Weekend at Wildflower

This post could also have been entitled Whining and Wining...or Camping and Cramping. Ha not really...actually no whining or cramping...but there was wine!

This past weekend I headed up with the California Team-in-Training triathlon teams (including the certifiable Ironman team) to Lake San Antonio, about 30 minutes northwest of Paso Robles. I was pretty nervous about spending 48 hours with about 30 virtual strangers from my team and about 120 true strangers total from all the other CA teams. In fact, I was having flashbacks from camp when I was 6 and crying for my mommy cuz i didn't want to dig a hole and squat.

But with some encouragement from Erik and the promise of at least port-a-potties, I decided to go.

Since it was a long weekend and a there was a lot of minutia that don't belong in a blog, here are the highlights. And it's still probably too long. and not proofread.

Friday
11:30 a.m.
A girl from my team that I'd never met showed up to whisk me away on a 4 hour drive. I was nervous because, my god, what do you talk about for 4 hours? what if it was silent the whole way? What if she wouldn't spot to let me pee? My bladder is peanut-sized!!! eek!
As it turned out, we got along fine. And I made it with only one pitstop.

3:30 p.m.
Arrived in Paso Robles and hit up the last Starbucks (and sign of civilization) before the 27 mile drive out in the countryside to Lake San Antonio. To say that it was beautiful in that area is a gross understatement. The hills were all green, there were pastures and cows and llamas(!) and beautiful ranches. I could live there if I had any idea about farming or wines.

4:00 p.m.
Arrived at camp. Played 'helpless girl' card and got Coach Brad (who actually scares me a little) to help me pitch my rental tent. Obviously the helpless girl thing wasn't an act b/c when i tried to pay it forward and help another girl pitch her tent, it looked a little misshapen and perhaps unlivable. Coach Brad fixed it and I slunk away.
Oh, but good news! I didn't have to share as the paperwork promised I would...which was good because these so-called '2-person' tents only qualify if you are going to stack occupants, and I only do that with Erik.

5:00 pm
The girl whose tent I helped pitch discovered she'd locked her keys in the car. So no joke, I threaded a tent pole thru her cracked sun roof and wedged it under the automatic door lock and popped it open. Just arm me with some dental floss and a tent pole and call me macgyver. She let me sit in her chair by the fire for awhile as a reward :)

7:00 p.m.
Dinner Bell!!!!! Like pavlov's dog, i was immediately in line...it was freezing cold and I debated buying the gloves the Iron Team was selling as a fundrasier. They also were cooking our meals for us for the weekend...and all of a sudden one of them offered me not one, but TWO warm rolls, to hold while waiting for the line to move. I liked that guy. I ate my handwarmers soon after. It was all bread, pasta, and cookies all weekend...sounds great right? Well when you're the ironTeam, you burn off a day's calorie's in one workout. When you are me, you burn 1/2 a roll. How does one gain weight training for a tri? Come ask me :)

8:30
Team meeting -- 25 mile bike ride planned for 7:30 a.m. Breakfast at 6:00 a.m.
Sh*t. There's no way I could jack a teammates car and high-tail it outta there without being noticed (or branded a wussy thief). I stayed.

8:45
1/2 and ambien - check
one muscle relaxer - check
2 earplugs - check
1 rock jutting in my spine and a cold nose - check.
I wrapped myself like a burrito in the red blanket I brought and wedged in my sleeping bag.
Mild sleep and hoping I wouldn't wake in the morning and find it was a ghost town b/c i didn't wake up and miss the ride.

Saturday
5:45 a.m.
Awaken to the sound of Star Wars theme song on one nearby cell phone alarm and about 15 others in stereo. Bolted upright, changed in my sleeping bag and headed forbathroom. You have never seen so many billions of stars in so clear a sky. It was phenomenal.

5:47 a.m.
Show up at IronTeam tent for coffee before breakfast.
Turned away. It's actually 4:47 a.m. I got up to the wrong alarms. Damn that star wars theme song and earplugs that fall out 1/2 way thru the night.

4:50 a.m.
Back in burrito mode.

5:45 a.m.
Awaken to cacaphony of MY team's phone alarms going off. Head for coffee, finally and eat a far-too-large breakfast burrito. Spent some time regaling anyone who would listen to the riveting story of my early wake-up call.

7:30 a.m.
Show up for bike ride, freezing my tuchus off, get in the back with the other beginners. Realize that I'm extra uncool because my bike has a kickstand. I might as well have had streamers and a bell. I have one bike outfit and I was wearing it: diaper shorts and a short-sleeved bike jersey. Someone offered me arm warmers. nahhh, but thanks...i just jogged for 5 minutes, i'm FINE....totally warm. ah, foolish pride.

7:45 a.m.
Take off down first hill. There's a little detail called WIND CHILL. Fingers immediatly turned purple and I'm pretty sure I've never been colder and will have to turn back. I was momentarily distracted by 3 deer(s) leaping across the road. Cool!
Ok, focus back on the loss of sensation in my feet and hands. Thankfully, a mentor from the eastside Tri team lent me his outer layer long sleeved jersey. I was mildly saved - otherwise, there was no way. As thanks, I'm pretty sure i wiped my snotty nose on it several times during the ride.

