Jacksonville Bank Marathon - 1st Marathon DONE!

This morning, the alarm went off at 5am. MAN, that came early! We were up and moving by 5:10 (Mike was up and moving way before me!), and I called and got Morgan and Rachel up. It took me a while to retape my knee and to put on the knee brace before the compression tights. We ate a quick breakfast at 5:30 (I had peanut butter crackers - breakfast of champions!), and then we got on the buses to go to the race around 5:50. We missed one bus as it was full, and we waited in the cold for the next one. It was pretty chilly and it was misting rain. Lovely. I also got a sharpie from the front desk to fix my number. They accidentally gave me someone else's number so I changed the 7 in 607 to 608 which was what my number really was. I thought a few times about how much easier running is to get ready for marathons than triathlons!

We got to the start and went into the school gym. I was organizing my stuff when Holly said we should go potty. There were REAL bathrooms! Yipee! When we came back, Heather was going to check a bag, so Mike took mine and went with her. I found out that the race people had the right number for me, so I got that number and pinned it on. We took some pictures as a group and then put our hands in a circle and yelled Cure JM! I also used the stick roller on my leg.

We walked to the start line, and I wasn't even anxious. I took 4 Advil at 5:30. My knee was still hurting. Hmmm...oh well....I guess I will just walk the half if my knee is hurting. No big deal. I can do another marathon another time.
We line up and there is a man dressed as a gingerbread man. Cute. Morgan and Rachel cheer us on as we start. The first mile, Travis and I jogged a minute, walked a minute, jogged a minute, walked a minute, etc. The ortho told me to do that to warm up slowly. It was COLD outside and I wasn't warming. I thought Travis might have a heart attack when he saw that it took us 15 minutes to go the first mile. I reassured him that we walked a lot. My knee was hurting. Not a good sign. By mile 2, my knee felt some better. Hmmm... what does this mean? By mile 3, it was hurting pretty badly and we passed the start line again. About this point, there was a group of women who were "beepers" according to some other guy who ran for a while with us. The beepers are interval run/walkers like us, but they had short intervals. Also, their beep was LOUD! I was very confused as there were way too many beeps! We talked to a few people, and this one guy said that he didn't want to do a marathon because it takes months to recover! Travis didn't like that. However, the guy also said that it takes a week and a half before he can walk normally after a half. Hmmm...I haven't ever had THAT before either.

We get to mile 5 and we are off of the main road. We did pass a Hooters where I really wanted to stop for a beer. We see Courtney who passes and says, "sub 2!" It takes me a minute to realize that she means she will finish the half in less than 2 hours! We did the loop around miles 6 - 8.This is the stretch where I am continuously telling Travis that we need to do the half. We should not do the full. I am injured. My knee hurts. We haven't trained enough. We could be done soon. Any other thing you can think of, I probably said it! He was not hearing any of it. He said, "I didn't come all the way to Jacksonville to do a half." "If we are doing the half, you better speed up a lot because this is our marathon pace." "We are not going to be a red finishing with the blues!!" (the red on the tag meant you were a full marathoner and the blue meant half). About this point, Travis is talking about all of his body parts that have no feeling. It is pretty cold. However, my chest is pretty warm. My toes are very cold though. I am thinking there is no way I can do the full with my knee, so about mile 7 I popped 4 more Advil. We see Stacey and Aleida somewhere around 8. I tell them that we are going for the full. Oh man, only a short distance to change his mind! By mile 8, where you had to decide where to go, the Advil was helping and somehow I let Travis convince me to go straight for the marathon route instead of turning.

About mile 9 or so, I had to pee soooo bad (and more but I will spare you the details). I have never gone to the bathroom under the interstate (the porta potty was directly underneath it). It was interesting. When I stepped out of the porta potty, my knee completely locked up. I couldn't even walk on it. OMG it was mean. I had to hold onto Travis to try to even walk. It finally started to loosen up. WOW. Pain. I kept thinking of Chris and his stories about people who say, "Why is my knee paining?" Yes, paining is not good. About a quarter of a mile later, there is a motorcycle cop next to us. He says, "are you two doing the full marathon?" We say yes. He says, "you are going the wrong way." REALLY??????? No way....We had to turn around and go back. Of course, we ran RIGHT PAST this cop when we went the wrong way, and I so wish he would have said something THEN. This put us .56 off course. It may not sound like a lot, but adding on distance to 26.2 miles that you aren't really ready for is not fun. Also, it was just mentally brutal. We would see on the garmin that we hit a mile marker, like mile 11. But, then the road marker for 11 would be in over a half mile from that point. It was really hard to mentally keep swallowing each and every mile. Somewhere around here, I tell Travis that I am not very happy with him. He says, "I have not been happy with you for weeks since you got me into this mess. So get in line and you have a few weeks before you catch up!" Too funny. At about mile 12, there is a police car behind us. We are the end of the marathoners. Man...Travis is not dealing with this well, but I could care less. I didn't even plan on doing this today. I was injured. I was fine with the half. Why are we doing the full? Travis, are you nuts? I must have asked that a million times, but then I keep reminding myself that I went along with it so I am just as nuts. Around mile 10, there was a cool cop who Travis asked which way we should go for Waffle House. He pointed in the race direction and laughed. I looked forward to seeing him again and used it as a reference point as we ran. At mile 13, I am seriously wondering if we can make it. We see Dana around this point and she yells to us. WOO HOO! She is looking awesome and inspires me.

At this point, we are passing lots of people who are on their way back. I am so jealous. There are a LOT of people who cheer for us. Doing great they said. Way to go! they said. Keep it up you can do it! They said. Then, this one person (i can't remember for some reason if it was a male or female, but she/he said, "Good work. It takes a lot of guts to be out here that long." Travis says that someone should just cut off his penis now. I thought I was going to choke I started laughing so hard. I had to remind him AGAIN that he was running slowly for ME and to support ME and not because he was a slow runner. He said that I needed to keep telling him that.

Around mile 14, we shortened our run interval to 4 minutes instead of 5. We also took some extra walks here and there. The houses were beautiful. Around this point, we have no more people passing on the other side. It is just us, and the police car behind us. Travis says that the lights are starting to make him nauseated. Uh oh. I remind him that we could be finished if he hadn't pushed us this way. He says that Trevor was the one who made the decision to keep going (his alter ego is Trevor like mine is Trixie). I laugh. We are struggling. I am not sure if we are struggling more because of where we are or because we know how far we have to go. Also, at every single mile, I have to say, we have run 15. but the real 15 is another half mile. We have run 16, but the real 16 is another half mile. That is maddening. How could we possibly make it longer??????

At mile 16, we have crossed Travis' longest run ever. Humbling. He keeps saying, "perhaps we didn't train enough." He does NOT like being the last people. At ALL. I really don't care. I just want to do this thing. I keep telling him that we are giving Morgan hope and showing her that you can do anything if you put your mind to it. We are raising money for a great cause. We are inspiring others. We are doing something I never thought I could do. I started thinking about how 3 and a half years ago I was a hard core smoker. A year and a half ago, I couldn't run a minute without my heart rate going above 180 and feeling like I might die. The body can do a lot. The mind can do a lot. I have grown a lot and I am proud. Even though my knee is really paining. We settle into 3 and a half minute run intervals with 2 minute walk intervals. This worked for us. it took a minute for me to stop cussing at my knee and to stop thinking about how much it hurt. By then, I only had 2 and a half more minutes to run. Around mile 17, the cop says that we will stop having road support at some point. He was really nice. The water stations are starting to be abandoned. Uh oh. We are all alone. Around this time, we came across another runner. We were right near him for about 3 miles, He would pass and then we would pass. He would pass and then we would pass. It was nice to know that there was someone else near us. We saw a few others who were still out there too. Somewhere along here, the police asks if we want to finish or if we want someone to come get us. I am mortified. We are finishing this now! We have come way too far to stop now.

We hit mile 18. This was the longest I had run. 8.2 more miles to go. I think that we only have 3 more miles to where the Waffle House cop was. We pass a water stop that has people. They fill up a water bottle for us. Nice. We keep going. We start picking out landmarks. Run to that mailbox. Run to that stop sign. I turn on music at some point, and that really helps. I start singing which I am sure was annoying to Travis.

