Buoy Cafe

I have many joys in life... my family, my friends, triathlon, surfing, game night, dinner parties, poker, movies... etc.. but I have to tell you, lately, nothing brings me more joy to me than the BUOY CAFE. 

 

It seriously is amazing.

My good friend Alison De Lucca and a few others created the Buoy Café and all its awesomeness.  Basically a few times a Tri season, the Buoy Café opens at the state buoy off Tower 26 in Santa Monica.  Triathletes swim out to the buoy to enjoy each other's company, celebrate birthdays or races and of course drink coffee and eat donuts! 

Birthday Buoy Café:

 

 

Ironman Boulder Buoy Café Send Off

Soaking Up the Sun and Surf

I have to tell you... not training for an Ironman has been amazing.  Of course I feel completely guilty NOT getting up every morning to do some sort of exercise, but at the same token, I am thoroughly enjoying the break.

With that, I have decided to give surfing a try again.  It has been ages since I have been up on a board, but thankfully my dear friend Kevin has a soft top board that he was able to lend me so I can get back out there.

It has been amazing. I stand up every few rides and of course completely bust shortly after. If I am lucky, I can take a wave all the way to the shore, but those are few and far between.

I have honed in on Malibu Pier right now.  It has knee to waist high waves, which is perfect for me and my board.  Not scary at all and I am getting out there close to 3 times a week (so far -- I'm on my second week).  Its awesome.  And the people in the water have been amazing.  Last time I was there (a million years ago), the guys in the water were complete jerks.  Like the surfers in "Point Break," but this group has been the complete opposite.  First off, tons of girls are out there which is very inspiring to watch. They are completely killer on their boards.  Some are doing handstands others are walking the length of the board backwards and forward and everyone (guys and gals) treat each other with respect and cheer each other on when a great wave is caught.  The other guys that are there a cool, too. I've gotten some great tips and have made some new friends! Which is always nice.

anywhooooo... stay tuned for more.

(photo: Jamie Shapiro and me - First day back at the beach - one was super excited to surf, one was a little nervous... I will let you guess which is which.) :-)

(that's me!)

Rachel Griffin - You are an Ironman ... AGAIN!

I realized that I have been terrible updating this blog and for that I am sorry and promise to be more active.

With that, I wanted to give you an update  - BOTH my brother and I Finished Ironman Boulder on August 2, 2015... and we did so with smiles on our faces!

The race was a tough one for both of us.  The water temperature was 78.1 which made the race “Not Wetsuit Legal.” So what that means, is if you want to qualify for Kona (the finals) you cannot wear a wetsuit.  So for the 500 or so or badasses (Marc included) you entered the water in waves with no wetsuit.  For the rest of us, in wetsuits, around 2500, we had a mass start, only about 8 minutes behind the first wave of non-wetsuit swimmers.

 

So what this means, is mass chaos and craziness in the water.  For the wetsuit people, it was bodies and bodies everywhere, clambering and pushing and almost drowning each other to get out of the herd.  For the non wetsuit people, it meant “you’re screwed and Look out!” – we will swim right over your and we don’t care if you drown, just get out of our way.  So needless to say, it was a bit bananas for the first mile or so, then it thinned out and I think everyone was able to get in their groove, I know I was.  Overall I swam 1:19 and Marc swam 1:38 – with no wetsuit.  We were both really excited about our swim, Marc especially, since it was fresh water, so it took a lot to get through it. He should be psyched.

 The bike was a great course.  Rolling hills with some false flats where you think you are cruising but you are really climbing subtly for 4 miles at a time.  That was annoying. But overall a great course.  The “tough” part of this course is it was SUPER HOT with no shade and out there in the middle of fields just baking away.  Plus, starting at 5000 elevation and another 5K gained throughout the course, you are that much closer to the sun with less atmosphere as a buffer.  Knowing our times, Marc knew he would catch up to me on the bike around mile 35 or so, so we positioned Christy and Dad at mile 38 / 80 for cheering.  Our timing was spot on and Marc popped up next to me on the bike course around mile 36.  We were able to chat for a few miles and then he took off for the second loop and he dominated the 112 with a 6:12 time! Very impressive.  I was lagging behind but still managed to beat my “A Goal” by 4min with a time of 7:26. 

