Not so fast

This will be a quick blog post. I'll just get to the point.

I'm not doing the Lake Pflugerville Triathlon next month.

I have no excuse other than I am not ready, I haven't put the time into my weaker disciplines, I haven't wanted to spend time on them lately, I've let other life events and stresses get in the way, and I would rather wait to do my first triathlon when I'm actually ready than disrespecting the sport with a mediocre attempt.

I will do a triathlon. It just won't be next month.

I'll probably go into a bit more detail later, but for now this will have to do.

In the meantime, I'm enjoying my other sport...running...with trail races and shorter road races throughout the spring and summer. I'll get on my bike more, I'll swim more, and when the time is better I will register for another triathlon.

To all my friends still competing, I'll be out there rooting for you as always.

What Birthday? I really don't care

I haven't celebrated a birthday since I turned 35.

I don't care if I ever celebrate a birthday again.

No, really...I don't care about my birthday.

Okay, so maybe I care A LITTLE. I like the fact that I'm turning 40 and I actually really wish it was happening sooner rather than 258 days from now. I am looking forward to being in the Masters age group, to being the best version of myself I've ever been DESPITE being 40, and to finally getting past that stupid "Over the Hill" milestone.

But I'm not celebrating. No matter how many times my friends tell me I am celebrating, I'm not. It isn't about them. It's about me and respecting that decision. They might not agree with my reasons but I don't care. You hear that, dear buddies of mine?

I'm not celebrating.

If there is a surprise party for me, I will retreat.

If there are gifts, I will feel uncomfortable.

If I'm told I should WANT to celebrate, I will roll my eyes.

My sister lived to be 37. My celebratory mood towards birthdays ceased at this time. I'm not stuck in my grief, as one might imagine, but I do not want to celebrate regardless.

When I turned 38, I struggled with it. Coincidentally, the Houston Marathon was that very same day and I could think of no better way to "celebrate" that birthday than by running my ass off in a marathon, by focusing only on myself and what I could accomplish rather than giving in to someone else's idea of how I should mark the occasion. I was in complete control of that day and it was the best decision I could have made. I ran my strongest marathon to date that day and I feel like I honored my sister and myself by doing so.

For my 40th birthday, I will have dinner with my family, I will enjoy cake as I always do, and I will travel to Houston again to run my ninth marathon, in a new age group, with a new goal, and with my thoughts on my sister.

That truly is the only way I want to celebrate.

Am I Unlucky?

I'm going to venture away from my usual posts about fitness and running and delve into something more emotional and personal. So bear with me.

On April 29, 2003, my husband and I lost a very good friend of ours. His name was Dan. He was 30 years old, had been married less than one year, and had an aggressive and deadly form of cancer called Ewing's Sarcoma. Diagnosed at age 28, he lived for less than 2 more years. We struggled with him as he would get good news, and then bad news, as he hurriedly married his sweetheart for fear he would die before they had a chance to be husband and wife, and then we got the phone call from him that he would probably die within the week. We prayed, we cried, we yelled about the unfairness of it all. We traveled to his hospital in Southern California (we lived in Northern California at the time), hoping we'd make it in time to give him one last hug. We did, and it was incredibly difficult to leave his hospital room knowing we'd never see him again.

Dan on his wedding day -May 3, 2002

I think about him all the time. I miss his goofy laugh and his funny stories. I miss his bear hugs (he was 6 foot 5). I miss his friendship and his beautiful heart. I miss being pissed off at him when he drank too much and turned into a teenager again. There aren't a lot of people that come into your life who you know will be there into old age, and when those people are taken so soon it's gut wrenching.

But he's not the only person I've lost in my life. As I look back, it seems like every year, or close to it, someone who I love dies. Sometimes it's expected and a part of the circle of life, like when my grandparents passed away, but sometimes it's sudden and painful and the worst thing in the world, like when my sister suddenly died.