Around mile 20, we are in awe. 20 miles. Of course, we are really at mile 20.56...grrrrr...My shoe comes untied. I can't tie it. I stick my foot on a mailbox and Travis ties it. His hands are shaking. It was funny except it wasn't. We keep going. We are sticking to our 3.5 minute runs. Almost exactly each time. I am proud of us. Travis pushes us to 4 a few times. I start to worry that we won't make it before the finish line closes. As we get in between 21 and 22, we come across the turn where the half marathon/full marathon split. There is no sign. Which way do we go? No police. No people. No sign. It is very depressing. We start going and I am calling Mike. He doesn't answer but calls me back. He asks someone and they say that we go the same way as the people who did the half. We turn around. Then, we see our buddy the ambulance. Forgot to say that there was an ambulance following us like the police car (the police has long since left us but the ambulance was close).The ambulance tells us that we are going the wrong way - AGAIN! It is NOT the same way as the half. UGH. We keep going. Only we could make it this much longer. Really. Unbelievable. I am mad at this point. It has only been 5 hours. Why would they not have signs? This is not nice. Travis tells me to save my energy. I tell him that the anger is fueling me right now and to be quiet. :) Ok, Trixie might be out now. Then, for the 20th time, I had to say that we COULD be done and drinking beer by now if he had let me turn at mile 8. LOL. I think this is also the point where I started texting Holly and Jenn to tell them to remind me to never do this again. :)

I was so happy to see mile 22. Ok, I think to myself. We can do this! Morgan is texting me and asking me to tell her when we hit mile 24. At mile 22, we can see the light to turn back on the main road. WOO HOO! We turn on the main road (there was a nice cop there who asked about the people behind us and wanted to know if that guy we were with earlier was still there. We say yes). Soon, we see Courtney. She came back for us. :) I lost my rhythm of run/walk at this point. I needed that to stay focused. I am falling apart. I just keep having to walk. I am struggling. My knee is really hurting. But, I am so close. How much farther is it? I was so confused with our stupid .8 or so extra that I kept getting confused on where we were. I know it seems simple to subtract .8, but it really wasn't that simple at the time. :) At mile 24, I text Morgan as she wanted me to do. At mile 25.5, I fall. There was this weird ramp-like curb, and then there was an acorn thing my foot went over. DOWN. I tried to catch myself, but it was too late. Almost slow motion...I fell. FLAT on my knee. The hurt one. The one I am trying to keep. :( I hit my hand. My phone went flying. I am down. And it hurts. OWWWWWWWWWW. Courtney gets her phone out to call someone. I tell them that I have to get up. They lift me up - one on each side. I never would have gotten up without them. It hurts like a mother. I keep saying that we need to hurry and that Travis should go ahead. He says he won't leave me. I tell him that I want to be sure his at least counts. He says he is not leaving me and that if it doesn't count, then it doesn't count. I am pretty sure that this is the definition of friendship. Travis and I have been through a lot together with the whole work thing, and this was a bonding experience on top of that. I am not sure I can make it the mile we have left. And, we are running out of time. I so want it to count after all of that. We push, but I keep having to walk. It hurts. My balance is off. I keep stumbling on those dumb acorns. I keep looking at my watch and counting down until the time limit. Courtney tells me to stop looking at my watch. I almost snap (maybe I did even) but I was thinking if I didn't say it, "Listen, I am going to look at my ******* watch if I want to." I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO very happy when I see some man pointing to where we turn in. Courtney says that it isn't much of the track you have to run and then we are done. She tells us to save our strength so we can run the track. I realize then that the man is DOUG! I thought it was a worker but it was DOUG with MORGAN and RACHEL! WOOO HOOOO!!!! The field was a bit uneven and gravel-covered. I don't want to fall again. I keep looking at my bleeding hand from my fall. Ouch....ET phone home. :) Carmen and Stacey appear too. I have quite the entourage running me in. I love my daughter, her friend, my RBFF Carmen, and my training partner Stacey! I love Doug. I love everyone who is associated with the finish line at that moment. THEN, I see that it is a LONG way around the track. More than half. Ugh. I just wanted to cut across the field like Morgan did. :) I start screaming at Carmen and Stacey - I hate ****** track! It was pretty funny and I even giggled after I said it. Travis said, let's finish together. So we grabbed hands and ran it in together. I was so happy to be done. AND IT COUNTED!!!!!! I got my medal and the piece of pizza that the group saved for us. I got lots of hugs and pictures. It was awesome.

THANK YOU TRAVIS! Thanks for making me do it. :) Thanks for being such a great running partner. Thanks for believing in me when I didn't. Even though it was horribly long, cold, and difficult, I had fun during a lot of it thanks to you.

Thanks so much to Holly and Jenn and my whole Tri group for always being there and for pushing me. You are both good cops in my book. :) Jennifer, you are a rock! I can't believe you ran that thing with your back hurting!! What an inspiration you are!

Thanks RBFF Carmen for always being so cheerful and supportive, and thanks Stacey for being there so consistently all this time.

Thanks so much to all of the people who donated to Cure JM on our behalf. I am humbled to have raised over $8000 for Cure JM. Maybe this will help find a cure. Thanks Cure JM for giving us hope.

Mike, I know you have thought I am crazy doing all of these races, but I am so happy you did this one with me! CONGRATS on your first half!!! You rock! :) I am so proud of you!

Also, congrats to the other first timers - Mark, Lisa, and Lydia on their first half marathons! Way to go!!! You rock! Congrats to Dana and Julie on their first full marathon! Congrats to Carmen on her personal record!!!

Last but not least, thanks to Morgan. I never would have even dreamed of this if it hadn't been for you believing in me. When I said I was going to do the half because I didn't think the full was in my cards, you said, "But you can do anything because you're my Mommy." My heart melted. I didn't want to let you down. I wanted you to believe that you really can do anything if you put your mind to it. I wanted you to believe in hope for a cure. So, here is to you Morgan. We will find a cure and beat this Dermatomyositis., You are so strong and brave and the light that keeps me going. Together, we will beat this!!!

Thanks for all of the support!!!

Track

Today was our track workout. I hadn't been to track in a LONG time. We had not gone there in a while until recently, but hospital drama kept me away. Now, my foot is still hurting on and off, and I have a kidney stone. Thankfully, I managed to jog laps, but I certainly didn't do any true track workout. :(

15 Miles - DONE!

Today was my first 15 mile run. Thankfully, Travis agreed to run with me. Of course, he showed up late. Carmen went ahead without me because it was her daughter's birthday and she wanted to get home. I knew that I needed company or I wouldn't make the 15 miles. Thankfully, he didn't bail. I wasn't sure he would really come.


About a mile into the run, he tells me that he hasn't run more than 9 miles and that was a couple of weeks ago. UGH...However, this is Travis who works out regularly and runs faster than me. I figure that he will pull through with 15 like he did when we did 11 at this same place. Since I run slowly, I felt like he would hang.

It was a pretty tough run for me. I felt bad much earlier than I did last week. Not sure why...maybe the temp as it was really chilly last week. Not really sure, but I was struggling early. I recovered but then struggled again around 12.5 and the last mile was really tough. I am not sure I really want to know what 26.2 feels like. I guess I will just keep going at this point and see what happens.

When we were between 13 and 14, this bicycling guy tells us that there is a rattlesnake up ahead. Uh....a what??????????? Isn't it winter? Aren't they supposed to be hibernating? Then, I SEE the freaking thing. It is ENORMOUS. It was right on the path. Of course, my bestie Travis just leaves me. Even this nice lady near us leaves me. I am terrified. I do not want to make the snake mad. Travis and lady went to the right of it, but that is the direction it is going. I finally force myself to go to the left of it (thinking surely it would take at least a milisecond longer for it to turn around and attack me) while travis is saying, "just sprint by it Amy." HA HA HA. First of all, there is no sprint in my legs. :) Secondly, aren't you not supposed to sprint when you don't want an animal to attack you? Hmm...anyway...I didn't like it at all. However, the endorphins did help me survive the rest of the run. :)

THANKS TRAVIS! I appreciate your company on the run! Looking forward to next Saturday and 16 - 17!

