2009 Livestrong Austin

This post has taken several days to write just because there were so many thoughts swirling around in my head that I did not know where to begin. Livestrong was such an incredible event with so much emotion wrapped up into it. I guess I should have prepared myself for that but I was so worried about the hills and the bike riding part, that I never thought about how sentimental it would be.
There is so much I could write about the Livestrong weekend. I think the whole reason why I was doing this hit me in the beginning of the ride. It was one thing to pass someone in their 50's who had a "In Memory of Dad" sign on their back. It was a different thing all together to pass by two 8-10 year old boys with that kind of sign on their back. Sadly, they were not the only children I saw with "In Memory" signs on. That part was tough, but it made me really think and be grateful that everyone in my life who has had to fight cancer won.
In my head, this was going to be a one time event. I hate fund raising and asking people for money, but I will be back next year. It is too important not to go back.

LIVESTRONG AUSTIN!!!

It has been a few weeks, but I did actually do the 5k I talked about awhile back. It was slow, cold, and miserable. My usual running partner, Julie, had some pathetic excuse like being sick and was not able to run, although she did show up and was an excellent sherpa as she lent me headphones when mine broke and had an extra pair of gloves when I realized my hands were going to freeze off.
The run itself was uneventful except my foot really felt like it was on fire the whole time. I ignored it and kept on, but kept having to walk more and more and was pretty frustrated by the whole thing. It was not until I got home and examined it that I found this:

I have never had a bruise on the bottom of my foot before. I remember stepping on something a day or two before that really hurt but had forgotten all about it until that moment. I felt a little better about my constant walking and miserable time after that. It is still a little sore, but I am going to attempt to redeem myself this weekend at Austin Livestrong.

I have signed up to do the 5K run on Saturday and the bike ride on Sunday. I am excited not about the running or the riding, but about maybe getting a chance to meet Fatty. Oh yeah, that Armstrong guy will be there too…..but FATTY! Seriously, this guy is a rock star and I am stupid excited about being at the same event he is at. I am even considering purchasing a new camera that is thin enough to go in my jersey pocket for picture opportunities. I have actually wanted one for awhile, but this may be the reason I get one!

If you have not donated to LIVESTRONG yet and would like to, there is still time. Please visit my page here.

Princess Grace, I Am Not

I am not someone who is known for her gracefulness. I am constantly tripping over my own feet and hit the ground a lot. I am used to it. Last Sunday I was playing tennis and was actually thinking about writing this blog entry and talking about how when I play tennis, I actually do feel graceful. It was going to be a wonderful, flowery, feel good post about running and leaping and just feeling great.


I obviously tempted fate and gave the gods too much of a good reason to point and laugh.

You see, I was VERY focused on getting to the ball as we were down in the second set and I really wanted to win. Not to mention I was serving this game, and I refused to lose a game where I was serving. I was flying back and forth across the court like a champ and getting back things I never should have been able to reach. In other words, I was feeling fantastic about myself.

The cross court shot came fast and low. I ran hard, hit the ball….and then ran straight into a metal fence. More specifically the metal fence POST. The next few seconds were pretty black and then slowly changed to fuzzy as I staggered around. I now understood the term “punch drunk” a little better. I do think the first clear sentence out of my mouth was, “Did we win the point?”. Alas, no. I did get the ball back, however, my partner was a little more concerned about her idiot partner having brain damage than she was about the getting the ball back. She has really messed up priorities.

I was able to clear my head enough to resume play although we did lose that set. I was just achy enough that the blow was not that bad. All I could think about was a bath and ibuprofen. Two days later I am recovered, and just talked to my tennis partner about playing tomorrow. She suggested I get football pads first.

Ready for the weekend!

First of all, I will apologize to Powerbar. They did send me a nice letter in the mail along with two coupons to try their new crap replacement for my cola gel blasts. Ok, I should be open minded about the raspberry flavor and since they are free, I will try them. Never the strawberry banana though. Yech.

I have started back on my swimming lessons and I can tell a huge difference from swimming on my own all summer to having someone sitting there with a stop watch. I need to figure out a way to keep that drive even when I don’t have a coach there telling me to speed it up. It was nice to report to her that since starting lessons with her, I took almost 6 minutes off of my swim time from my first triathlon to the same one a year later. That is kind of crazy, but you have to take into account that there was absolutely no swim training before my first tri. After that appalling first swim, I decided that would be one part that I would not be able to “wing-it” and needed help.

I am running ( I use that term VERY loosely) a 5K this weekend. My only goal is to do it faster than last year. I have no idea how long it took me, but I have a feeling it should not be too tough to beat it.