And in all honesty, I think I've had more than my fair share of loss. In my life, I lost a childhood friend at age 6 (to cancer, and I remember it VIVIDLY), a high school friend our senior year (car accident), 3 grandparents (my other grandparent died before I was born), my great grandma, my friend Dan, several uncles, neighbors, and Greg has lost 2 of his grandparents and a teenage cousin since I met him. Our neighborhood has suffered terrible loss as well, with 2 children and young mom dying in recent years. Like I said, we can't go much longer than a year without another loss happening.

I'm just SAD.

Is this more than the normal person? I'm only 39 years old. There will be a lot more loss in the coming years. I'm probably crazy for dwelling on it, but on a day like today it's very difficult to get out of that rut.

Finally...another trail race!

Trail racing is not anything like road racing, at least not to me.

I don't go into the race in a competitive mood.
I don't care much about my pace.
I do it to enjoy the outdoors and find solitude...if I spend 10 miles of the race completely alone, that's okay.
Negative splits? Nope, not going to happen, and I don't care.
Walking is perfectly acceptable.

Sunday I ran my first trail race of the year. It was beautiful and perfect and difficult and exhausting and I'm so glad I did it, even as I sit here, two mornings later, stiff and sore and cranky. As a matter of fact, I'm signed up for my next one already.

Rogue Running's Trail Series has been going on for 10 years now. There are three races in the series. Last year I only did the last one (and it was my very first trail race), but this year I wanted to do as many as I could. I had a conflict for the first race, but the last two I'd be able to do. Sunday's race was at Emma Long Park in South Austin. I'd never been down there but heard good things about it. It's a tough course, but there are good stretches of dirt path and it's mostly shaded.

I picked out some Boston Blue and Yellow for the race.

www.anothermotherrunner.com

I rode down to the race with my friend, Rain, who was signed up for the 10K but was totally cool with waiting for me to finish the 30K. She's a lot like me in that she loves to spectate and was looking forward to a peaceful morning of race watching and cheering after she was done with her race (which, by the way, she totally rocked! She's one fast and talented lady). I was so happy to be able to hang out with someone I knew as many of the friends who I hoped would be out there were not able to be. I wasn't sure if I'd know anyone! I did end up running into a buddy from Round Rock Fit, and that was a nice surprise.

Courtesy AzulOx Photography

As with all of Rogue's trail races, the course was three 10K loops. Emma Long is very rocky, with lots of elevation gain, lots of twisting and turning, but with dirt paths between the tough parts. I got my bearings on the first loop and was around a lot of the other runners for the first few miles. After the first aid station 3 miles in, we all started spreading out more and before I knew it I was pretty much alone out there. It didn't bother me. The course was well marked and I was enjoying the solitude. I didn't even realize I didn't have my iPod turned on. I focused on where my feet were landing and how the course was marked so I wouldn't get off track. One thing I noticed right away was that there was going to be a lot of shade, even after the sun fully came up. A big difference from Reveille Peak last year, where the sun got brutal on those granite domes. Before I was done with my first loop I was passed by the top 10K runners, who had started 30 minutes after us. Those guys are just insanely fast. I think the winner did it in something like 41 minutes! And he was sweet enough to actually say he was sorry for me having to stop to let him by - seriously, dude, you're WINNING! Go go go!! No apologies. It was cute, though.

That first loop was uneventful and I completed it in 1 hour, 13 minutes. My Garmin showed it a bit short of a 10K and it looked like the race would be about 18 miles even. I was good with that! Reveille Peak was actually 20.6 miles long...I was much happier with a slightly short course than one that was 2 miles off in distance.

These photos from AzulOx Photography are from Loop 1

I slowed a bit during Loop 2, as I had to stop at the aid station to refill and eat a bit, and I didn't want to crash during the third loop. I hadn't run more than 10 miles at a time in over 2 months, and with the slower pace of a trail run, doing 18 miles out here was going to take me longer than 23 miles on the road....a big difference from just 10. Loop 2 was only 3 minutes longer than Loop 1 and I came through the checkpoint at 2 hours, 29 minutes. I was seriously thrilled with this. If I didn't lose too much pace on Loop 3, I would be done in well under 4 hours. I started out assuming it would longer than 4 hours to complete the race. I got a glimpse of Rain as I went through the checkpoint and threw her my gloves (thanks, Rain!!)...yes, it was cool enough at the start to warrant gloves for a few miles!

