training didn't go so well. The irony is that I didn't find the note until AFTER the race, on the way home. I came to the club championship really excited to represent our team and hopefully contribute. I came away feeling like I let the team down with my poor performance. I do understand that regardless of how I performed, I added value to the team by being there and for that, I am grateful. The quote (by Michael Jordan) that Cody included was so appropriate for the situation (even though he had no idea what the weekend would have in store for me), I thought I'd share:

"I've missed over 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times I've been trusted to take the game winning shot....and missed. I've failed over and over again in my life. And, that is why I succeed".
Michael Jordan

It's good to know that all this failure will somehow turn into success. I'm just hoping it happens before my body falls apart. So, I will continue to work on failing so that I can succeed. I think I've perfected the failure thing and I'm kind of bored with it but I'll listen to Michael Jordan since he's pretty good at what he does. Once again, I will work towards a solid race next time. Speaking of solid races, there were SO MANY great performances this weekend. Numerous PR's and firsts......I have to give a shout out to my friends who went above and beyond in so many ways.

Here's just part of our club after the race on Sunday.

Laura: my girl....I know you are frustrated with your swim. Way to keep your chin up and celebrate everyone else's victory. We'll get that swim figured out. And, it's summer now so you can really focus on your training. Man, we did have fun though-didn't we?!
Kelli: OHMYGOD! I am so excited for you! What an incredible PR! 20 minutes???? You had an amazing race. I can't wait to cheer you on in CDA! Thanks for all the laughter this weekend, it was really nice to have girl time with you. Haven't laughed that hard in a while.
Jessi: you kicked BUTT! I still am trying to remove this foot print from my ass. Way to push through little sleep AND a big ol' butt cramp.
Steve: my SUPERSTAHHH team mate, NICE, fast, solid race. You represented for the both of us!
Tiffany: way to not only 'survive' your first olympic race but you ROCKED! It was probably the aero-bottle set-up for sure.
Roger: what can I say? You won another one.....it's exciting to see how you are consistently winning EVERYTHING....
A-Dawg: Another great performance....wished I could have spent more time with you. Thanks for being there for me after the race ;)
Eve: Well, it's one for me and one BIG one for you. WOW!! You are insanely fast. I'm so happy you had such a great race. On to Lake Stevens now.
Aaron: I still want to hear how your race went.....loved seeing you there.
Ben: Awesome job on another rockin' race.....I'm looking forward to seeing what you do at IM CDA! You're SO talented.
Tim: It was so fun to watch you kill that sprint distance & get 2nd AG!!! Incredible!
Andrea: First duathlon and 2nd in your AG!! WHAT? Way to stay in your aero bars and rock those new pedals.
Dori: Thanks for coming out to represent our masters even though you're injured and you had to change your weekend around. We are so grateful!!! Thanks also for letting me kidnap you off to dinner with us. It was nice to get to know you a little.
Tia & Steve Rupe: Great job to both of you....thanks also for the Starbucks run when our keys were locked in the car ;) Also, I know you had a sick kiddo which makes everything more challenging and stressful.
Heather Flowers: I know it was a challenging day for you but you made the club proud. Thank you for your sacrifices.
Virginia: AWESOME job! Way to represent the club!
Kirk W-G: You consistently amaze me with your drive and dedication.....you're such an asset to the club. Thanks for working through your injury to be there.
Martin: You old pro, once again-you make the team proud.
Matt: Way to work through stomach issues and still have a great race.
Jay & Michelle: Thanks to both of you for being such team players! You are SO appreciated!
G-man: Way to rock the race and WOW-what a great run. Jeesh! Can't wait to see what you do at Lake Stevens
Sheena: WORD! way to represent!
Mark & Daryce: You guys are a hoot to be around.....and your great attitudes are infectious!
Matt Taylor: You Da-man!

Thanks to Scott Ward, Dave & Tasha Gordon & Jon Moen for coming and racing for the club. I didn't get a chance to talk with you but I know you were there.....

A special thanks to Trish Cudney, Jen Snyder, Jessie Cusack, Andrea Swanson, Eric Byrd and anyone else that was cheering out there. Even though I looked rough on the run, I really appreciated you yelling loud and I know everyone else did too! You went above and beyond to support the club!

I will have to do a whole separate post on the adventures of our weekend. Good times, good times. Below are just a few photos of some of the above mentioned people.

Tim & Andrea Swanson after the sprint on Saturday. They both placed 2nd in their AG!

There were some good tunes playing at the sprint on Saturday so of course a girl has to dance! Steve took this shot of me (& many others) rockin' to the tunes by the porta-potty. I think I'm a bad-ass but really, we all know I'm a total dork.


Me, Kelli, Laura, Michelle, Jay, Tim & Steve in the back....at the sprint on Saturday.


Jay & Michelle Huskinson. Michelle walked the olympic run to finish....and represent the club.


Tiffany & Trish. With my wealth of bike tech knowledge & skill (NOT!), I helped Tiffany set up her aero-bottle the night before the race. This was VERY entertaining to say the least. Trish-your thighs are very strong ;)


Tiffany & Eric Byrd. Tiffany raced her first olympic and Eric was her cheerleader....awe.


The clan at dinner the night before the olympic race. Sheena, Jen, Trish, Laura, Kelli, Dori (behind Tiffany's head), Tiffany & Eric.


Daryce, Kelli, Dori & Laura


Matt & Jessie Cusack, Michelle, Virginia, Jay, Jessa & Ben Greenfield.

Me, Laura & Kelli. The weekend crew. This is the most composed we were all weekend. More on that in the next post.

Trish and I.


At the race, Jessi getting her well-deserved AG award.

Steve (team superstahhh) & I at lunch after the race. Won't explain, you just had to be there.

More in the next post about the weekend with Laura and Kelli.....Thanks girls for making it so memorable. Can't wait for our next adventure!!