LIVESTRONG Austin is in a few weeks. I have been taking a few spinning classes to help get ready and I forgot how much I really love those classes. I love the pounding music and seeing how hard I can push myself without worrying about having to have the energy to ride back home. It is just fun and I feel like I grin like an idiot the whole time. It will be good to keep with those through the winter when I usually slack so hard on my biking because of the lack of light in the evenings.

Is anyone else having a week that is dragging??

Bike Report and Powerbar Complaint

I did end up doing the bike race last year although due to my cold, I brought my mileage WAY down and did 32 miles. Oddly enough, the longer I was on the bike, the better I could breath and by the end of it I was feeling so good I wished I had ridden the 48. Sort of.

This race was pretty cool because the swag bags were incredible. I realize this is not the reason one should attend events, but it is pretty high up there for me. That and the fact they gave free lunch afterwards. That totally had me sold. For a first year event, it was very well organized, tons of rest stops, and great volunteers. If they have it next year, I am there in a heart beat.

It was interesting because this race was very diverse as far as its participants and there were a lot of obvious beginners on mountain bikes and cruisers. While I am always glad to see new people at bicycling events, it is slightly terrifying because you just never know what newbies will do. Like riding three abreast on a highway and oblivious to my calls of "car back!!". Probably because they had their earphones in, a HUGE pet peeve of mine. Luckily, I did not see any accidents and was able to get around most of them pretty soon without incidents. I really wish headphones were banned for all cycling events. It is just too dangerous with that many people around.

In another gripe....Powerbar is now on my bad list. They have stopped making the Gel Blasts in the Cola flavor and replaced it with some strawberry banana crap. I have raved about these several times on this blog and they were just the greatest supplement in my mind. I wrote an email to Powerbar and as I figured they probably would, I got a very typical form letter that did not address anything I talked about. Powerbar.....you are dead to me. (although I did order a case from a supplier that still had some left) After those run out though....I am going back to Shot Blocks!!

Triathlon pictures

Here are two pictures from last weekends triathlon. You can see Greg off in the back right hand side running in after me which was sweet. He said he could not figure out if that would offend me or not, but honestly at that point, I could not breath much in order to answer him. I look like I worked really hard because my shirt is all wet but a lot of that is left over from the swim and the constant rain/mist that continued through the whole race. I ended up in a long sleeve cotton shirt because it was cold that morning, but some sort of technical tee would have been wiser because of the water. That cotton shirt was very heavy by the end! You learn something every time though.


I am signed up to ride 62 miles this weekend at a race in Plainview. It should be a very flat course and a good ride however at this point I could care less due to that fact I have had a cold invade my body. I think it is getting better but my nose is about to drive me insane. I think no matter what, I will go but I might consider downgrading to the 48 mile ride if I am not feeling better. I am going for fun so no point in making myself more sick and miserable for a fun ride!

Here are some picture from the rehearsal and the wedding this weekend. It is kind of nice to have a picture where I am not in a race and soaked in sweat! And my hair is even fixed!

Happy Triaversary!!!

This weekend was my 1st Tri-aversary and even though I really did not want to, I went back to go for my second go around of the Texas Tech Rec Triathlon. I had been working on my friend Julie’s wedding for the last several days and when Sunday morning came around, I had a HUGE case of “I don’t wanna”. I had a somewhat groggy conversation with Greg that went like this:

5:15 AM Sunday Morning
Me: “I am not going.”
Greg: “Snore”
Me: “Seriously, I don’t want to go”
Greg: “………………yeshyoudo”
Me: “I just don’t care. I am tired and too fat to race. And it is cold and wet outside. Did I mention I was tired and don’t care about this at all???”
Greg: “sigh…….I will go with you”
Me: “No, you don’t have to because I am not going”
Greg: (puts foot in my back in attempt to get me out of bed) “You already paid and told people you are going. Is this nerves?”
Me: (stubborn and defensive now) “This is not nerves. I am tired and DON’T CARE!”
Greg: “Then stay………snore”
I turn off the light and turn off the alarm.

6:15AM Sunday Morning (the time check in and body marking begins)
I jump out of bed and announce I am going after all and we need to leave in ten minutes.
Greg: “......muttered cursing…”

He did go and watched his first ever triathlon and was so sweet and supportive and even bought me breakfast and coffee afterwards. I was several minutes faster than last year, but managed to still come in second to last. I was not impressed because I had really felt like I was doing so much better, but sometimes that is just the way it goes. My swim itself was probably at least 4 minutes faster than last year which tells you just how much the lessons I have been taking have helped. I wish I had remembered my watch, but it just did not seem important at the time.

No matter how bummed I was about coming in last of the pack, I have now been a triathlete for a year and no matter how slow I am, I still get the title and can be proud of it. I just have to remind myself that I am doing this for me and for the fun of it!