Good Day!

Today, I did really well with my eating and exercising! I stayed in my WW points, and I only had 1 diet pepsi all day. I am having a bit of withdrawal as I had gotten too lenient about drinking them when I wanted.

Tonight, the Wesley Chapel Tri Team met to do 4 one mile repeats. We would go out for a half a mile easy and then run harder back. I have been doing such short intervals for so long now (i modified the 5 min run and 30 sec walk to be 3 mins and 30 secs over the summer) that doing a mile straight without stopping four times in a row was a bit challenging especially on the harder half each time. I was happy to do it though, and I felt great after! Mark came to the workout which was super super fun!!!!!

Monday - New Start

Today is a new beginning. I have been pretty good on the exercise over the last few months, but I have been slack on the eating. Today is the end to that and a new beginning on eating healthy. I know I feel  better when I eat healthier, and I really don't know why I let myself eat crap when I am struggling in life. But, I do, and now I must correct it again. So, here is to a new start.

Rest Day

Today was a down day. I didn't do any exercise, and my legs were a bit sore from my run yesterday. I decided to let them recover before putting any more stress on my foot (limping today) or on my legs.

Training Begins for Jacksonville Marathon

Assuming my left foot will stand up to the training, I am going to do my first marathon on December 19th in Jacksonville. My left foot has been bothering me on the outside of the foot since the 70.3 race in Augusta a few weeks ago. I have run sporadically for short distances since, but I haven't been consistent or long yet.

Today, I officially started training.  I ran 8.75 miles, and it was hard but fun. I ran one part of the last mile really fast for me. It felt pretty good, but I was really glad to be done.

20 Mile Bike Ride and Short Run

Today, I met Carmen and Lydia for a 20 mile ride. I tried to push the pace a little on the way back to work my legs some. Otherwise, it was just a relaxing, fun ride. We did a short run after. Back in the saddle after my race!

Bike

Today, I rode 56 miles at the Veteran's. I worked on some hills and enjoyed the ride a lot. I did a short run after

October 1 - Nothing

Today, I am starting back posting every day. I took a little break on my posting as I was getting overwhelemd with too much going on in my life. However, I am going to try to post at least several times a week if not every day.

Today, I was a bum. :)

Half Ironman – WOO HOO!!!!!

Friday, Holly, Jennifer, Stacey, and I drove from Tampa to Augusta. We stopped at Subway on the way, and there were two adorable sweet girls who were very nice and excited for us and our race. We arrived around 4, and we checked into our hotel a little outside of downtown. We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn, and it was brand new and super nice. I got to use my HHonors status to get us some breakfast coupons. Score…

After we checked in, we headed down to the Marriott in downtown to get our race packets. We had a great time checking in, taking pictures, and getting shopping in the store. We got hats and Ironman glasses. I also got a race belt because I forgot mine again. I have gotten a new race belt at almost ever race because I keep forgetting mine. DOH…. I also realized that after my flat last week, I forgot to put my flat repair stuff on my bike. We met up with Phil who is also doing the race, and energy and nerves were high. The weather was a hot topic because it is supposed to rain and thunderstorm. It is VERY hot outside, so we are actually hoping it does rain.

After getting our packets, we went to a bike shop nearby to get my flat tire kit. My theory is that if I have it, I won’t get a flat, but if I don’t then I will. Then, we headed back to the hotel. We went to Bonefish for dinner. Phil ate with us, and we had a nice dinner. I had my sea bass and salad, and it was yum. We had an early bed time.

Saturday, we got up fairly early and headed into Augusta. We went to the river, and we put our wetsuits on. I hadn’t worn my wet suit since April. I had forgotten what a pain it is. The river was actually pretty nice, and we swam to the first bridge before turning around and swimming back against the current. Thank goodness we don’t swim against the current in the race. Then, we went for around a mile run. I was nervous about running even a mile before the race because I wanted my legs to feel good for the race. I was also feeling pretty yucky. My stomach hurt, and I felt like I was getting head stuff again as my throat and ears hurt. As we went for a bike ride, Holly realized she had a flat tire. It was a stressful moment. She was really nervous because the girl at the expo said that the shop didn’t have her kind of tire. We went to the shop, and they had her tires! The bike shop was Andy Jordon’s, and they were AMAZING. They were so great to Holly. They had TWO tired left of hers, and they got them in about an hour.

While we waited for the tires, we ate at the Boll Weevil. I had a club sandwich that was good but not great. They had these enormous cakes. We didn’t eat them, but they looked amazing.

We shopped in the little market area and there were some adorable dogs that needed a home. I took a picture for Morgan since we are NOT getting any pets. 

We went to drop our bikes off at the transition area. We were right at 2 when they opened it, so there weren’t many bikes there yet. We put our bikes there, and got the lay of the land. We took some pictures. It was nice to get an idea of how it would all work.

Before going to the hotel, we went to Publix to get a few things. Then, we went in search of flip flops. Walgreens was a negative. Rite Aid was a negative. But, Fred’s had TWO pair – spongbob ones and peace sign ones. Score!

We went back to the hotel and got our stuff ready for the race. We ate our pre-race dinner at Carraba’s. Jenn and Holly apparently have a tradition of eating there pre-race. I have never had anything other than chicken and baked potato on the night before, so I was a little worried. I had chicken marsala and some pasta. It was good. They usually get Pasta Carraba’s with no sauce and added sun dried tomatoes. I thought it sounded scary, but it was actually really good. I might get it next time.

We went back to the room, and Stacey and I laughed hysterically when her friend said he hoped to break 5 hours. We kept thinking that we were hoping to finish the swim and bike by then. WOW, 5 hours. That is amazing. We read until we went to sleep and set the alarm for 4:45.

Sunday – Race day!!!!!!!!!!

I woke up with my stomach hurting and my throat sore. I was stuffy, and I was freaking a little. I thought I might puke, and I was worried about my nose running all day. It is supposed to rain some in the morning, and then it is supposed to thunderstorm this afternoon. We left at 5:30 and found a parking place at 6th and Broad in Augusta. We were very lucky and happened to catch a shuttle to the transition. Because Augusta Ironman 70.3 has a swim in one direction, the start line and transition and finish are in different places.

We rode the shuttle to the transition area, and got out with all of our stuff. I was really nervous by now. I was especially worried about the bike with the rain. I got my area set up, and there were really super nice girls next to me. One was Stephanie, and she was really nice. I borrowed a pump, and my front tire was flat. YIKES. I was freaking a little. Someone told me that there was a bike aid area, so I was about to take my bike. Then, I tried one more time, and it worked ok. Jennifer said she has done that a lot and it is probably the pump. So, we decided that I would go swim and then take it to the bike guys if it was flat when we came back.

Holly had a mean girl next to her that was really nasty with her stuff and where she should put it. She picked up her stuff and moved it. Wow. We went to the portable potty’s, and I put my flip flops by the water. Then, we got the shuttle to the start. It wasn’t too bad even though the line was really, really long.

When we got to the swim area, we went to get our chips and to drop off our morning back with our stuff for after the race. Then, we got in line for the portable potty. As I was going into the potty, we hear this person saying that they are sending the swim waves off early. It is a few minutes to 8, and I go at 8:18. So, I rush to find my group. I get in my wetsuit and get my goggles on. Phil finds me to say hi, and then Holly and Jennifer find me. I didn’t even have time to get nervous as it was time to go already. I couldn’t believe how fast it went. We jumped in the water and only had like one minute before we started. It was hard to tread water with the current. I was excited and then we took off.

The start to the swim was rough. I got run over a lot. I finally went to the right and found my own place. It was nice to have my own area, but I didn’t feel a lot of current where I was. I couldn’t easily tell where the exit was, so I just kept swimming. I did look at my watch a few times to guess how much father I had. I didn’t push, and I didn’t take it easy. I just swam moderately.