 

The run was a different story for both of us.  Coming off that bike, it was super hot.  Marc had the right idea to put his “good sneakers” in his special needs bag (a bag you can access once on the run course – you also have one on the bike course – you can put anything you want in these bags – sneakers, extra socks, food, coca cola, advil, etc) – and started the run in his bad shoes so he could jump in the Boulder creek to cool off and then have an awesome fresh pair of sneakers to change into to continue the run.  Despite having slight tummy issues and the heat, Marc finished his marathon in 6:01. It wasn’t his ideal time, but given that he just swam 2.4 and biked 112 for the first time together and dealt with elevation and heat, I think he was happy. I only the other hand was completely sick the entire run.  I was nauseous at the start but knew I had no time to rest because given my crappy knee, on a good day I am running the marathon at 6:30, so with that and not feeling too hot, I had to maximize the 7:30 I had left of the race.  How crazy is that to even think… oh, you have 7:30hrs left to do exercise! That is a full work day, LOL.  Anyway, at the start of the run I was not in a good place and then at mile 4.3 I swear I was possessed by the exorcist threw up more than I care to share and it was not what you would vision or wish on your worst enemy.  That being said for the next 2 miles I felt great! I was actually able to run and then it hit me again and I was pretty much done.  For the next 10 miles anything that I put in my mouth came right back out, a pretzel, a gummy bear, an ice chip, you name it.  It was awful to the point that when I saw Christy and Dad at mile 11, it had taken me 3 hours already.  I was defeated. I was trying to do the math and I was calculating that I would not finish (of course I was doing math wrong, which is why I am in PR and not finance, LOL) but regardless, I was broken mentally and it was tough. But seeing IRONDAD and Christy helped. Knowing that they had been out there just as long as Marc and I, I had to keep going.  And thankfully Christy reminded me to keep going that I could feel better in a hour or so, so I pushed on.  At Mile 15-ish, they brought out the chicken broth and that was a savor. I was able to keep that down and pick up my pace walking thanks to two random athletes, Jim and Jaiver.  And before I knew it, I was moving!  I still didn’t feel too hot, but I was getting there. I ran into Marc and Christy around mile 24/25.  Marc had already finished and was sporting his medal and was all smiles cheering the rest of us on.  Christy took to speed walking me and checking in on me.  It was great to have her there because at mile 25, I grabbed an orange and squeezed the juice into my mouth to get some nutrients and low and behold, the exorcist returned and I was throwing up again and again.  It was not pretty. Christy thankfully reminded me that I had 1hr to do a mile, so I had nothing to worry about.  But just like the first time, I got a burst of energy, because there was nothing left in my system, and I was able to run.  So we caught up to Marc and they headed off to meet me at the finish.  I picked up the pace and went for it.  I think my pace was actually like 9min LOL at the end.  I ran through that shoot high fiving everyone and embraced the finish line with a massive grin.  I did it. 2x Ironman… then I had them take me to the med tent. :-)  Finished the marathon in 6:58.

 

TOTAL TIMES:

Marc: 14:20

Rachel: 16:11 (and I miraculously managed to beat my Cozumel Ironman time by 5min!)

 

 
It was a great race.  Super fun.  Doing the race with Marc was awesome and seeing IRONDAD and Christy on the course was priceless and I know for fact seeing them kept Marc and I going. … not to mention their cheering kept thousands of others going, too! 

 

Pics courtesy of Christy: share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AZuGbdizZtFGGk

Marc and I will be capping off our 2015 year of athleticism with the NYC Marathon on Nov 1^st if you care to cheer!  And IronCheerer Christy will be running as well!!

Until next time… J

IRON CHEERERS & Additional Photos

I would not have been able to finish this race if it wasn't for my Iron Cheerers.

