well we had a great time out in Tahoe and Auburn this weekend. Thanks Mary for helping out with Alina! here are some thoughts on each day of the trip:
- Thursday: short flight out. Squaw Valley is beautiful. sick terrain. gotta snowboard there one day soon. huge trees in Tahoe. Helen appears to be ready.
- Friday: Helen a bit nervous, but meticulously prepared all of her stuff, went for a short run, suffered through the drop bag checks, race packet pick-up, weigh-in (sounds like she's a prize fighter) and medical check. still had the time and energy to be mom. i snuck in an awesome ride on parts of the Tahoe Rim trail. huge climb, bigger descent. the 6" Specialized Epic was pretty nice.
- Saturday: up at 3am with Helen to get ready for the big one. She was off at 5a, and our big saga began. Drove about 2hrs downhill to meet her at mile 31, the Robinson Flats aid station. Drove up this never-ending ridge through natl forest to get up there. home of the gigantic trees and incredible views. then we drove down to Auburn to meet up with David, then back through Foresthill to wait for Helen to come in at mile 66, where David would be pacing her for mi 67-100. Sunny and hot, but Helen came through fine and was off for the night time part of the run.
- Sunday: Alina and I were in bed around 10, but she wasn't into sleeping much. We read some stories and played a lot. Soon she was out, I woke up at 1a and checked Helen's progress online. Up again at 2a, checked online, and saw she was cruising well. Mary came in the room and hung with Alina while I drove out to the stadium to wait for Helen and David. Just before 3a she finished! We came back to the hotel and got a couple hours sleep, then gorged ourselves at breakfast. slept off and on some more, tried to pop Helen's blisters, soaked her feet, slept, went back to the stadium for the awards ceremony and belt buckle thing. came back, had a great lunch, back to the room, went out the pool, slept again, take out pizza.
Helen has more determination than most anyone I know. Great job honey! You have nothing to prove, I know you're a bad ass! Alina traveled well as usual. I wonder if she's going to be a runner or a cyclist?