As I came out of the water, I was excited to use my new Garmin 310XT (my old one got a crack in it right after I got it so I never could use it in the water). I pushed the lap button excitedly and saw my swim was about 31 minutes. Hmmm…I was hoping it would be under 30, but I didn’t really push in the swim so I wasn’t really concerned. As I hit the lap button, the watch said, “Begin Biking.” What? Oops…I must have forgotten to include those pesky transition items in the multi-sport line up. I look for my flip-flops that I left at the top of the evil hill you have to climb coming out of the water (really, that was mean). I see one flop but no flip so I keep going. I walked and kind of jogged but I was really worried about hurting my foot. As I got to the back of the transition area (you have to kind of go around it to enter), there were the most amazing things – WETSUIT STRIPPERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They help you out of your wetsuit. I was having trouble with that the day before, so I was really excited. They help you get it down low enough and then you plop on your back and they rip it off. Too funny. It was raining, so this did mean that you got pretty dirty. However, it was FANTASTIC and very fast. I ran the rest of the way to my spot in transition. I sat down and got my socks and shoes on. I got my race number on and put it in back. I got my helmet. I took a swig of Gatorade and headed out. I wasn’t sure how long it took me, but the official time says 7 minutes and 16 seconds. Long but about what I thought it would be.

I started out on the bike and I was nervous. It was raining, and the road was slippery. I was surprised at how great I felt. Jennifer passed me at mile 10 right in front of the Wesley Chapel Methodist Church – too funny since we are from Wesley Chapel! It freaked me out a bit in the beginning that everyone knew your name. I realized quickly that it was due to the number bib that I was wearing. Hee hee…it did make it fun though to be able to talk to people as we passed. It was very funny to watch the fast people come by. At one point, I counted people passing me for 10 minutes, and it was over 200 people who blew by me saying “on your left Amy” or “Great job Amy, keep it up, I am on your left” or many other varieties that meant they were flying by me.  I didn’t mind, and I actually really enjoyed the bike. The only thing I didn’t like is that it was POURING rain for the entire 4 hours (well 3:51:04). It would get lighter and heavier, and there was about 7 miles or so with no rain. However, almost all of it was wet. I was laughing because the hills were the thing I was most afraid of since Florida is pretty flat. Holly passed me at mile 20ish and said. “just a few hills and then you will be headed back.” I was a little scared especially about the turns in the rain and the downhill being so fast in the rain. The hills really weren’t bad. There were two hills that I even really remember thinking about. One was a slow climb that wasn’t steep but went on for a long time. The other was a short hill, but it had a good climb. The bottle exchanges were interesting. I was a little nervous due to the slippery roads, but I did ok with the first one. I stopped for a minute to take some advil and sport legs, and I had so many people asking me if I needed anything. One reason I really like triathlons is the spirit of the competitors. Most people are so nice! The second stop didn’t go quite as well. I got Gatorade and I stuck it in my bottle to refill it. Oops…It got stuck. I couldn’t get it out. I had to stop for a few seconds to pull it out. 

I was so happy to get off the bike, mainly because I had to PEE! It felt pretty good to get off the bike, and then I fumbled at getting my fuel belt of water, my gels and chomps, and my hat. I danced to the porta-potty and rushed in. I grabbed my polar watch just in case my Garmin failed me (at St. Anthony’s my garmin died in the middle). There was a little hill soon after transition, and it was mean. I was a bit nervous since the run is supposed to be flat, but it was flat the whole rest of the way.

The run is two loops, and you have to go right by the finish line. That is kind of mean. The volunteers were the best of any of the races I have been to so far. They were so on top of it at every rest stop. They had water, gels, bars, Gatorade, and SPONGES. I loved the sponges. They were cold and wonderful. At mile 3, some Michael guy from New Orleans said, “Looking good for mile 10.” HA! I laughed and said that I was only on mile 3. We talked for a little less than a mile. He was really super nice. I saw Jenn and Phil on the backside of loop 1. I also saw Holly across the street, but she didn’t see me. I started on the LONG second loop. It is evil because you are all alone for about 2 miles. It is like a deserted area, and it seems very long. I was so happy once I got back to mile 8 and 9 where there were people. Holly and Jenn were waiting at mile 10 and I saw them. Just a minute later, I hear this guy scream, “Now you are at mile 10!” and there was Michael from New Orleans!!! It was SO sweet of him to find me. Too cool. As I got near mile 11, Holly joined in with me and started running. She stayed with me until around 12 when she went to meet me at the finish line. I was so excited that I could hardly stand it. There was a very cool policeman at the end who was heckling everyone as they came by. He was funny. He said things like, “If you aren’t going to run, then don’t try to fake it.” To me he asked if he needed to get his pitbull to motivate me.  when I got to the finish chute where you run down and to the finish, I was so excited. I was literally bursting with pride and I was grinning ear to ear. I cannot believe I actually did that race!!!!!!! 7 hours and 38 minutes later – I had completed my first ironman 70.3 distance race – a half of an ironman race!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last year this time, I was extremely anxious about being able to finish a SPRINT distance triathlon, and here I am a year later. I am truly amazed with myself. I want to thank Holly Tripp and Jennifer Biles for such great coaching. I remember when they did this race last year, and I thought, “wow, I could never do that.” HA! They told me that I could, and I think sometimes I need to believe a little more in their faith in me.  Also, my Wesley Chapel Tri Team ROCKS! A huge thank you goes to Stacey for training with me and for being such a great roommate. I don’t know that I would have done it if I hadn’t had you to train with.

Lessons learned…

1. Practice riding in the rain a little so that you aren’t nervous when it comes in a race

2. Prepare drinks at the hotel instead of thinking you will mix it in transition (I forgot)

3. Even when it seems unlikely, believe in yourself. Even if you try and don’t do it, you did more than most people ever do in their lifetime

4. Always take time to enjoy the race/event as when it is over the memories are all you have. I really enjoyed this one and had fun talking to people and looking around at the scenery.

5. Always train with a group of people who you like being around. I never in a million years would have done this without my coaches and friends

6. Definitely get to the city early so that you can get your stuff done without freaking out and can rest

7. ALWAYS do a quick test of the bike before the race. Holly had flat tires that we were able to get fixed because we did the test.

8. Have a plan for any weather event. The rain seriously added to my anxiety. The other extreme of heat during the run also made me nervous.

9. Have fun and laugh!

10. Drink a Jager shot after a race – it goes down really well!

Week before Augusta

This week, I took it pretty easy. On Saturday, I did a 6 mile run at night (we were at a wedding over the weekend). I did a 30 mile bike ride, and ran 1 on Sunday. On Tuesday, I ran 5 miles and then biked 10 at night with my group. On Thursday, I didnt get to do anything. Saturday, we swam a short distance, biked a very short distance, and ran a mile.

2 weeks out

We finished this week with our hardest workout yet.

Tuesday, I ran 6. . I biked Wednesday on the stationary bike for an hour and ran 3. Then, on Friday, we did 57 miles of hill repeats on the bike and then ran 2.5 on the hills. It was brutal.  Then, Saturday, we went to Flatwoods and did 10. On Sunday, I swam 1.2. Wow. A lot...I hope that is enough of a test. Holly and Jenn said that if we can do this, then we can do Augusta.

12 Mile Run

Today, I did a 12 mile run at Flatwoods. I feel like I can do the Augusta run. I enjoyed this run, I listened to a book on tape for the majority and then listened to music for the last 2 miles.

Swim

Haven't been doing as much this week due to a UTI. I did swim today for about a mile. It felt good and I worked on speeding up some.

4 Mile Interval Run

Since I will miss track workout, I did my own 4 mile interval. one mile warm up, then 2 miles of half mile intervals, then some short intervals with going all out for a bit at the end. Almost puked. Felt great after though.

54 Miles on Bike

Today, I went 54 miles on the bike. That is my longest distance EVER. It felt awesome and I really enjoyed it. I did a short run after - did NOT love that.

8 Miles

Today, I ran 8 miles. It was hot and very, very hard. I had to go inside to get an ice rage at 6.7 miles. I am not sure I would have finished the last 1.3 without that. 13.1 is going to suck unless it gets cooler. Ok, even then it might suck.

Interval Run

Today, I did 5 miles of intervals. I did a mile warm up, then I did 4 half mile intervals at 6.2, then four .25 mile intervals at 6.4, and then the last mile I just went up from 5.2 with each .05 increasing the speed by .1. My HR hit 190 at .85, so I took a break and then finished the last tenth. HARD but felt awesome.

