Savageman - Sept. 16, 2007

I know, everyone questions my idea of fun, but this really was fun. Deep Creek Lake, MD is the perfect venue for a race, thanks to David and Kyle for putting together a truly spectacular one!


The Savageman is without a doubt the hardest 1/2 ironman around. I only did the "aqua-velo" (just the swim and bike) and I feel like its taking me longer to recover than it did after my last ironman.

The swim was awesome! It was definitely the most fun I've ever had swimming in a race. With a water temp. of 72 degrees and air temp. of ~40 degrees, the entire surface of the water was covered with a dense fog. You couldn't see a single buoy (despite what the pictures indicate...). Since I'm a horrible sighter anyway, this leveled the playing field for me. It is the only swim race I've done where people were talking to each other in the middle of the race, trying to figure out which direction to go. Although at one point, I stopped and I couldn't seen anyone or even hear anyone. Kind of eerie...but I figured the fog would burn off eventually and I'd find my way back to shore. And the water was so warm in comparison to the air, I could have stayed in all day! But a few second later, one of the support boats, with a blinking blue light on it yelled that the buoys were to my left, and before I knew it I was back in the pack and across the finish line.

The bike course was INSANE! No one hill was any harder than anything I'd ever done, but there were so many hard hills in just 56 miles that I was beat by the end of it. Here are some highlights, thanks to Rodrigo:

Mile 19.5 - the "Westernport Wall". On the first 1/2 mile it climbs 356 ft. and on the second 1/2 mile it climbs 261 ft, for a total of 627 ft. in the first mile. The entire town of Westernport was out cheering. Rumor has it, they even canceled church to come cheer. That is awesome!

Mile 24 - 617 ft. climb in 1.5 miles, of which 250 ft. comes in the first 1/2 mile.
Mile 26 - 274 ft. climb in 0.6 miles.
Mile 31 - 642 ft. in 2 miles.
Mile 36 - 301 ft. in 0.7 miles.
Mile 43 - 233 ft. in 0.7 miles.
Mile 51 - 201 ft. in 0.5 miles. (This was without a doubt the hardest - not statistically, but because it came so late in the ride and after all the other monsters!)

So what's next you might ask? Well, thanks to Amy and Theresa, Ironman Switzerland - July 13, 2008. Zurich anyone?

Norway - A Mexican footnote.

I learned on the most recent trip to Australia & New Zealand with Amy and Theresa, that you have to test out the Mexican food in every country that you visit. For whatever reason, its apparently not that easy to duplicate around the world. Having now tried it in the UK (the worst!), New Zealand (a close second) and Australia (tolerable), Theresa and I were on a mission to find Mexican in Bergen. Just when we thought we might have to try the Cajun place as a close substitute, Diego finally spotted a Mexican place through the downpour. We were saved! Only, it actually turned to taste pretty much like the real thing. It seems the rest of the world might be starting to catch up, as my enchiladas were great! What a disappointment!

Norway (Part 2) - August 2007

A week later and we're back in Bergen. Back to internet access, traffic, and city life. Though Bergen is the second largest city in Norway, by U.S. standards, its still quite small.



We had 5 spectacular days of cycling through the fjords and experienced all Norway had to offer...wind, rain, sleet, snow,....and even a little sun. Apparently we were in the spot one day that registered the coldest temperature in all of Norway and experienced the wettest August in a town called Lom in the last 100 years. I've never had so much fun biking in such miserable weather! But when you have 2 amazing guides, a landrover with coffee and hot chocolate for you every 10 km, and an absolutely amazing group of riders, you can't help but have fun and wish it would never end. The pictures don't even do the scenery justice, it was just phenomenal.


We ended the week last night in a local pub, dancing until 2:30am to a 2-person band playing everything from Bruce Springsteen and Elvis to Shania Twain and Alan Jackson - all with a Norwegian accent. It was hilarious! Today, everyone has headed home except for Theresa, Trevor and I who leave tomorrow. It seems so strange without the rest of the group here!

Norway (Part 1) - August 2007

Ok, so internet access has been hard to find, but the cycling has been spectacular! Our guides are fantastic, tending to our every need and cooking us gourmet lunches in the middle of every ride (in addition to all the coffee/hot chocolate stops).

(Picture of the Bergen Waterfront)
(Picture of the Group at the start of Day 1)



(Picture of a fjord - can't remember which one!)


We spent the first day in Bergen, visiting the fish market and a few museums to brush up on our Norwegian culture. Cycling started yesterday, in the pouring rain with temps in the 40s. It was an awesome day, despite being soaked through and having to use the hotel hair dryer on my shoes and booties this morning. Today was the longest of the days (about 68 mi I think) but the last 10k was a 10% "wee-cheeky" climb to our hotel. Apparently the course record for the climb was 1 hr 3 min by some American lady last year in her 50s. I was the first to the top (cause I had a head start) and finished in 1 hr 9 min. It was brutal. James, an Englishman came along shortly after, but it only took him 59 min to reach the top. He now holds the record.


The group consists of 10 riders and 2 fabulous guides. 5 riders are from the U.S., 3 are from London or thereabouts, 1 from Ireland, and 1 from New Zealand. The Kiwi has been keeping us laughing hysterically throughout the trip. Other than Turbo, Diego, and I - no one knew each other before the trip, yet we're all getting along great.

(A beautiful rainbow!)

The scenary has been absolutely spectacular. The fjords are amazing. You can still see the glaciers, though they have retreated in recent years due to global warming. There is fresh snow still falling on the top of the fjords as we cycle in the valley's below. I don't care what the calendar says, it is winter here. I didn't bring nearly enough winter clothes and have been wearing every layer I brought. Apparently the forecast for where we end tomorrow is a high of freezing with snow showers. Lovely! :-) Seriously though, it doesn't matter because we're having a great time and everything has just been amazing. Only 3 more cycling days to go, total bummer.

Colonies Zones Swim Meet - Aug. 18-19, 2007

Well, I didn't swam as fast as I wanted to, but the post-swim analysis shows I swam my fastest 800 m time in the past 3 years. And I'm still faster than I was in college. And considering I'd biked for 2 hrs before the meet, I guess I should be happy. If only I hadn't gotten beaten by a 70 yr. old man - 3 times! Ugh!

GoodDog! Rescue

I have fostered a couple of dogs over the last year. First was Sam - the sweetest black lab mix ever! So happy that Lori adopted him so I still get to see him on a regular basis. More recently, I fostered Patton - the mystery mutt. He was without a doubt the easiest dog to take care of. He now lives out on the eastern shore of MD where he sleeps on couches and plays fetch in a big back yard. He definitely hit the jackpot!

Chris Greene, 2-mile cable swim in Charlottesville

Julie, Allison, Lucy and I all drove down to Charlottesville for a 2-mile cable swim, accompanied by Dave, the unofficial team cheerleader (and Lucy's fiance). Remind me NEVER to sign up for a cable swim again! I can't swim in a straight line to save my life. Either that or the cable kept moving into my path. :-) I swear every third stroke my right arm hit the cable, leaving it covered in rope burns by the end. Thankfully the wineries we visited afterwards made up for the miserable swim! But look for this and other pictures on the cover of the Weekend section of the Washington Post the first week in September. The reporter who took this picture is writing an article on open water swimming and interviewed us for quite a while.