it seems odd for race week to be here.  i feel so balanced.  i look forward to life leading into ironman and life coming out of ironman regardless of what the day holds.  i’ll hope for the best, climb my ass off on the hills of Placid, and come away smiling.  at times like these, i always remind myself that i haven’t just been working towards this the last couple months.  i started swimming year around at the age of 8, we started swimming doubles at 12, and i missed out on a handful of normal kid things because we had training.  i’ve spent 20 years training.  it all counts.  on race day, i get to pull from all life experiences.  i get to use whatever keeps me moving forward.  i am currently fueled by jelly belly.  i found they are the lesser of all evils.  they seem to kick most of the sugar cravings without the calories of chocolate and ice cream.  

alright pretty uneventful day here in the metto, so i’ll leave you in peace before i start to ramble about dinner plans and coaching masters.  these are exciting times we live in kids, exciting times  

1.  wake up for the race.

yeah, there you have it.  i think that will be the single most deciding factor in how my day goes.

i am excited to race again.  hopefully, i can have a little better day than i did down at gulf coast.  i am even more excited to get done with this race, put my head down and do WORK! in prep for placid.

‘these girls going so fast is making us all better.’

i think i actually had a pretty decent race, better than gulf coast, at least.  i felt strong on the bike.  my watt average was above 210.  it’s not great, but it’s above 22 mph so okay.  i ran 7:45s which again, not great, but worlds better than gulf coast (also faster than i wanted to be running).

i was the race announcer post race and had more fun than i probably should…with a microphone    that’s trust.

the crowds and the people cheering for me and yelling for me were awesome.  all along the course, all the volunteers, my little sister and her boyfriend, everyone yelling and cheering and providing placing and updates.  i love racing in my backyard.

now back to the training…i get real serious here in a minute with countdowns and commitment.  it’ll be great fun.

but in summary, not really homecoming queen this year, but as kim (race director) told me, i am ptc’s number 1.  i’ll take that.  great day, great boyfriend, great life.  just keep moving forward…

scott arrived in georgia on thursday, april 30th which was also james birthday.  he was my present to james on his 30th birthday.  (james is old.)  i have no picture from the birthday surprise though.

friday morning, may 1, we ate a gaint breakfast at aim’s, loaded up the car, and took off on the 2nd annual Joe Schum short bus ride benefitting large black dogs.  (notice Joe Schum front a center.)

i told scott the weather would be 85 degrees and sunny on the trip to ‘bama.  i should be a weather girl.

our trip would include the 110 mile bike ride to anniston, al on friday.  i was supposed to race sunny king crit the next day, saturday, may 2.  the cheaha challenge which is a 102 mile ride to the highest point in ‘bama was on sunday, may 3.  then we were to finish up with a 110 mile bike ride back to atlanta that monday morning, may 4.

i was wrong in my weather forecast.  it rained the first 60 miles to ‘bama, but we made it to the state line anyhow…and finally started to dry out along the way.

by the time we hit lively’s foodland, the sun had come out to stay and saw us into anniston.

once in anniston, we went to a nearby mexicain resturant for dinner.

after dinner, part of the crew hit the local bar… (boyfriend and i).

sometimes, i dance…

saturday morning, i choose not to race sunny king crit due to the continued rain, but we went down to cheer on friends.

go, boys, GO!

the next morning, we rode the cheaha challenge.  it was a bit harder than i had remembered the previous year.  i lied to scott…the highest point in ‘bama is quite a ways up there!

my (very smelly) shoe started to come apart on the ride to ‘bama SO i had to duct tape my shoes for the rest of our jounrney…

cheaha was the most fun i had had on a bike in a while.  scott was great company “even though he had to wait on me a lot.”

the next morning, we started our journey back home.  it didn’t start in the rain, but i think we made it 10 miles before the skies let loose and it rained, and it rained, and it rained!  we dropped 70 miles into the ride, soaking wet, and went to eat pizza and drink a beer.  ken and one of our other support vechicles came to pick our wet butts up!

scott and i were back home for a day.  we worked on bikes until 1:30am with tom that night!  so much bike work to do after 3 days of rain, hills, and etc…

wednesday, may 6, we were off to panama city beach fla…

i stayed with a lovely lady named Kaye.  thank you, kaye!  you were so awesome.