7.1 Mile Run

Today, I did 7.1 miles in my neighborhood. I am trying to work up to the Augusta Half Iron 70.3 event. Not sure I can do it but I am trying.

40 Miles on Bike

Today I did 40 Miles on the bike. It was my first time on the bike in almost 2 weeks. It felt really good though and I really enjoyed it. It was very hot as we didn't get started as early as we should have.

5 Miles

Today, I did a 5 mile easy run. We walked A LOT through the city too.

4 Mile Intervals

Today, I ran 4 miles in intervals on the treadmill. Man, it was hard and I was barely hanging on at the end. I felt SO great after though. WOW

Swim and 7 Miles

Today, I swam a mile and ran 7. I am trying to get back into it. Augusta half Iron is looming.

6 Mile Run with Hills

Today I did 6 miles near my parents house on the hills. It was hot, and man some of those hills are MEAN. I am ready for FALL!

3 mile run

Today I did an easy 3 mile run in my parents neighborhood. It is hilly there though so I figured that counted for something.

No Workouts So Far

I have been BAD since the race on Sunday. I was at the sales meeting in Miami for Mon, Tues, and Wed. My legs STILL hurt to go up and down the stairs. MAN...PAIN...:) I am going to try to run tomorrow. We will see. :)

Music City Triathlon

I got up at 4:30 (yes that is AM), and I got ready quickly. I had already laid out my clothes the night before, and my tri bag was packed and ready to go. I made sure I had my Garmin, and I went downstairs at Grams and Papa’s house to get my frozen water bottles. It is supposed to be over 95 degrees, so I figured that I should at least try to have some frozen!

Phil and I left around 5:30 after pumping up our tires and lubing the chains on our bikes. When we got to LP Field (home of the Titans and where the race began and ended), the traffic was a mess. There was a LONG line of cars to turn in, and it was moving very slowly. I thought it would go quickly – I mean, seriously, how many cars do they get for a football game? They must be used to this. WRONG.  It took about 30 minutes to get parked. That made me a little nervous because I only had 30 minutes to get out of transition, but I was prepared so I wasn’t really nervous.

I took my tri bag, a small cooler with ice in it, and my bike and got my body marking. I still hate that they use the age that you will be at the END of the year which makes me 39. I will not be 39 until November, so that is not very nice.  I am really going to hate it next year. Ugh. Anyway, I got my number – 846 – on my leg and arm, and my “age” on my leg. I quickly got my stuff set up, and I went to find Phil. I then waited in the very long potty line, and I enjoyed talking to the people in line. Lots of friendly people. Everyone seemed nervous about the heat for the run, and I was getting REALLY nervous about that. I don’t do well running in the heat, so that is a big concern.

Next, I went down to the water to check it out. When I lived in Nashville, I always thought the Cumberland River was NASTY. I could not believe that I was actually going to swim in it. YUCK. Everyone I talked to about the race was fascinated that I was going to swim in the river. It actually didn’t look too bad, and the current didn’t seem too strong. I swam out a bit, and I was glad that I got practice coming up the ladder as the step was higher up than I thought it would be.

Then, we waited. The sprint distance started before the Olympic for some reason. I would think with the heat that they would let the Olympic distance start first so that we could finish a little earlier in the day. I didn’t go into the water until about 8:40. It was a time trial entry, so we were lined up by number in order of expected swim time. I had put 30 minutes as my time, but I wasn’t really sure. I did have the plan to take it really easy on the swim so that I would have plenty of energy for the bike and run. Normally, I would try to go fast on the swim as it is my best, but I was thinking that it might not be so great since I actually hadn’t been swimming as regularly as I should be. Oops…

The swim started out to the left for about 350 – 400 yards against the current. Then, you went around a buoy and turned back the other way. This part was with the current and it was nice.  It was hard to get around the buoy as the current was pushing you in front of it. At the other end, the current pushed you out away from the buoy which would cause more of a swim. I think I went pretty wide after the first buoy, but I did really well on the second one. I felt calm, relaxed, and I enjoyed it. I never pushed, but I probably should have.  The last 400ish yards were also against the current. I felt it a bit more on the way back. Apparently, I took my dear sweet time as it took me 36 minutes to do the swim. I should have done it closer to 27 – 30, but I used very little energy which was good.

I had a little trouble getting on the ladder, but then I started up the ramp. It was between 1/8 and ¼ mile from the river to the transition, and I left slip on shoes in the grass. I grabbed them on the way up. I mainly walked and slow “trotted” to transition. I was not fast getting through transition. I dried my feet and put on my bike shoes. This was my first triathlon with bike shoes, so it was new. I got my glasses and helmet, and I went to take my sport legs. Oops…they had melted in the sun. Yikes. Hot.

I started out on the bike, and I immediately realized that my bike seat was too low. I had checked my bike on the plane, and I had it assembled in Nashville at Cumberland Transit. I thought it was a bit too low in the store, but then when I sat on the seat and put my leg down it seemed about right. However, I think it fell lower somehow as it felt very low when I got on it. This made the bike feel harder. The first mile was fairly flat, but then there started to be some hills. Until mile 4, there were some hills that were pretty tough for me. I definitely need to practice hills more. From mile 4 – 6, it was pretty downhill to flat, and then the return trip wasn’t too bad. There was one hill that was kind of evil, but the rest wasn’t bad. Once mile 8 came, it was easy as it was a lot of downhill. I went through the very bumpy end part before the turn and then started the second loop. I knew I just had to make it to mile 4, and then I would be ok. I never pushed hard on the bike, and I tried to let my legs recover after the hills (they were burning pretty badly at times). I knew I would need it for the run.

Once I got back to transition, I dismounted. I did ok with the clips, and I was relieved that I didn’t crash due to leaving a foot in or something.  My legs were hurting in kind of a weird place – I think it was the adductor muscle on both legs that was NOT happy. I kind of hobbled to the transition, and I just sat down to put my socks and shoes on. I wiped my face. I got my hat and put some ice in it. I strapped on my water belt and my race number belt, and I was off. I thought I saw Phil at this point and was sad that I missed him. I knew I would never catch him on the run as he is a fast runner.

I jogged out through the water station toward the pedestrian bridge. I decided that I would conserve energy and walk up the pedestrian bridge as it is the very beginning of the run. It is VERY hot – definitely over 90 and very sunny. I walked up the hill, and then I started jogging again. I had my watch set for running 5 minutes and walking 30 seconds. I was doing pretty well, but I was very hot. I looked at my watch and my HR was 188. YIKES. Ok, time to relax a little as I have just reached mile 1 and there is a big hill looming in front of me. I decided that I would walk the hill. After the hill, there is a turn into the breeze (THANKFULLY), and then you went down 2nd Ave. This was nice as there were very brief pockets of shade and it was slightly downhill. At Broadway, we turned right and then turned right again on 3rd. Another hill was looming. Man. I jogged and walked and then I walked up the hill. Once the hill was behind me, there was a water station. I started dumping them on my head two cups at a time. I was very, very hot. I went over the Woodland Street Bridge, and it gave a nice downhill section to recover. Going around the stadium was very sunny and very hot. When I saw the signs that pointed in opposite directions – one saying “To Finish” and one saying “2nd Loop”, I wanted to cry. I wasn’t really sure I could do another one. But, I went through the water and kept going. Wet again from the cold water, I got to the bridge. I started walking, and I heard a voice say, “It is a good time to take a break.” We started talking, and I found out his name is Brandon and it was his first Olympic distance. I told him that I raised money for charity so I had to finish. He said that he was going to finish with me. I told him many times that he was welcome to go ahead, but I am SO very thankful that he was there. I cannot even tell you how much it helped to have someone to talk to. We would say “run to the car” or “run to the street” or “after the hill we will walk.” It kept getting hotter. I would dump water on my and then I would be dry and hot again minutes later. BRUTALLY HOT. It was nearing 100, and the heat index was off the charts. I was so happy to make it to that last water station before the Woodland Street Bridge because I knew we had the downhill and about a mile left. Brandon said, “tell that watch to shove it because we are finishing this thing.” So, we “ran” the rest of the way to the finish. What a great feeling.