About to throw my gloves to Rain at the end of Loop 2

I was in such a great mood as I started the third loop. I wasn't dreading it at all and I felt pretty good. Tired, but good. Not a lot of soreness in my legs yet, I hadn't fallen, and I was making good time. My plan for Loop 3 was to keep my current pace (12-13 minutes) until the midpoint aid station and then take a bit of a rest, get something to eat and drink, and head back out for the final 5K push to the end. I still wasn't seeing other runners, except for a two or three I passed up a couple miles into the loop, and that was okay. The solitude gave me time to reflect on why I was out there. I thought of the Boston victims and said some prayers for them, I thought about how lucky I was that I was out there with two strong legs when there were so many people who lost their legs. I just about cried thinking about the Richard family and how much pain they were in as they grieved for their son and helped their little girl recover from amputation, and the mom recover from a brain injury. I thought of the victims in the West plant explosion and how long it would take for that tiny town to recover. Any pain I was feeling was so totally minor and insignificant compared to what all the families were going through after last week's horrendous events. I didn't care how bad I was going to start feeling before I finished...at least I was out there and could do something like this.

The aid station was awesome, and I got to chat a bit with the folks running it and another runner taking a break. And damn, that Coke tasted so good! At 15 miles in, my body was certainly getting tired and sore. But heck, only a 5K left! Piece of cake!!

The last 3.1 miles went by in a breeze, even though miles 14 and 15 were my two slowest of the entire race. When I hit 16 miles I forced myself to pick up my pace on the dirt stretches just a bit more. I wanted to finish strong and do as little walking as I could at this point, although I still took it easy on the rocky ascents. Some of those ascents were pretty steep and required a lot of muscle recruitment...and my quads were definitely getting a bit frustrated.

Looking back at one of the easier inclines

With one mile to go, I began passing people. I admit it was a bit of a boost to pass guys at this point. I certainly wasn't a fast trail runner but I was running steady and wasn't crashing out during this race, and I'm really thrilled about that. To pass a couple guys in the last mile was a boost. As I was nearing the last quarter mile I had my sights on catching one more guy, but couldn't quite reach him before the finish and I think he beat me by about 6 seconds. Overall, I ran that 30K in 3 hours, 47 minutes. Loop 3 was in 1:18, only 2 minutes slower than Loop 2.

Rain immediately greeted me and I was happy to see her! Happy to be done and ready to rest. My friend Charles had finished about 20 minutes before me and was laying on the grass, looking like he wasn't going to be moving anytime soon. The course had really kicked his butt, but he ran well. Rain obliterated the course, running the 10K in 55 minutes! She's very talented and I was very impressed. I'm glad she's not in my age group for road races!

A breakfast taco, a Pepsi, a little rest, a change of clothes, and some peace post-race, and then we were ready to head back home.

No blood...maybe next time!

Seriously a great day! So glad I decided to get out there and just do it!

Chocolate Cake

I have a huge weakness.

No, it's not necessarily chocolate cake as the title of this blog post might indicate. It's dessert in general, which I refer to collectively as "chocolate cake."

What can I say? I am an endurance runner. I burn a lot of calories on a consistent basis. And dammit, I need that cake sometimes. I don't always feel too guilty about it, which isn't a good thing. I don't eat dessert everyday, which IS a good thing. But I'm thinking it's too much.

I've worked really hard in the last year to change my body composition. I know where I'm at today and I'm pretty happy with it....except for what I refer to as my "chocolate cake layer." In the gym and out on the trails I'm doing everything I can do build lean muscle and keep my fitness level where I want it. I have that part of my regimen down.

