Trekking Barris: May 2011

Siena, Italy

From Vienna we drove about 8 hours south to Siena, Italy which is in Tuscany and at one time had been a rival to Florence. We were excited to check it out as Rick Steves, my trusted travel writer, gives Siena 3 stars (the max rating) as a must see in Italy.

We stayed at a B&B inside the city which seemed to be right in the backpacker and student district because there were kids partying outside for hours followed by the street sweepers. We like noisy places because if our kids are loud, no one minds! The room was large with it's own 'fresco' painting on the ceiling!

Wed AM we checked out the city which was pretty calm and quiet until about 9:30 AM when the tour buses arrived from Florence and I think the city tripled it's population. The church was amazing and the old square where there is an annual horse race, was neat too.

Vienna, Austria

From Warth where we stayed for the race, we drove 45 min into Vienna. We stayed at a great hotel just outside the city (Bergwitz) with it's own private garden restaurant and close to the Shaumberg Palace gardens.

After checking into the hotel and putting sun block on the girls, we all headed out to find the bus to take to the tram and within 15 minutes were downtown. We had a great 75 min walking tour of Vienna through the gorgeous palace rose gardens, government buildings and even found a kiddie sandbox for Mo to play in.

Later that night my Dad met up with friends he has had for 40 years - Herwig and his wife Ida. Herwig and my parents met on a tour in Turkey and have kept up over the years. They too have recently become grandparents and were eager to meet our little ones.

Tuesday morning after breakfast we had a great walk through all the palace gardens by our hotel. We were up early and saw lots of joggers - there could be miles and miles of running loops inside. We were also amazed by the walls of trees that were 2-3 stories high and very thin. Lots of pruning. The park is impressive with the huge water falls and large structures.

Liz's Half IronMan

About 4+ years ago Liz thought it would be fun to do a Half Ironman and then in late Jan 2011 decided to sign up for the St. Polten HIM May 22 with 4 of her training buddies.

Liz and the family, including Grandpa Richard, loaded up into the Mazda 5. Fortunately Bella can feed herself the bottle as it was a LONG drive up. We left mid-day Thurs 5/19 and drove up to Udine. The hotel was so new our GPS units couldn't find it and after stopping for directions a few times we found the hotel just before midnight. Jessica, Jeff and I laughed when the guy showed us how to use the key card by holding up a huge door hande with electronic key pad. Only the 3 of us, slap happy from driving, all thought - damn - they are making these keys HUGE so we won't steal them! Ha!

It wasn't until a few minutes after checking into Udine looking for Mo's pajamas did we realize we forgot to pack clothes for Mo! The initial plan was that I was going to help pack out the car on Thurs, but then thought it would be better if instead I brought the girls later to the house so Jeff could pack in quiet. I had only laid out Bella clothes and Mo's shirts. Fortunately Mo's into wearing Bella's pants as shorts! As usual Jeff did a fantastic job packing everything - bike, swim stuff, cooler with snacks, luggage, strollers, etc!

Friday morning after breakfast we left and had a scenic drive up to St. Polten - though it was another 5 hours in the car and the girls did well. That evening 4 of us biked down hoping to register but arrived too late. Friday night we had a pasta/salad dinner at our cabin. We lucked out with a 2 floor cabin with fire pit and complete kitchen! Sat we were able to register though it did take practically all day. Later that night we checked out a few of the sights - a huge monastery at Melk and drove part of the Danube river - very picturesque.

Sunday was the race. It was an early morning start. We left the hotel at 5:30 AM. Jeff had given me a pep talk and massage the night before so I felt ready. And he had gone over my nutrition - when to gel, vitamin B12 in my water, and power bars for the bike. Even so - the morning felt rushed and I still forgot sunscreen and my running cap.

All the women started at 7:15 just after the young men under 25. We were followed by the 50 year old men and then the 45+ men started almost 90 minutes after us. The swim was great - between 2 lakes with a little run in between. I did it in 35 minutes. I felt super strong on the bike and though there were 3 climbs they weren't too bad. I did the bike in 3 hours and then I finished with a 1:52 run time. Overall my time was 5:38 which was a lot faster than my goal - which was just to beat 7 hours. It was a great course - beautiful and very well organized. I was lucky on the run to find a 'pacer dude'. I could tell he had done tons of these before and was in his 50s - perfect running form. I just got behind him and did EVERYTHING he did - from drinking water, taking gues, the sponges, walking to drink, running to drink, and from the photos was even stride with him. The run course ended up being fun as we kept circuling back through a stadium where everyone would cheer.

St. Polten is the largest HIM in the world with about 2500 entrants. I came in 16 for my age group and had no injuries. It was epic! I really enjoyed it!!!