Today is practice for the real thing.  Since the Caliman Half Ironman is cancelled we needed to replace it with something.  So now it's the "Troy's Last Minute Triathlon".  Troy and I scoped out the course yesterday and he put all the plans together while I slept...what a guy!  My good friend Leonie is coming out to swim, do part of the run and watch little Anna Rose while Troy and I bike.  She's so awesome! 

We get to Folsom Lake early to set up an unofficial transition area...a towel on a stretch of grass.  Troy shows Leonie the swim course.  Leonie suggests we put on race numbers: Leonie will be #2 and I will be #1...the first and only time that will happen.  Troy still has his race number from Berryessa, #5 amazingly, so he keeps that one.  That means Anna gets to be #3 (=  We don our numbers and even our ages on the left calf...yeah, we're serious(=

Down to water.  I'm wearing a wetsuit and Leonie is not.  This will help even things out since Leonie is a very fast swimmer.  Our goal pace is 1:29 per hundred.  Leonie tells me that we'll swim side by side until she gets warmed up and then she'll pull me along with her draft.  I haven't had any opportunities to really draft one person for an entire race so I hope I can do it.  We are swimming down and back, the length of the swimming beach, twice. 

Troy and Anna are along the shore and he sends us off.  I'm swimming next to Leonie for the first minute and after that I get behind her feet...a little sooner than later(=  It's great drafting behind her.  She's doing all the sighting and I'm just focusing on watching her feet...not having to look up ahead allows me to really get a good rhythm and stay nearby.

As we round a buoy at the end of the swimming beach I can see Troy and Anna on the beach.  It's funny Anna can walk the same distance in the same time.  As we swim back, I can see Leonie flip around to make sure I'm still with her.  This is good timing because I'm falling off the back and that gave me the chance to catch up.

We go one more round like this.  Leonie is doing an awesome job pulling me along and not getting too far ahead.  The practice drafting is really going to help at Ironman Coeur d'Alene.

We swim back to the last buoy and then sprint to the beach.  I hear Troy tell us that we were right on pace...great!  I strip off my wetsuit as Leonie tells me she is feeling really stuffy.  She tells me to go get on the bike. 

I run up the beach and my riding partner, Troy, is running to the bathroom with Anna.  I guess I'm biking alone for a few minutes...no worries.  I throw on my bike gear and go.  I take a slight detour on the route to allow Troy time to catch up.  We meet up and head out for loop one of a two loop course.  The goal is to average 19mph.  We decided drafting is allowed since I'm so bad at it.  We are hammering along and taking turns leading.  My legs feel great!  All that extra sleep last night is paying off!  Part way my Garmin GPS turns off and I loose all my data.  It's just as well.  My goal is to focus on going hard and having fun.  I tend to want to look at the stats every minute so the pressure is off.  Troy will keep track and let me know(=

About half way into the loop Leonie calls.  She's had some kind of allergic reaction and her face is swelling up.  This must have started while we were swimming.  Maybe she swallowed something bad in the water.  She's on her way to the emergency room with Anna in tow.  Troy says she sounds calm and upbeat enough.   She urges us to go on and tells us she'll be back at the lake in an hour.  I feel bad that she's having to deal with this.  Troy and I say a prayer for her well being.  Reluctantly we continue on. 

The loop Troy designed is great!  It's a great variation of up and down and even flat...which is hard to find around here.  We finish the first loop at 19.4mph.  Alright!  We go out for another loop.  This time it doesn't feel as easy.  Instead of floating along, this time I can feel my leg muscles working hard.  This is good practice for Ironman.  Often the wind picks up on the 2nd loop in Coeur d'Alene...this year's course is a bit different but I do expect the same conditions.

Troy gets an update:  The doctor is keeping Leonie at the hospital while the swelling goes down.  They've given her some Benedryl and an IV.  She says Anna is doing well and behaving well, too.  That's good to hear.  I'd hate for Leonie to have more stress on top of that.  5 miles to go, I head for transition while Troy veers off towards the hospital to check on Leonie.