As much pain as there was, I felt SOOOOO much better within minutes of finishing. It is amazing how your body reacts. The prize was a beer glass instead of a medal. I really like the medals, so I was a bit sad. Phil said he liked the glass better. Speaking of Phil, I was looking for him everywhere, and then all the sudden I heard his name being called. I screamed support to him and then went to meet him. I can’t believe that he was behind me!!! He started 20 minutes after me due to the time trial, and we never saw each other the whole race. We soaked up the atmosphere and the beer for a bit and waited for the results to be posted. Ours still weren’t posted even after we put our stuff away in the cars. That was a bummer. It was nice to get into transition so that I could call my family. I think everyone was glad to know that I survived the heat. Grams and Papa were getting worried as they didn’t know that you had to get into transition first to be able to get your stuff (my phone was there). I was so elated that I had finished, but I was also a bit sad as I was so terribly slow. It took me 3 hours and 51 minutes. The last one I did at St. Anthony’s was 3 hours and 14 minutes although the swim wasn’t long enough. However, even if you add 10 minutes to the swim, that would be 3:24. That still leaves 27 extra minutes. Most of those were on the run where I went from 1:14 to 1:29. On the bike, I took 1 hour and 37 minutes where at St. Anthony’s it was about 5 minutes faster. The swim was also 36 minutes so that is 9 minutes slower than my adjusted value for St. Anthony’s.

Overall – the race was brutal. I struggled and wondered if I could make it in the allowed time. 12:30 was the cut off, and I made it around 12:20. However, they had it open way past 12:30. Logistics, I really thought the race was very well run. The parking in the morning could have used some direction, and I highly wish that the sprint distance started after the Olympic. The water stops were placed perfectly, and the volunteers were very helpful!!!!! I loved the course, but the heat and hills were brutal. Not sure I will do this one again but I might do the sprint distance next year instead. 

25 Mile bike and 2 mile run

Today, I was hoping to make it home in time for my group bike ride, but we were delayed - of course! Then, I got a text from jen saying that they were starting early. BUMMER. Mike was nice enough to bring my bike to the Suncoast trail so that I could make it, but then I got a text that it was cancelled. :( I was really bummed and I really needed to ride as my tri is THIS Sunday. Oops. Oh yeah, it was 97 degrees out. WHOAH. I really wanted to give up and go home, but I knew Mike would be MADDDDDDD. So, I bucked up and dd it. Not only did I do a ride, I made myself do 25, and then I ran 2! :) woo hoo...WAY TO STICK WITH IT AMY!

6 Mile Run

before the airport, I did a 6 mile run. It was hot and hard, but I did it. I am starting to wonder how I am going to do this triathlon. How did I run 13 miles two months ago? Man, this running is hard lately.

Swim

Today, I swam for the first time in a long time - oops...let's hope the swim in this tri isn't too bad. Stacey and I swam at 6:30 - man this morning stuff sucks! It felt pretty good though.

Music City Triathlon for CureJM

I am doing an Olympic Distance Triathlon in Nashville on the 25th. I am raising money for CureJM  which is a non-profit raising money to find a cure for Juvenile Dermatomyositis. An olympic distance triathlon is 1.5K swim (about a mile), 40K bike (about 25 miles), and a 10K run (6.2 miles). It is in July (think HOT) and in Nashville (think hills for the flat Floridian).

 If you want to give me motivation to hang in there when I think I might not be able to AND to help cure an awful disease that affects kids (see video here), please click HERE to donate to CureJM through my fundraising page.



Also, CureJM is in the running for a Pepsi Refresh $250,000 grant to help find a cure. It is currently in 12th place and has to be in the top 2 to get money. You can vote every day (it literally takes less than a minute a day with 16 days left). If you can, please vote HERE.

5 Mile Run

Today, I ran 5 miles with Jennfier, Stacy, and Carmen. It was great to see everyone, and we thought of Holly who is in Italy. I was jealous! It felt really good to run this morning. I love it when it is like that. We were going to swim, but the mean storm kept us from it. :(

Bike and Run (HILLS!)

Tonight, I met Monica and Brian north of here to ride and run hills. We did about 15 miles on the bike (started late and it was getting dark), and then I ran 1 mile after (over the bridge hill). It was good to see them, and it was a great workout!

Swim and Run

Today, I ran 4 miles and swam 1 mile with Stacey in Seven Oaks. We had a nice time talking, and of course we saw two deer (we always see deer when we run in Seven Oaks). The pool felt great after the run.

25 Mile Bike and 1+ Run

Today, I did 25 miles at Flatwoods with Mike and then I did a 1+ mile run (not sure exactly how far but less than 2 and more than 1). It started raining so we cut the bike ride short. :( It was a nice ride though, and it was fun.

6 Miles

I did 6 miles running today before getting back in the car to tampa. It was hot, but it felt great! I listened to a book on tape while i ran. I think I will try that again. I liked it!

5 Mile Run

Today, I did 5 miles in palmetto dunes. I went 3 miles in the north gate and then 2 miles on th main road. I stopped and got Morgan tylenol and Papa a paper at the crazy busy General Store. I got some weird looks at the end running with a paper, but whatever. :)

6 Mile Run

Today, I did a 6 mile run in palmetto dunes on Hilton Head! It was really fun. I went from Palmetto Dunes to Shelter Cover, through the harbor, over Disney Island, and around the mall and back. It was awesome!

FireCracker 5000 Race

Today, I did the Hilton Head FireCracker 5000 race (5K). It was a BLAST. Mike M, Tracy, Mike G, and Michael (yes, that is three Mike's) all did it with me. The course was great and flat with a lot of shade. It was hot, but the shade made it not too bad. The course went out a little over a half mile and back to the start and then out about a mile and back. It was really nice. There were good water stops and nice support. I would definitely do it again.

HAPPY JULY 4TH!

Bike Ride

Today, I went on a bike ride with Chris for about 13 miles. It was difficult to ride too fast as there are a lot of street crossings and such. however, it was a good ride and fun. :) We rode from Palmetto Dunes to the Holiday Inn. :)

3 Mile Run

Today, I did my first 3 mile run on Hilton head ever in my life. :) It was fun. I just ran down mouring buoy road in Palmetto Dunes. It was nice to see the beautiful houses and to smell the beach.

30 Mile Bike and 1 Mile Run

Today, I met the Wesely Chapel Tri Team for a 30 mile bike ride and a 1 mile run. It was so nice to get to ride and chat with my buds. :)

Double Workout Tuesday

Today, I got up and did a 6.2 mile run with Holly, Jenn, and Stacey (and some others not in our regular group). It felt great!

Then, after work, the Wesley Chapel Tri Team did 10 miles and then stopped because it was lightening really badly. I was so glad to get to see everyone though as it has been too long!

5 Mile Run

Today, Ivan, Phil, and I did the "W Loop" again in Atlanta. We did 3.75 miles outside and 1.25 on the treadmil. I topped with my .1 speed increments every .05 mile at 7.6. WOW!! That was FAST for me. :)

Y in Atlanta

Today, Mike, Phil, and I went to the Y in Atlanta. We rode the stationary bikes for 45 minutes, and then I did an "almost mile" on the indoor track. The indoor track was kind of cool, but it was 16 laps to a mile. That is a lot of circling. We don't have those in Tampa as they are outside. :)

5 Miles

Today, Ivan and I did the "W Loop" in Atlanta. It is 3.4 miles, and then I went inside and did 1.6 on the treadmill and started the speed at 5.3 and went up over 7! It was the fastest I had ever been on a treadmill.

Brick

Today, I did a hill workout on the stationary bike, and then I did 2 miles on the treadmill with the last half mile getting faster every .05 mile. That hill thing was HARD! I was surprised at how difficult it was, and I struggled to finish it. I was so happy to make it to the top.

Forgot Bike Helmet - DOH

Today, I went to meet the crew for a 6:30 bike ride. I arrived at 6:15, pumped my tires, got everything ready, and then as we were about to go, I realized i had no helmet. DOH. Target across the street wasn't open yet, and nobody had an extra helmet. So, i decided I would run instead. I ran 8 miles, and I felt really great. At the end, I decided to go to Target to get a helmet to have as a replacement. I rode 20 miles, and then I did a quick 1 mile run to get a brick effect. What a workout!!!!!!!!!!