But you can't have it all unless you fix the problem in the kitchen.

I told my core class recently, after we ironically talked about dessert before class, that I can help them improve their core muscles and the intensity of some of our workouts is aiding in fat burn, but they are in charge of the final step, which is getting rid of that final layer covering up those increasingly strong muscles. I admitted I have a weakness just like them.

That damn chocolate cake.

One of my favorite fitness quotes is that you can't exercise away a bad diet. If you are still consistently eating too many solid fats, added sugars, processed foods, and fried foods, you must make changes in the kitchen. Making small changes in how you grocery shop, how you cook, and how you eat out, will have huge benefits in the long run. But unless you make those changes, those 6 pack abs just won't be what they could be.

I'm learning like everyone else how to be a better eater. I fail constantly, but I pick myself back up and get back into it.

We Can't Be Stopped...TIR, BSB, and a Cowboy

Whenever anyone asks me what my favorite race is, I always say The Texas Independence Relay. Hands down, the most running fun you can have in a weekend. It's not always easy and can be downright miserable at times, but every single minute of it is worth it for the reward of the accomplishment on Sunday afternoon.

This is our 4th year running as Blood Sweat and BEERS. What started out as a random "Sure, I'll join your team" in 2010 has turned into something totally epic and most of us have no plans to stop running it year after year. Every year we lose a member or two and gain new ones, but the mix of friends is always perfect. This year was no exception.

Every year we have me, Captain Tony, Karen, Andrew, Red, and Dan. For the second time Kalynn and Cary joined us. Jeff came back to us after sending wife Wendy with us last year. And lastly, our new members this year were John, Emily, and Mohamed (who planned to come last year but had to back out, and was replaced by Cary, which was a blessing in the end because Cary and Kalynn are little lovebirds now, but that's another story...). Five ladies and seven dudes....PERFECT! Even better, Independence Brewing sponsored us with five...FIVE!!!...cases of beer for the relay.

Is this a race or a party??? YES!!!

The TIR organizers changed up the course a lot this year, taking out several miles in the beginning, allowing more dirt road running, and adding miles in the city of Houston. Sadly, no more Shiner Brewery run, but I think in the end the changes were pretty good. We set out for Gonzales on Friday night to party and get some rest in a hotel before our 10:34 am Saturday start.

Dinner, a party, shenanigans at our hotel (which sounds dirty, but I promise was not), van tagging, and a couple hours of sleep....and we were ready to go Saturday morning. We were split up into two vans. My van included Emily, Jeff, Tony, Kalynn, and Cary. I was excited to get to know Emily. After all, she did say "I brought running shoes, my antipsychotic drugs, and my Bible." She pretty much would fit right in. After a team Prologue of 1.15 miles, we had 40 legs of awesome running ahead of us. I was set to run over 15 miles in 3 legs, while four of our guys were going to do 4 legs and over 20 miles. Should anything happen to any of them there were plenty of us who could pick up the slack (cue foreshadowing here...)

 

Gotta love Andy-drew

Vans are tagged and ready to go

We ran with our flags for the Prologue as usual....

Red started us off with a bang, running a sub-8 pace 4.2 miler. She planned to run 8:30 pace over the weekend, so we were already off to a great start one leg in.

THEN CAME LEG 2....

Poor Captain Tony. This is how he looked when we left him 2 miles into his run, happy as can be.

We drove off to the next exchange. 10 minutes later Kalynn's mom calls us (she was tagging along and checked on Tony on her way to the exchange). She told us he needed us to come back to him because he hurt his hamstring and didn't know if he could finish. Unfortunately we were kind of stuck at the exchange, which was one way and out on a dirt road. To get back to him would take at least 10 or 15 minutes. After trying to figure out the best way to get to him, John decides to just run to him and finish the run for him if necessary. Tony finished the run and still pulled a respectable 8:25 pace, but was certainly injured and likely out for the rest of his legs. Unfortunately, he was one of the 4-leg, 20+ mile runners and we had a lot of rearranging to do.