8:45 a.m
Ater a grueling uphill that I had to walk during, we had a long coast downhill...a little more till the 1/2 way mark.
I passed what looked like a rock in the road. A large furry rock that apparently wasn't struck hard enough to die by whatever vehicle hit it b/c it moved as i rode by. I screamed. It was either a badger or a beaver. Do they have beavers in central cal?

9:15 a.m.
I realized that every awesome downhill we had had turned into a mean uphill on the way back. But walking up the end of those hills has its benefits. I saw a dead feathery owl on the side of the road.

10:00 a.m. or so
Got back to camp! Woo hoo!!! 25 miles! I only walked about 5 times, but on a 30 pound bike with a kickstand, and very little biking stamina, I was pleased with myself.

10:15 a.m.
Took the best shower in the history of the world. HOT WATER!!!! My fingers and toes appeared to still be intact.

10:45 a.m.
Now what? Nothing till the 10K run tomorrow morning.
Rather than sit and drink by the campfire, I took off with 9 other people to go sample some wineries in nearby paso robles. It was a lot of fun and to meet a few people in a smaller setting rather than the crowd of people at camp was more comfortable for me. Yes, jessilicious has her very insecure moments.

12:00 - 3:00 pm.
Wine samplings. Some good some bad, but really they all taste like 2-buck chuck to me, especially after about 15 1-oz tastes...they add up! I figured if I was sober by dinnertime, i'd be fine by the run.

4:00 p.m.
Starbucks, again. :)
We walked in and in my mild buzz I saw a guy that I swear looked just like Nick Lachey...and then I saw Coach Brad at the table with him and a few others and thought... "why does coach Brad know Nick Lachey?" ha ha

We grabbed a slice of pizza next door to tide us over till 7pm dinner. More carbs. Perfect. The philosophy of using up calories that I had burned on my 2.5 hour bike ride fit into the same philosophy as spending my tax return. The tax return was pretty much already spent and then some before it hit my bank account. Same with my exercise calories. Suddenly you're in overdraft.

5:00 p.m.
Back at camp. It HAILED...followed by a rainbow that stretched all the way across the sky. This nature stuff is pretty cool. Well not the cold, wet part, but the stars and rainbow rocked.

6:00 pm.
DINNER BELL! CRAP! We just ate. Oh well, it's paid for. Pasta sounds good.

7:00 p.m.
I"m full. Really full. I don't feel like a triathlete.
Oh wait, here's a sport I'm good at - people playing flip cup! I cheered on a few games and admired those that feel they can drink heavily before an 8:30 a.m. 6.2 mile run. in fairness, more than a couple people bailed "because it was too cold". ha.

8:30 p.m.
After more idle socialization and a team meeting, I figured I could escape to bed.
Other 1/2 ambien, muscle relaxer, rocks in spine, ill-fitting ear plugs....rinse and repeat.

Sunday

Middle of Night
Stumble to bathroom. Get hit in face with tree branch. Mange to open eyes enough on the walk to admire night sky again.

7:00 a.m.
Woke up at right time. Packed up to flee camping immediately after run with Kelly. You should have SEEN me trying to stuff that damn tent into it's bag. It was a battle for the ages. Fortunately, my full body weight, made of pasta and rice and everything nice, was enough leverage to finally zip up that bastard.

9:00 a.m.
Coach Brad says "let's go!" and we take off running. Again, I'm misdressed but at least brought a hoodie this time. I had spent most of the weekend wrapped in the red fleece blanket, wearing it like a toga. Beats a jacket anyday.
Anyway, started off on the beautiful 6.2 mile run. The 1st 5 miles roughly was all uphill. I walked maybe 10 minutes of the whole 75 minutes it took, but mostly kept going. It was chilly but somehow not feeling your legs helps. :) The last mile was a steep downihill. Brad said to just roll down and go with gravity and I did...It was warm, a gorgeous view of the lake, and my body started to unthaw. For a *moment*, i had the thought 'wow, I actually kinda feel like a runner!' That moment passed as my legs unthawed and I realized that my inner thighs were on fire and a little skin was missing from the friction, the glamourous side to the sport. You start to realize that all the high-tech gear is there for a reason...cut off sweats are NOT ideal unless your thighs don't touch...even then I'm sure my thighs' auras would rub together and annoy me.

But I threw up my best lame rocker sign as a teammate snapped a photo of me finishing my 1st 6 mile run EVER...and totally not last!!!

10:30 a.m.
Leave uncivilization (ha) for civilization. Turned on my almost dead phone and got to hear Erik's voice on my voicemail. I couldn't wait to get back, despite the fun and milestones
Run the car ride in reverse, along with starbucks on the way out, adding in dried sweat, extreme exhaustion, and a huge sense of pride, and yada yada yada, I was back home...to the smog, pavement, and lack of perspective that is the fun of LA.

Going away alone camping with strangers is enough to dredge up horrible flashbacks of summer camp or their outdoor action college trip, and I certainly had my moments of doubt, insecurity and loneliness, but overall, I'm so glad I went. I got to know some of my teammates and recognize it was important to moving me one step closer to finishing that dern 1st triathlon!

By the by, if anyone ever needs a beautiful campground and lake to go camping, consider Lake Antonio -- seriously, phenomenal, and with dozens of wineries nearby to boot. My kinda camping.