Written By Christy Shea Griffin:

I am privileged to contribute to Rachel's blog the story of the day she completed her first 140.6 mile race.  Rachel trained so hard for this triathlon, and being there to see her bring it through the finish line was so awesome. At the end of this long day, Marc, dad (Mr. Griffin) and I (Christy..Rachel's sister-in-law) decided we could call ourselves "Iron Cheerers" because cheering for this race was quite an endurance sport for us as well. . Hope you enjoy reading about this amazing day from our "Iron Cheerers" perspective.......

Our day as Iron Cheerers started at 4am as we prepared to cheer Rachel on for her first Ironman...Cozumel 2014.  It was going to be a long day, and we knew we'd have to pace ourselves well. As we gathered with fellow Iron Cheerers, we quickly realized we had already forgotten one of the most essential cheering props....a "GO RACHEL" sign. Quickly we had to improvise. I used my emergency Spanish to get an open Souvenir Shop to give us a cardboard box from their recycle bin which was perfectly sturdy for a sign. Then I perused the crowd for writing tools and found a little girl coloring. She was four years old and willing to share her markers with me. Perfect! "Go Rachel Griffin" sign!- CHECK!

About an hour and fourteen minutes later, Rachel emerged from the ocean.....she ROCKED the swim! Waving our sign and yelling her name, Rachel was psyched to see us right there in the front row of the Cheerers. We looked like professionals! Then we put into action our calculated plan to make sure we got to see Rachel as many times along the course as possible. "Go Rachel!" we screamed as she zoomed passed us on the bike. She was easy to spot with this black and gold knee brace on and hot pink athletic tape on her legs.

We were energized by how strong she looked each time she passed. In between the second and third loop we found a hotel lobby to nap in....a huge MUST for Iron Cheerers to sustain their energy. After seeing Rachel dismount from the bike, we knew the race was far from over still.

We refueled and hydrated at one of the bars along the course, then we got to see Rachel embark on her 1st ever marathon. This would be her hardest leg. "How would her knee hold up? Was her nutrition enough?" Mile 7: Here she comes and she looks so great!....despite knee pain and feeling exhausted, she was so positive and was smiling ear to ear.

She even thanked US for coming out to support her. There was still about 19 miles ahead of her. It was getting late and we began to fade as cheerers. "How is Rachel still going? WE are exhausted!" THEN, there was a problem.... The tracking app showed that Rachel never passed the 12 mile marker. She should have DEFINITELY passed mile 12 by now! "Was she ok? Was she hurt? Did she need to go to the medical tent?" We were trying to stay hopeful. Maybe the app was wrong. We kept our eyes peeled for Rachel from the terrace of this bar overlooking the running course. We cheered on EVERYONE. "Way to go guy with the yellow shirt on!" "Awesome job runner with the sombrero on!" (yes, he really was running with a sombrero). Still no Rachel. Our Iron Cheering started to become more like Iron Worrying. I kept cheering nonetheless. "You go girl with the white shirt and visor".  And then this girl  looked up at us and it was Rachel!!!! It was RACHEL!! OMG! Mile 19!...She was not injured! She was smiling and happy, Rachel said her knee was killing her but she was doing alright! We were back in the game as Iron Cheerers! We knew that if she could keep up her jogging/ walking regimen, she would surely finish! Now we had to prepare for our Cheering finale....so we rushed to find our place to cheer Rachel to the FINISH! As she came into view, getting closer to the final turn towards the finish line, tears of joy welled in our eyes . She crossed the finish with a huge jump in the air. "Rachel did it! She really DID IT!" Rachel Griffin... YOU... ARE..AN IRONWOMAN.

Marc, dad and I couldn't have been more proud of you at that moment. (But surely not as proud of you as your mom....who was with you the entire race : ) It was a long day for us Iron Cheerers - cheering, tracking, doing calculations to know when to look for you along the course, and even carrying around a bottle of champagne ON ICE for you to have after you finish. We saw the sun rise and sun set.....and it was all worth it! You inspired us all that day.

And as you inspired/ recruited Marc to join you in the Ironman journey for 2015, I hope to recruit more friends and family to join me and dad in the intense but rewarding role of "Iron Cheerer"....August 2nd, Boulder Colorado!!

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