Red picked up his Leg 14 (6 miles) while I took her Leg 13 (4.13 miles). She's a stronger runner and only had 12 miles total for the weekend, while I had 15 so it made sense to give her more miles. But it also meant that I'd have 3 legs under my belt by Leg 22...not a lot of rest, but doable. I just wasn't going to be pulling any 8:30's, especially after being sick only 5 days before (stomach virus) and underfueled for the week because of that. But I'd do what I could and we'd have a blast regardless.

My first leg was Leg 6, and looking at the elevation chart it looked like it could be a hilly run. It was also getting very warm out at that point since the sun finally decided to peak out. I was looking forward to running on dirt, however...something different! And it couldn't be worse than last year's hilly Leg 3 in 80 degrees...right???

Nope, it pretty much was just as tough. It was my first real exercise since getting sick and I think my body was a bit shocked at it. I didn't have any kind of great pace going, and the leg started out with a long steady climb for about 3/4 of the first mile. The hills kept coming, with another very long steady one during Leg 4. I was maintaining a very good pace on the flats and downhills, but the uphills were just killing me. That long Mile 4 mile did me in for sure and I pulled a 9:38 mile. Surprisingly the sun wasn't really getting to me until about the last half mile and I had the guys give me water to pour on my head. Made a big difference and I pulled through to the end of the 4.74 mile run. I ended up at 9:04 pace for that run and was happy to get the hardest one out of the way. I didn't have any power going up hills so I just hoped the rest of the runs were flatter.

Go Karen Go!!

The team continued to completely kick some major butt. Karen had Leg 7, which is the hilliest leg of the relay (5 good hills in less than 4 miles) and she ran 8:30s. I am always amazed at how strong of a runner Karen is...she continually outperforms year after year and it's so much fun to see. Everyone was running faster than their projected pace (Kalynn ran 7:40s during Leg 4, after injuries have slowed her down the last few months and she only expected to run 9 minute pace!). Well, everyone but me, but I wasn't so worried after seeing how everyone else was doing.

The weather was very warm during late afternoon, getting up into the 80s with full sun. The humidity stayed under control but it was very uncomfortable for our runners. I am seriously amazed that Mohamed ran a 6+ mile leg with no water. He was an absolute rock star. John followed that with his own ridiculous 6+ mile leg. Once he finished Leg 10 in Schulenburg we were now a quarter of the way done with the relay, and already ahead of our projection.

Team work on Leg 9

Bluebonnets!

We were seeing a lot of the same teams at every exchange, including our favorites, The Mullets. Seeing the same teams, of course, also brought out our competitive sides and we were wondering when we were going to start shaking them. As much as we love The Mullets, no way in heck were we going to let them beat us. However, somehow they just kept keeping pace with us - where were these crazy strong runners coming from? I think I'm going to just blame Emily...she whipped out her "Cowboy" (plastic penis on a chain) and I think they just wanted to keep hanging out with her.

Sunset, and my second leg, were coming soon, which meant we'd finally get cooler temps. We'd have a few hours before the cold front and some seriously strong winds hit and we looked forward to some (temporary) perfect running conditions. Leg 13 was my next leg, a 4.13 flat run, and although it was still quite warm at 78 degrees, I didn't have direct sunlight on me anymore, so I wasn't worried about pushing through for a strong run. And that's exactly what I did! I ran very well during that leg, perfect negative splits and an 8:40 overall pace. I felt so much better than during my first leg and it was a big relief.

Cary handing off to me at Exchange 12

Give me a minute....

During part of the night legs, the two vans split off so the team can get some rest. Our van would rest during legs 16-21 and then run legs 22-27. Six van mates for six legs, with one injured runner meant that either Tony needed to run or one of us was running two legs. I had Leg 22 so it made sense for me to pick up leg 27 and then just find someone else to run my last assigned leg (32) the next morning. Tony decided to try to run Leg 25, with Kalynn as back up in case he couldn't finish it. She would then continue on and run her assigned Leg 26.

