The Crackhead Invitational and the Chesdin Classic

What? You’ve never heard of these events?

The Crackhead Invitational was held this Saturday. Earlier this week, our coaches decided to make our toughest workout to date (in my book, anyway) a little more “yummy.” So, our 24 mile bike and 16 mile run was tweaked a bit to be a bike race, followed by an “easy” (LOL) run. Meaning we all were supposed to start at the same time and push hard on the bike. At least we didn’t have to race the run, like the Ironman Coeur d’ Alene folks.

A bunch of us really were not thrilled with this whole racing idea – hence the nickname “Crackhead Invitiational.” Between worrying about being last – or feeling bad if you weren’t because it would mean someone else would be - it seemed like extra pressure when many of us were already stressed out about Eagleman. But, in typical TRIgirl style, we survived the workout through the support and humor of our coaches and teammates. For example, TRIgirl SD coordinated “race packets” with our own race numbers, water and Band-Aids.

Thankfully, we had great weather. I decided early on, I would not focus on racing my teammates – instead I would concentrate on racing my pace. I tend to push the uphills (to get them over with quickly) – but don’t work the downhills. So, there were several times between passing or being passed, I would have the chance to ride with some of the TRIgirls for awhile. I haven’t checked Garmin for the official pace – but I think it was somewhere around 17.7 miles per hour – pretty good for me. The “racing” did put an extra drain on my thighs, which still had 16 long miles of running ahead of them. I can’t thank TRIgirls MW and SD enough for their company and encouragement during the longest run I’ve ever completed. We didn’t set any speed records, but we made it through and didn’t feel half bad when all was said and done. We paced ourselves well, taking turns giving warnings if we were going over 6 miles per hour, trying to stay around an 11 minute mile. One amusing moment happened as we jogged the last few miles around the nub at West Creek. We were finishing 3 of the 4 loops to hit 16 miles, when we heard Coach M cheering us in – and we had to yell back – “Nope, we’ve got another mile or so left!”

We did finally finish – and were awarded with Hawaiian leis by Coach M (the closest we’ll probably get to Kona!). Knowing we were capable of running a very long distance on legs drained from a tough bike ride was reassuring and made the workout worthwhile. Tired, but beaming, we hydrated a bit in the parking lot, before heading home after the mega-long workout. A big meal was calling my name…

Sunday was the Chesdin Classic. TRIgirl MM’s boyfriend’s brother has a gorgeous brick and stone home right on Lake Chesdin and arranged for a 2 mile open water swim practice. We had another beautiful day. On the ride to the lake, I thought to myself it might be a little nutty to attempt my longest open water swim the day after my longest ever run. Not to mention the biking. But the opportunity was too good to miss and a half hour or so later, we were all putting on our wetsuits.

TRIgirl MM’s boyfriend is so great – he rode a jet ski while we swam to make sure we were safe and protected from other boats in the water. We stayed close to the shoreline, the water temperature alternating between chilly and warm pockets. At our halfway point, we wondered if we had swum a full mile as we chatted with a neighbor, who also shared our back leg would be against the current. The way back did seem to take longer and we were able to practice swimming with a little more choppiness as the jet skis created waves for us.

Whether or not is was a full two miles, most of us still had a distance PR in open water. The experience helped give another confidence boost for Eagleman.

And we had the best post race meal ever – lots of fruit, cheese, chips – and wine - on a fabulous deck overlooking the lake. We were even able to take a ride on the jet ski. Much thanks to our wonderful and generous hosts - who may regret extending future invitations to our group! Can we go back tomorrow?