5 Miles in Athens

Today, I did a 5 mile run with Liz in Athens. Nimon also came for the beginning. It was really fun. They were giving tours for the incoming freshman at UGA, so it was fun to watch. It was a bit scary to see how young the kids looked. YIKES! We ran by the stadium and I gave it the Vol curse so that the Vols will win this year. :)

Another Y Day

Today, we got up at 4:30 again to go to the Athens Y. Liz is a machine! Yesterday, when we got there, I forgot to mention that there was nobody at the desk. On Monday when we arrived, I had called the Y to ask about coming as an out of town person and asked if I was allowed to bring a guest. They said yes. Tuesday, nobody was there, and we tried to find someone for a while. Finally, we just went in and started working out. Today we get there and again nobody is at the desk. So, we are looking around and trying to find someone. Another person comes in and says that the person working is at a computer desk around the corner in an office. So, we go there and tell her we are from out of town and that I am a member but Liz is my guest. She says no guests are allowed. I ask if she can just be a guest at the Y since she had never been. No, she cannot. Finally, I ask if there is any way that we can go ahead for today as an exception since we are there and since it is Liz's birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY LIZ!). She finally says yes and lets us in.

We rode the bike for 45 minutes and then I ran 2 miles with the speed on the treadmill increasing every 0.05 miles. :) I was proud.

Double Day

Today, I got up at 4:30 AM (yes AM!!!) to go to the Y with Liz. I did 40 min on bike and 30 min in pool. Then, after work, it POURED rain, so we had to do treadmill for track workout. I did 5 800's faster than normal (6.0 and then 6.5 for last ones). Then, I did one 800 where i went as fast as I could. I upped the speed every .05 mile, and I ended up at 7.0!! For me that is a record!

The Athens Y is an old school that was converted. It was so very weird to see the Athens Y and Camp Chattooga signs up and to realize that this is THE Athens Y! :)

2 Mile Walk and 3 Mile Run

Mike, Tracey, and I walked for 2 miles today, and then I did a 3 mile run on the way back. I did make a 1 mile loop through Paw-Paw's old neighborhood. I tried to run a little harder than normal, and I almost puked at the end. From Holly and Jen, I always remind myself that this is a sign of a good workout. I said that to Mike M, and he said that we must have different definitions. :) It was really fun to spend some time with them away from all the business. :)

Walk in Galveston

Today, I walked 3.8 miles with Mike, Grams, and Papa. That Grams and Papa can walk FAST. I am not a fast walker, and I had to jog several times to keep up with them. Grams said Papa walks even faster when he isn't with her. I bet he could walk as fast as I run! It was great fun to walk to Joan and John's house and to see Paw-Paw's old house. We had a fun time chatting as we walked.

Galveston Run - 5 Miles

Today, I got up and ran down from Moody Gardens to the Seawall in Galveston. I turned right and went down past the pier. It had a sign that said it would be opening again in 2010. Not so sure about that as it doesn't look close. Most of Galveston looked pretty good though. There were some newer looking buildings, but there are also a lot of boarded up ones. There were still a lot of empty slabs though too. It was sad to see those. I had forgotten that Galveston water gets this soapy foamy look as it comes into shore. ICK.

Run - 5 Miles

I got up and ran a little earlier. It was SO nice to run in less heat. It was pretty hot and humid by the end, but I never felt badly. I actually remembered that I LIKE running after today. That was a good feeling. I did 5 miles and ended with a hard burst. :)

Acquisition Day - COOKIES!!!

Oops...today, I did NO exercise. On top of that, I ate nothing but cookies. Nothing. Only cookies. We had a million calls today to talk about the "acquisition" or "merger" depending on who you talk to, and I kept wandering into the kitchen and eating a cookie (Morgan gave them as teacher presents and there were leftovers). By noon, I had eaten all 7 of them. OOPS. I didn't eat anything for the rest of the day. I am so bad at stress eating.

Swim and Brick

Today, I swam at 5:45 with Stacey, Debi, Nicole. It was a lot of fun. There were DUCKS in the water when we got there. So weird to swim in a POOL with ducks.

Tonight, Lauren came with me to my tri group for a 10 mile bike and then a little over a mile run (we tried to chicken out after a mile due to the heat but Monica pushed us to do more). :)
Thanks Lauren for coming! It was so great to see you.

Rest

Rested today as I am having some kidney stone issues again. :( Also, I am SOOOOOO sore from the tube that I am not sure i could do anything today anyway. WOW....

5 Mile Run

Today, I did a 5 mile run, and then I swam in the ocean after riding on the new tube. I really like the new tube, but I think I am going to be sore tomorrow! The run was not as bad as I went earlier and it was a little cloudy. It was hot and humid but without the direct sun. Made a HUGE difference! I was still slow but didn't feel like I would die.

Bike 39 Miles and 2 Mile Run

Today, I biked my longest ride ever - 39 miles! WOW! It felt good to break a new record. I really like the clip in pedals. They really make a difference. I am glad I got the speedplay ones too as I don't seem to be having any trouble getting in and out of them. I ran 2 at the end, and it was pretty hard in the freaking heat. Man, I do not like running in the heat. It is so weird to go from the run quikly becoming my favorite to really not liking it at all :(

After all of that, I took the kids to Boing where we jumped on trampolines for an hour - well, 45 mins was all I could handle. I did do a back flip and a front and back handspring! :)

Friday

Rest Day

Swim and Run

Today, I swam at 5:45 am. Man, I shock myself by getting up that early. I never in a million years thought I would get up so early to exercise. :) After I took Morgan to school, I ran 5 miles. It was HOT. i was supposed to do 4 pickups of 2 minutes each (meaning I run faster for 2 minutes). Since I run 5 minutes and then walk 30 seconds, I decided to wait until the last 8 intervals. I would do 5 minutes regular and then 5 minutes with the last two of them being faster, then 5 min regular, then 5 min with the last 2 being faster, etc. Well, i did that twice, and my heart rate was SO high. It took me over a minute to get it below 170. So, I decided that was a bad idea, and I just jogged the rest until the very end when I sprinted to the end. Man, it was HOTTTTTTTTTTT. I am not so sure that I am adjusting to this heat. WOW.

Garmin link here and here.

First Spin Class Ever

Tonight, Mike and I did our first spin class ever. It was hard, but I think I liked it. It seemed long as at the 30 minute point I was wondering if I could make it 30 more minutes, but then it seeemed to go pretty fast after that. That resistance is EVIL. :) Every time she would say turn it to the right, I was groaning by the end. :) She said to say in the saddle the whole time for my first time, so i did. :) I can't imagine adding standing too!

4 Mile Run and 1700 Yards Swimming

This morning, I got up at the crack of dawn and went running with Stacey and Debi. We did 4 miles in 46 minutes. :) It was nice to run that early as it wasn't so hot.

Then, after work, we met for our group practice and swam 1700 yards.

300 easy warm up
200 - fists for 25, finish with a splash for 25, fists for 25, splash finish for 25, etc
400 easy
300 - 25 easy, 25 harder, keep repeating until 300 (not sprint but hard)
200 - 50 easy, 50 harder, repeat
100 - hard but not sprint

4 X 25 sprint

100 easy cool down

I LOVE the swim. :)

5 Mile Run

Wow, it is HOT already. I am not really sure how I will run in July and August, as it is already very hot. I went out about 7, and by the end I was sweating like a pig and roasting hot. I got a cold towel and put it around my neck at the end. It felt so good. Lots of water - downed all 4 bottles while I was out and had quite a bit when I got back.

The plan said to do 4 - 6 miles today, and I did 5. Click here for garmin link.

Bike and Run

Today, Mike, Stacey, Eric, Nicole, and I rode Flatwoods today for 32 miles!!!!!!! WOO HOO! That is the second time I have ridden over 30 miles in my whole life! After, I ran 2.5 miles. It was hot and hard, but it also felt good.

