My younger sister, Hannah Kait, is a senior swimmer at Rice and last week’s Conference USA Championship was the last swim meet of her collegiate career – and she sure went out with a bang!

In past years, national swimming powerhouse Southern Methodist University dominated the C-USA meet. And this year was no exception; the Mustangs were definitely swimming fast. But the scrappy group of Owls had the depth and team spirit to pull off a HUGE upset and take the title. It was a really cool thing  to be a part of – even as a spectator. And it was a huge moment for my sister and her teammates.

Yay Seniors & Conference Champs!

Fast swimming was not the only highlight of the weekend. Other great things that happened during my weekend in Houston:

1. Being mistaken for a college student no less than six times. Any time someone mistakes you for an 18-21 year-old it is a VERY good thing!

2. Watching The University of Hawaii Men’s Team do their pre-race rain dance/battle cry/ab fest:

3. Doing a few workouts on the Rice Campus. Rice actually dedicates a large portion of its football stadium parking lot to a bike loop. That’s my kind of tailgating!

And the campus perimeter is a beautiful 3 mile, tree-lined, running trail.

And now that Hannah’s eligibility is up, I plan to go full speed ahead with my evil plan to get her on the starting line of a triathlon. I can’t wait to draft off her during the swim!

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I didn’t cry during The Notebook or Million Dollar Baby. Crash almost got to me, but not quite. Call me heartless and insensitive; movies just don’t seem to get the waterworks flowing. But a quick read of Kyle Pease’s blog never fails to leave me with tears in my eyes – and a HUGE smile on my face.

There’s nothing sad about Kyle’s story. It’s a story of courage and hope. It’s a story of smasing barriers, and having one helluva time doing it. But mostly it’s a story about family, and I think that’s why I really like it.

Evan, Kyle, and Brent Pease

Doctors diagnosed Kyle with Cerebral Palsy when he was just a kid. But being wheelchair bound never slowed him down. In fact, he was in Louisville last summer, cheering for his big brother Brent, who was racing his first Ironman. And while Kyle’s cheers were appreciated by all the Dynamo Multipsort athletes, it was this quote from his post-race blog that really stuck with me:

We all have a gift and it’s up to us to use that gift to our fullest advantage and push ourselves to the limit. We are on the edge everyday. How can you make a difference in your world? I want to do an Ironman. I want people to see that I want to take it to the next level. I want to push the edge. I want to find that gift. I want to find that passion.

One blog post was all it took. Kyle’s brothers, Brent and Evan, immediately got to work. Together, the three brothers hatched a plan that would really allow Kyle to take it to that next level.

The plan:

The brothers will race the Publix Georgia Half Marathon March 20th and St. Anthony’s Triathlon  May 1st. And when they cross the finish line at St. Anthony’s they’ll be the first set of siblings to have completed a triathlon together. How cool is that?

How it’s going to work:

Brent has upped his swim training and added in a little bucket “resistance training.” 

On race day he’ll trade the bucket for his brother, in a kayak.

All the biking will be done with a specially designed Freedom Concepts bicycle. And Kyle will be ready to run while Evan pushes him in their new jogging chair!

How to follow the action:

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Last Saturday I woke up early and went through all my pre-race rituals: ate oatmeal with a banana, drank some water, quadruple knotted my running shoes. I was ready and feeling good!

YC and I had planned to carpool to the Red Top Rumble trail run in Cartersville, Georgia. When I pulled up to his house at 7 o’clock Saturday morning, not a single light was on. I immediately knew something was wrong. YC is NEVER late. So I called him:

YC: (sounding sleepy) Frosh.

ME: Is it ok if I park the Corolla on your grass?

YC: What?

ME: ON YOUR GRASS. MY CAR. WAKE UP YOU LAZY…

YC: It’s tomorrow.

ME: What?!

YC: The race. It’s tomorrow.

ME: &#%$! Sorry!

Click. Screech.

Slightly embarassed and very amused, I headed home. I’ve lost enough bets to YC to know he was right and I was wrong. Thank goodness for carpools or I would’ve made it all the way to the race site 24 hours early!

Fast forward to Sunday and I was actually on the starting line with YC, our fellow Dynamfia member, DJ Kidd, and the 300 other runners who managed to figure out which day was race day.

Red Top Rumble is a ridiculously popular 11.5 mile trail run. The race sells out every year. Nabbing a bib number for the 2011 edition had involved sitting poised and focused at my computer, credit card in hand, holding my breath and waiting for online registration to open. Seriously, you’d have thought I was trying to buy Justin Bieber tickets.

But my efforts were worth it and when the gun when off, I was running! The first four miles of the race were on wide, fairly flat, dirt paths that probably more closely resembled roads than true trails.  I LOVED that part! I was keeping up with YC and it was awesome! Unfortunately, someone decided a trail run should involve “real trails” and I suddenly found myself struggling up and down what felt like a never ending series of mountains. I admit, I enjoyed the adventure and the scenery, but OMG it HURT!

When I finally crossed the finish line I could not figure out how such a tough race could attract such a popular following. The trails were nice, but not sell-out in hours nice. There’s no Peachtree-esq holiday tradition, no Hogpen-like mountain top finish, the weather wasn’t even that great. But then I found out what happens after the race…

First, right when I crossed the finish line I got a pair of gloves: 

Oversized running gloves are one of my favorite things in the whole world. I own several pairs and I love them all.

Then, there’s a delicious breakfast with egg cassarole, bacon, coffee, and a raffle! I didn’t win anything, but DJ Kidd scored a $50 gift card. That’s a reason to smile!

Yay! I'm $50 richer!

And finally, there were the awards! YC’s podium finish earned him a $30 gift card, and even I got a $25 gift card for placing 5th female! And the top TEN men and women got folding chairs!

Well, there’s some debate over it being a chair or table (or maybe an outdoorsy ottoman?) but I just composed this entire blog while seated in it, so I say CHAIR! And I LOVE it! A few more years of solid performances at the Red Top Rumble and guests will actually have somewhere to sit in my apartment! I will definitely be signing up for this race again next year!

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The Hogpen Hill Climb is a race for crazy people. The race starts in Helen, Georgia – elevation 1,447 feet. It ends at the top of Hogpen Gap:

In just 17k (that’s 10 point something miles) runners gain more than 2,000 feet of elevation. That is a lot of climbing.

The closest I’ve ever been to a real Bavarian village is the Burger King at the Munich Airport, but I imagine most Germans would feel right at home in Helen:

After starting downtown, the first four miles of the race follow what I would normally consider a tough, hilly course. But this is not a normal race. In this race, the first four miles are considered easy. After that it’s just, up, up, up!

This race was a Team Louisville reunion of sorts, which made it extra fun. In the beginning, I tried to stick with Diablo and YC, but that only lasted until the first substantial hill – at mile one. Ouch! I was hurting, but  I tried to keep them in sight.

I had one real goal for this race – to put myself in a position where I wanted to give up, and then try to keep going. And by mile six, I was definitely in the pain cave. I really wanted to walk, but I just kept thinking about Hawaii, and how bad I want to go back. And how I want to run the entire Ironman marathon, because I know I can do it. So I kept running.

The positive thoughts helped, but this elevation profile shows how I really felt:

After I finally crossed the finish line and caught my breath, I realized what a cool race the Hogpen Hill Climb really is. It’s hundreds of people testing themselves. The race isn’t easy for anyone, but standing on the summit with a few friends makes it worth every step.

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