Big Blue Adventure

So, I did this race yesterday called the Big Blue Adventure. Truly an adventure, the race included kayaking, running, and a wicked mountain bike course. This was a team event (we were team Pink Insomnia) that included following a map and other special tasks.

oh yeah... and an insane rainstorm to make it really interesting.

My personal photographer (mom) took a million pictures, so you have a play by play.

You can see the raindrops on the lake... we were waiting for the start. Fortunately the water was pretty calm. A few hours earlier there were big waves. I was excited for the kayaking portion... until we got in the rubber rafts! Yeah... rubber rafts.

So any experience in a real kayak is obsolete in a rubber raft. I understand why they had us all use the same boat, but this was insanely frustrating.

I thought kayaking would be one of our strengths, but we came out of the water at the end of the group. I had to resign myself to the fact that we might be last place. However, we were super quick in the transition area, and passed a couple teams there.

First transition - completely soaking wet - 40 degrees! Fun

We had to run from the beach to the highway to a trail to our bikes.
These shots are taken from the car as they passed us. Unfortunately, they couldn't get too many shots of us on the trails or off road. Also, we had to carry all our gear with us on every leg of the race, so extra shoes, bike pump, patch kit, helmets, water, food etc...

Second transition area. We had to check in and get our map signed.

The night before, we had to leave our bikes at the staging area. I covered my seat, but the bikes got the full effects of the storm. I didn't realize how much the water effected it, until I started climbing the hills. My gears were unhappy. Next time I have to bring goo... yes it was so fun... there will be a next time.

This is the beginning of the bike section. This shows the 100 yards of paved path before the 10 plus miles of real trail started. This was a pretty technical course... lots of single tracks, steep climbs, barriers (like fallen trees), puddles and mud from the storm. I had some near misses, but I thankfully didn't fully wipe out.

3rd transition. Midway through the bike course, there was a guy that we had to check in w/. He was sitting under a big umbrella and obviously cold. If you followed the trail or map incorrectly, you could miss him and get ranked lower for not completing the course.

This is happy Liz realizing we passed about 6 teams on the mountain!

Then we get to run again. According to the map, we saw that we were headed toward the beach and finish line. I was concerned because we had one more check point...

So we run another couple miles, and we meet this guy who gives us our first challenge. Find a special bridge and bring back info that is posted on a sign near the bridge. Fortunately, I'm a Tahoe native, so I got us there with out any unnecessary detours.

We thought this was really the end, but we were told we had to go back in the "kayaks" aka inflatable rafts. WE were not happy b/c there were teams close behind us, and we really struggled with these boats. However...

... we totally rocked the second kayak leg.

Yeah!!! We finished!

We met our goals... we finished and we weren't last!

Mom and Dad stayed for the duration of the four hour race!

I'm a super cool triathlete!

I completed my first triathlon this summer...
Check back soon for results from my next race!

Check out the medal!! ...I won!
(actually all finishers got medals, but I did meet my goals: finish and not be last)

Alecia... my personal cheerleader and bike technician... love her!

Pre-race yoga - cobra


So, the swim felt longer than my practice laps in the pool.
I'm the one in the red cap...

First transition area... thanks to my fluorescent towel, I found my bike.

The bike leg... best/easiest part.

I actually hate running, but they don't have any swim/bike duathlons...
... lets talk about my psyco facial expression here.

Post race cool down, and I got an amazing massage! The real reason I did this race was for the free massage...

Tahoe Bard

I had to spend my summer on the lake watching theatre... life is hard :) Can I just tell you how much I love the moon... especially when it is reflected in the water!

I saw a total lunar eclipse this summer... did you?

As my blog reader (and my assumed friend) you should know that Taming of the Shrew is my favorite Shakespeare play. And... if you think it is a sexist play, you need to watch it again.

Kacia and Karol from Poland. Kacia acted as my therapist... "he's stubborn like a donkey!" and Karol was a silent, intimidating, sweet presence at the festival. I have promised to visit them as soon as I can. Look out for more pics of us at my beach party and in San Fran!


Pat and Virginia... two super volunteers (both 20+ year veteran volunteers)

Marina from Serbia... helping me keep tabs on Petruchio and Romeo :)

She makes a mean pancake and has a wicked volleyball serve!

Volunteers in action!


Amazing concert featuring one of the best Jazz vocalist I've ever heard!

http://www.camithompson.com/

Tahoe Love

Don't take my picture mom! Actually his mom, Em, has all the cute pics of Wil and I on the beach. One day, while we were looking for crayfish on the beach, he said, "I kinda miss you, Liz." That plus the full on sprint into my arms when he first saw me solidified that I am his favorite auntie! This was before I gave him his lego transformer... "what he always wanted"

This face makes me want to move to Utah!

This was taken by a 4 year old.
My directions were to act like a dinosaur...
Wil asked to use my camera while we were driving. He had to stay in his car seat, so given the restraints, I think he is a budding photographer! Yeah... my nephew is cool.

Mom, me, Em on the boat.

View from Mt Rose summit.

We met these guys who were camping on the top of the summit... a little crazy given the wind conditions. They were cool and really excited to be above 10,000 feet. I casually asked them if they knew the exact elevation of the summit. Ryan pulled out a wooden sign that he carved for the occasion (see pic below) ... like I said, really excited.

Alecia and I tryin not to be knocked over by the 80mph winds ;)

We took some detours getting to the summit... climing waterfalls and such. The next weekend I intended to summit a higher peak in south lake, but I was prevented by this fire you may have heard about on the news...