My Leg 22 (5.43 miles) ended up being a really great leg, although it started off at a pretty slow pace for me. My legs were fatigued and it took about two miles for them to warm up and loosen up enough for me to pick up the pace. I was at about 19 minutes through 2 miles, but managed to get it down to 8:20 pace by Mile 5. The final half mile was at 7:50 pace. I passed 8 runners during this leg, including two that had passed me early on who I then caught up to (including A MULLET!). The weather was fantastic, it was flat, and I was in a zone. Not bad for a 1am run. Overall, I ran 9:02 pace.

Poor Tony made it through Leg 25, but it was really pitiful to watch him limp through it. It was a fast limp, but it was so obvious he was in pain. But he's also stubborn and refused to give in. I do think one of the funniest moments of the weekend happened during this run, however. Back on Saturday morning, Tony noticed a van pull up to the hotel with a handicapped sticker on it - wait...a handicapped sticker on a RUNNING relay van? So being the vocal guy he is, he says to the driver "How did you get that sticker?". As the driver goes to get out of the van, he says "It's one of the benefits of having one leg."

Yes, the dude had one leg and was competing with a handcycle.

AWKWARD.

Anyway...back to Tony's Gimpy Leg 25. During the beginning of this run, Tony gets startled because the Handcycle One-Legged Dude whizzes by him without a word of warning, which of course sends his leg into spasm. Karma? Probably. As we drive alongside Tony a little bit later, Jeff yells out to him, "Hey, Tony, the One-Legged Guy says you can get a sticker since you only have one leg, too."

Yep, I'm still laughing about this.

Then, a little bit further on the leg, Tony actually passes another runner, albeit one with a very noticeable limp as well. Jeff's next gem of a quote: "Tony's only getting a kill because that guy is more injured than him."

So ends Tony's relay running. But hey, the dude finished almost 10 miles total and I didn't have to kill myself by running both leg 22 and leg 27. My last leg would be Leg 32, through Memorial Park and into downtown Houston sometime on Sunday morning.

This is also when the cold front finally showed up. When Emily started her Leg 26 the weather was perfect. By the time she finished there were cold 20+ mph winds and we were suddenly freezing our butts off. The forecast called for the winds to only get worse as the morning progressed. Oh fun.

I got a little sleep finally for about 45 minutes while Cary ran Leg 27 and before we hooked back up with Van 2. What a glorious 45 minutes that was. I felt much more refreshed and ready to finish this thing out. We're now all back together as a team of 12, with 13 legs to go. My next leg would be in a couple hours and I was both excited and a bit nervous.

It was getting harder and harder to hang out at the exchanges waiting for our teammates because of the winds, but we held on and put up with it. There's nothing worse than having no one waiting for you at an exchange and we just don't let that happen. I did hang back in the van for a couple of the exchanges Sunday morning but I'm out at most of them. But dang, that wind was getting downright brutal. Thankfully it was mostly at our sides and backs while running, so it wasn't having a bad effect on our running.

Getting SLEEEEEEEPY....

With the exception of the wind, the weather for my 8am run was looking to be good. I was still nervous, however. This run was changed at the last minute due to construction, and it's through Memorial Park, so the vans couldn't follow me past 2.5 miles. It was a 5.4 mile leg that goes into downtown Houston. I had to make it around the construction, through the park, and then out of the park onto the correct city streets to make it to the exchange at Smith and Clay Streets.