Our average 19.4...alright... but I have a bit of a climb back into the park so I'll loose some.

Back at transition I'm amazed at the number of people!.  This beach has totally transformed.  It's hopping with people everywhere.  My Garmin running watch seems to be missing.  Oh gosh, I hope no one stole it!  I cannot just leave my bike here...it could get stolen too.  I borrow a cell phone from the Raft Rental Booth to call Troy.  I suggest we bag the run but Troy pushes me to continue.  So I tell the store owner, Tom, my dilemma.  He had seen Leonie earlier and was concerned.  He stored my bike for me.. great!

I head out on the run with the wind out of my sails a bit.  I'm all alone, there is no way to contact Troy, and I'm bummed about my missing watch.  I don't know what my pace is.  I'm supposed to run 8 minute miles on this two loop course.  I keep thinking  about that expensive missing watch... I remind myself that the goal is to have fun.  If I cannot do it on a day like this, then doing it at Ironman CDA is going to be a big challenge.  If the watch is gone, then God will help provide the funds to replace it.  Focus, Robin, focus. 

As I'm finishing up the first loop, Troy comes biking up.  He tells me that Leonie took all the valuables with her including my watch...praise God!!  I'm so impressed that she thought of that while she was having the reaction.  Wow!  Even more amazing, I hear Leonie changed Anna's diaper while the doctor was administering an IV to her.  Super wow!  She definitely has passed the mommy test!!  And right now she's still watching Anna at the beach without being fully recovered.  You go girl!!

With my Garmin watch in hand, I feel invigorated and excited to do the next loop on pace.  Thank you God for taking care of Leonie and having things work out!  Troy fetches more water and Sustained Energy (sports drink) for me and catches up to me as I hit the private road section.  I tell Troy we need to be quiet and keep a low profile so we don't get kicked out.  Troy whispers that he understands what I mean.  It's a beautiful neighborhood but not that welcoming.

I'm averaging a few seconds above 8 min pace.  As we near the last 2 miles I feel like I'm going to bonk and I take in some gel and Sustained Energy.  I had been taking only water because I felt saturated by all the sports goop.  The same kind of thing happened when I did Ironman Coeur d'Alene in 2004.   It's important to get calories to fuel the body.  "I probably won't say much from here on out", I tell Troy.  He says that's fine as long as I smile.  It's hard to smile but it's important that I do.  Despite the discomfort, I'm having fun and I need to show it.

With a mile to go, Troy takes off to join Leonie and Anna at the finish.  My current average pace is 8:07.  I want to get it down to 8 min.  I dig down and watch the average decrease...yes!  On the home stretch I can see Leonie, Troy and Anna waiting for me.  I finish at 8 min pace!  Yes, thank you Lord!  I give Leonie a hug and thank her for everything!  Did I mention she's awesome?!!

Leonie heads home for much needed rest while Team Soares goes swimming in Folsom Lake.  We have a great time as a family on the beach and later go to a cool Sports Bar/Grill and have some burgers.  We are having so much fun, and tired, too, that we start to drive right into our garage with the bikes still on top!  We hear a loud cracking noise.  It's the bikes!!!  Oh no!!  We find out that Troy's bike took the brunt of the collision since we were pulling in at an angle.  Troy's carbon fork (holds the front wheel) is cracked but my bike survived...I feel bad and relieved at the same time.

The next day, I realize that I left my wetsuit at the park and I bike down there to look for it with no success.  I find myself dwelling again on the loss of material things.  We are so fortunate that we didn't lose one of us or that one of us wasn't seriously hurt.  I thanked God for that and also asked that he take away these silly feelings.  He's so good!  I'm able to let go and move on.  We have a new fork on the way and I found a used wetsuit online for a good deal.  Life is good!  Thank you God!!

Team Soares has fun at the beach afterwards!