DONNER LAKE HALF

I’ve done it!  I picked my race!  I’m officially registered.  And I want to throw up.  Who knew officially registering for a race was such an emotional step.  I feel like I’m in middle school and I’ve just agreed to “go” with the hot guy I’ve had a crush on all year.   Because now what??  What does “going” mean?  Will he pick me up at my locker?  Will he hold my hand on the way to 3rd period leadership class?  Will he call me tonight or should I call him first?  There’s so much pressure when you’re officially “going”with your 14 year old boyfriend.  And that’s EXACTLY how I feel about this race.  Will it be too hard for me to finish?  Will it abuse me and just toss me aside for a real triathlete?  Will it laugh at me as I struggle to keep pace with other racers who obviously are more competent?  I feel like there are so many unknowns now that I know which race I’m doing.  I’m committed to the Donner Lake Half.  This is my “guy.”  No more flirting with other races.  No more googlie eyes at different distances.  I’ve agreed to “go”with this ONE race.  I’m now in a committed relationship.  At least I will be until July 28th.  So about 2 months. Yeah, that’s about how long the relationship lasted in 8th grade as well.  And I survived that one so I guess I’ll survive this one as well. 

The Donner Lake Half is a half Ironman distance triathlon.  1 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride and 13 mile run.  The swim will be in 65 degree water with wetsuits optional.  OPTIONAL??  WTF?  The only option is to wear a wetsuit in my book! 

The bike is 56 miles.  Not bad, except when you look at the elevation.  We ride up old highway 40 out of Donner Lake.  Here’s the elevation map… it sucks:

bike elevatin

 

 

 

The run is 13 miles.  THIS IS GOING TO REALLY SUCK.  It’s twice around Donner Lake.  Not bad, except the backside of Donner is extremely hilly.  Maybe not to your standards, but for this girl, the backside SUCKS.  And I get to do it twice.  The website doesn’t even give you an elevation map.  Need I say more??

Back in 8th grade, there were moments I wondered why I made this decision to “go” with said hunk.  And as of right now, I have those same regrets.  Aren’t there better guys (races) out there?  Aren’t other boys (races) more attractive?  Wouldn’t a less hot boy (race) be nicer to me?  STOP THINKING ABOUT IT WENDY!  You’ve made your up your mind, now go be a good girlfriend (athlete!).  I hope I chose wisely!

About Wendy D

I was born in San Francisco and ended up marrying a rancher in Reno, Nevada. I have a big city job anchoring the 5 o’clock news but come home to the country where my husband’s family has ranched for 5 generations.

Comments

  1. Kimberly Williams says:

    YOU GOT THIS!!!

  2. Lillia says:

    I saw the workout schedule you posted a few weeks ago and I got tired just thinking about doing all that. You should have no problem (or minimal problem) with this event. Just wondering ….. Have you ever had any overuse injuries?

    • Wendy D says:

      Hi Lillia! No I haven’t had serious overuse injuries. I do all my workouts at a specific heart rate (fat burning/endurance heart rate) and this has kept me injury free!

Trackbacks

  1. [...] the last 3 weeks, I’ve worked out 3 days! Not very impressive for someone with a very long race coming up in 5 weeks. But whatever virus went through Reno 3 weeks ago, it found a cozy home in me [...]

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