I knew my quads were going to be unhappy when I started this run, and they were definitely sore. I was hoping they'd loosen up, or I was looking at 45+ minutes of pain. I tried to keep a decent pace and not look at my watch. Mile 1 came in at 9:38...not so bad considering how my legs felt, but still pretty slow. I continued to just run by feel and Mile 2 came in at 9:13. Definitely better and it felt slower than that, so maybe there was hope. During Mile 3 I started on the trail through Memorial Park and sure enough, got confused by the construction. I had to run across some dirt to get to the path, and didn't realize this, so I stopped and a nice gentleman directed me in the right direction...thank God...so I was back on my way. This slowed me down a bit for this mile and I was back at 9:30. With only about 2.5 miles to go I pushed the pace a bit more and started feeling much better. My legs weren't quite so sore, although fatigued for sure, and I felt my spirits lift knowing I was almost done. I navigated the rest of the trail no problem, found the changes with no difficulty, and dropped to well under sub-9 minute pace for the next 2 miles. Once I crossed the pedestrian bridge to get into downtown Houston it got confusing again. I had to dodge some traffic to cross several streets and made one wrong turn up Lamar rather than cutting across all the way to Dallas Street. I lost about 20 seconds from that, but once I found myself on Dallas Street I started running 7 minute pace. During that final block on Smith Street to the exchange I actually dropped my pace to 5:30. Yes, 5:30 pace for the final block! Who knew I had that in me after 20 miles of running?

However, was anyone besides Tony and Jeff there to see me run like that? Of course not. And there aren't any pictures to prove it, either! That stupid wind kept everyone cozy in the vans.

We're down to our last 8 legs now, all through Houston to the San Jacinto Monument. Most of them are short legs, so we were going to be done in only a few short hours.

Jeff, Karen ("So where am I going? I didn't even look at the map!"), and Cary flew through their legs at a great pace. Then Emily starts on her Leg 36. She is absolutely cruising, right through the ghetto (oh my gosh, this was the GHETTO....and I might have said it a little loud out the window, oops). She's about to pass another chick runner, is right on her heels, when all of a sudden she stops to puke. Not once but twice. And then what does she do? She just keeps on running like it's no big deal at all that she just heaved during a run.

I knew I liked that girl. She has a Bible and a plastic penis and can hurl and run at the same time. Pretty awesome chick.

FOUR MORE LEGS.  We had our fastest runners out there, running 7 minute miles. It was just flying by and before long we're heading into the park towards the San Jacinto Monument to wait for John to finish the final leg (poor guy had to run directly into the 30 mph wind for the final 3 miles).

We didn't realize that the finish line was moved up about a tenth of a mile from the usual spot and we stopped John at the old finish line, gave him his beer, and then realized...oops, we're not done. But we slowly walked towards the actual finish as a team and only lost a few minutes from our mistake. It was fun to walk across the finish line together.

Our 4th Blood Sweat and BEERS relay, 200 miles, 27 hours, 11 minutes, 8:11 pace.

32nd place out of 145 teams. 14th place in our division of almost 100 teams.

And we beat the Mullets by over an hour.

BEER ME!

Second Thoughts

In 100 days I'll be doing my first triathlon.

100 days.

I'm not going to sugar coat it....I'm having second thoughts about it.

Yes, after spending a good chunk of money on a bike and bike trainer, and on swim lessons, I'm having second thoughts.

In the last 3 months I've also started working for the first time in over 11 years, and it's been an adjustment. I'm trying to be better about organizing my schedule, but my line of work can be a little crazy. Finding time to train around my work schedule, the kids' schedules, and my husband's travel schedule is a bit tricky. And my swimming and biking are suffering. As a matter of fact, I'm only biking on my trainer right now. I can do it while the kids are home and I don't have to worry about them, but I do know I need to get that baby out on the roads soon.

My swimming? Well...I'm not so good at it. I think my form is pretty good now, for the most part, but I just don't have a lot of endurance. I can swim across a pool once or twice without too much trouble, but then I need a rest. That's frustrating to me definitely. I swim at a pool where I get my own lane, but I can only do that during school hours. I'm fearful of going to my regular gym and having to share a lane with someone.

I really need to snap out of this. I know I can do a triathlon, even in my current state, but I want to do well. I'm just too competitive to be okay with "just finishing." Now that marathon training season is over, I am going to have to get out there on the roads and into the open water with my triathlon group. I'm hoping that is the kick in the butt that I need!

100 days...wow.