scotty was staying with his buddy shawn and helping out at the blue seventy tent.

we spent the next couple days getting ready for gulf coast half ironman.  then we did the racing…

i didn’t have quite the race i hoped for at gulf coast.  i felt like i was “trying” too hard the whole time.  it never felt smooth.  it never felt good, but as always in pc beach, fl, it was some after party.

we danced… we sang… we were merry.

clucker had great presence during the gulf coast awards ceremony.

i dropped scott off in clermont today.  that was the end of my journey with scotty and clucker.  i miss you boys!

i have enjoyed ‘the strip’, broadway, more than i would have guessed.  there is something about cowboy hats and boots that make the booze and the bars seems a little less overwhelming.  although i have to admit we were in bed by 10 last night and our most exciting stop was for ice cream.  i am getting old.

cowgirls don’t cry.  ride baby ride.

i am done house sitting about 4 pm this afternoon and headed to Nash-vegas to run a marathon in celebration of my new found freedom. Most likely, i’ll wake up convinced i need to be up by 6:45 to let the dog out for the next week. it’ll be nice though to be home feeding my dogs. bella…i am coming home! for the first time in six months, i will be sleeping in my own bed (on monday but still…YEA!)!

i just finished sending a note to my father’s best friend, Pat. it was so good to hear from him. it also caused me to reflect on the last couple months of my life, and how much i have grown due to this time period. today, i feel thankful for the struggle. i was dealing with some tough shit. i am ready now though. my check list of ‘life’ things to take care of before moving forward is full of check marks. time to live life as any happy, healthy, well adjusted individual may. just living the dream, baby!

nash-vegas…here i come!

‘pink camo,’ the one guy remarked. ‘this thing could get lost in victoria secrets.’ it made me giggle. i am thinking of naming my girl victoria…

seriously though you couldn't see me coming, huh?

doesn’t she look great!??!

i’ve been on a couple rides thus far.  i think we are riding well together, but haven’t had any data to know for sure, just feel and hr.  alright i need to get out the door running, but wanted to play with the new photo/video upload features.

web updates are coming.  brace yourself, things are changing.

in a week or so, she will be mine.

http://tribonzai.com/itemdetails.cfm?id=1090

this makes me so happy.

it has been tough though. it has been a tough couple months.   i’ve always amazed myself with how much ‘life’ i have been able to fit in my life, but as far as major life stressors go… DAMN, i am living!  i made a list though of things i needed to do over the next couple weeks in order to feel grounded, stable, and move forward with my life.  i have one item to finish on the list.  it is sort of important though.  i need to get a tri bike.  riiiight.  you need that to do triathlons. i have put on a calendar all my races, my income, and my living accommodations for the next couple months. the point of my ocd rant, however, is that looking in on it all (my life), i understand why i have had a hard time moving forward.  i was doing the best i could, but life has been a bit of a cluster fuck.  i was doing the long runs, well most of them, but not the fast runs.  speed, tempo, what?!?

limitations (excuses) aside, my goal was to enjoy ing.  whatever…that meant.  i just wanted to find enjoyment in the day.  i went out hard.  i ran 7:20 the first mile on accident.  i slowed from there.  i knew for most of the run i needed to keep my heart rate in the mid-160s.  the 3:40 group passed me about mile 12 and i decided i wanted to try to hold 8:15s with them for as long as i could.  i ran just in front of them for awhile, i ran just behind them for awhile, and then eventually i just started to fall off.  it wasn’t there, the lack of training, caught up with me about mile 22, and my legs were ready to be done.  i crossed the finish line, saw my boyfriend sporting my large pink bag, and whined/asked/begged to go straight to the car and then home.  i was done.  i am happy enough though.  3:46 isn’t professional triathlete good, but it could have been a lot worse.

i am excited for the coming month though.  i have 24 more days of house sitting which means 24 days of stable, no moving, no un-nescesary stress or drama.  how much can i accomplish in 24 days?  i am excited for nash-vegas marathon in late april.  i simply find comfort that i am excited for exercise and events that take place in the future.