This was my first time riding with the clipless pedals. I got the speedplay ones after MUCH debate. I couldn't decide whether to get Look or Speedplay. Holly and Jen are VERY passionate about the Speedplay ones, so I ended up getting them on their recommendation. The Ironman store man, Hunter and David, recommended the Look ones because they said that there is a wider area under your foot. Holly said that the speedplay ones are better on the hills and keep your knees from hurting. Since I ride with Holly and Jen and they are my coaches, I decided to take their word for it.

Then, came the next thing - SHOES. Man, this biking stuff is complicated. Ok, two types of shoes. So, I got the triathlon variety because I do triathlons. :) That means that the strap opens away from the bike so they are easier to take on and off with the bike, especially if you ever become super duper cool and leave the shoes on the pedals and climb in. I ended up getting Sidi shoes which were double what I wanted to spend. However, they are super comfortable and everyone says that they last forever (the Ironman store guys said if there is a nuclear war that cockroaches and Sidi bike shoes will be the only thing standing). I did have some debate about whether the pink matched my bike as it is teal and black, but I finally decided that I didn't care. They are comfortable and cute.

When we got to flatwoods, I was really nervous. However, I actually had ZERO problems getting in them. I was shocked. They went right on. I did have a little panic attack the first time I unclipped, but I stayed calm and they came off easily.

On the ride, my legs felt SO much better. My right leg adductor muscle has been annoying me on the bike since last October. I never felt it today. Loved it! Also, we rode 32 miles (last week 25), and my legs didn't feel like I had been on a horse for hours. It was great. I ran 2.5 after. My plan is to add a half a mile to my brick run each week. I am hoping that it will allow me to get used to it slowly - especially with the heat. I will keep my longer run on the week though (although I am at 6 miles now which is heaven for a long run) :)

Great day! According to the weight watchers activity thing, it says I earned 19 activity points. I only get 21 in a day, so that is a LOT!

Swim and Run

I got up early this morning to meet the crew to swim. CARMEN came!!!! Gosh it is so hard to get up that early. It is just weird. I realized I forgot a towel as I pulled into the parking lot. Uh oh. Oh well, it can' t be that bad. :) We swam the same workout as Tuesday

500 warm up
200 alternate breathing drills
600 with 100 pull and 100 swim
4 X 25 fast
cool down 200
I did a couple extra laps at the end. :)

Then, I went home and ran 5 miles. It was HOT. MAN it was hot. But, I did it and am still here to talk about it. :) My garmin says my heart rate went up to 195 at the end. HOLY COW!!!!! I tried to keep it around 178 as it really wanted to go above 180 often. Must adjust to evil heat. :) I averated a whopping 11:58 per mile. But, I can't tell you how good I felt after!!!!

Early Swim

Today, I got up at 5:15 (well, I did hit snooze until 5:21), and I went swimming with Stacey, Debi, and Nicole. We did the following workout.

Today, I got up at 5:15 (well, I did hit snooze until 5:21), and I went swimming with Stacey, Debi, and Nicole. We did the following workout (from Holly's email)

WARM UP 500 YDS (YES 500! SLOW AND STEADY)

DRILL 200YDS SWIM:ALTERNATE 25 YDS RIGHT SIDE BREATH, 25 YDS LEFT SIDE BREATHE ***WE NEED TO WORK ON BI LATERAL BREATHING

MAIN SET 600YDS ALTERNATE 100 YDS SWIM MODERATE PACE WITH 100 YARDS PULLS
*** ON THE PULL 100 = EITHER USE PADDLES AND PULL BUOY OR THE TWO TENNIS BALLS FOR A FIST DRILL

4X25 YDS FAST! 10 SEC REST IN BETWEEN EACH
COOL DOWN 100 YDS EASY

I did an extra 100 cool down because I wanted 1600 yds. Then, I got a wild hair and decided to do a 100 IM (fly, back, breast, free). I hadn't done that in years and loved it!

Hip Flexor Pain

My hip flexor is not my friend today, and it has really been causing a lot of trouble. I really need to see Chris, but that isn't until Thursday. Sigh. I was planning on running tonight, but I bailed. Sad...

I am doing pretty well on WeightWatchers. I think it is helping me focus again. I get 21 points a day and 35 weekly points. Also, I guess you get to eat the exercise points if you run out of weekly points (pretty sure i will!). Today, used 6 weekly points. I did lose 1 lb though, so I am now at 73 lbs LOST! WOO HOO!

Bike and Run

Today, I did a 25 mile bike ride at Flatwoods and a little over a mile run. Mike, Chris, and Michael came with me. Chris kept my pace on his mountain bike for the first 9 miles. That is impressive. It is HOTTTTT outside, and the run was evil. I have to get used to this running in the heat thing. I really pushed my speed at the end of the run though. My watch said I ended at an 8:06 min mile pace. I am sure it was for a nanosecond, but it is the fastest the watch has ever said at the end. :)

Horseback Riding

Today, Morgan and I went on a 2 hour ride horseback ride. About 20 minutes in, I realized that this was probably not the smartest move when I have my longer bike ride scheduled for tomorrow. DOH. It was really fun though, and it was great to see the smiles on Morgan's face.

Atlanta 3.5 Run (W Loop)

Today, I ran my favorite Atlanta route around the W Perimeter. It is approximately 3.5 miles and includes some good hill work. I used to hate it, but now I really enjoy the challenge. :)

Swim

Today, I got up at 5:45 (yes that is AM!) to swim with Stacey, Debi, and Nicole. We did the following swim workout.

200 warm up easy
100 catch up
100 alternate sides
8 X 50 easy 25/hard 50
100 easy
8 X 25 / hard and rest for 30 sec
100 warm down easy
1200 yards total

Fredericksburg Marine Corps Historic Half Marathon Race Report

Garmin Details can be found here (check out that elevation picture - HILLS!)

As I have struggled through my foot issues (and less so my couch) over the last few weeks, I was really worried about how this half was going to go. For the Gasparilla Half, we trained and did 10+ miles for 6 weeks and included a 13 mile run. So, I set out to do something similar, but I did a SINGLE 10 mile run and then had the whole “Is it Plantar Fasciitis?” injury. Since then, in the 4+ weeks, I had done two 6 mile runs and a couple of smaller ones. That is it. So, two weeks before the race, I set out to do a 4 miler, an 8 miler, then an 11 miler. Then, I did a 6 and a 5 the week before the race. Was it enough? The biggest worry is that this race has hills. For those of you From Tampa, you know how flat the training is usually.

Travis was set to go with me, and he did the 11 mile training run the Sunday before the race. On Friday, he texts me that Lisa is in the ER. Oh no. I am sure he won’t be coming and that it will only be Courtney and I running. Since he missed Gasparilla, I am sad, but I know he needs to be with Lisa and hope that she is ok. She feels better on Saturday morning, and he can go! Yeah! We fly to Baltimore on Saturday morning, and Courtney picks us up. It is so good to see her. I love her laugh and one liners, and we were off to a hysterical car ride immediately. She then says that she has to confess that she accidentally booked us in a hotel that is 25 miles away. She booked the race headquarters hotel, but apparently that is not in Fredericksburg. We decided to go pick up our packets and see what we could find. None of the hotels by the race start had rooms, but we did find one 12 miles away – better than 25 so we take it.

The expo was pretty good, and we got our numbers, shirts, and other race goodies. Travis is number 25 which completely freaks him out as he thinks he accidentally got an elite number or something. We ask and they say that it is randomly assigned. I was number 5084, and Courtney was 5109. We went to the hotel where I tried to calm Morgan down. For some reason, every time I go out of town and Mike and Morgan are there, they have an episode. This time was no different, and I tried to work through the pre-teen tears. Mike had gone to take Katie to get her hair cut, and that was probably good to give a break to both of them.

We went to the Outback down the street, and I got grilled chicken and a baked potato. YUMMY for pre-race meal. After dinner, we went to the store to get some water and other stuff like nutragrain bars (real ones – not generic), advil, bananas, etc. As we are checking out, the self scanner says, “ Move your bananas onto the conveyor belt.” It sounded so hysterical being told to move our bananas, and we all got a case of the giggles. Then, as we got back to the hotel, JUST as we walk in the door, Travis informs us that his race belt could hold a small specific type of baby, and that just set us off giggling again. I had a very difficult time going to sleep after talking to Mike and Morgan. I sent out some info about the race finish being broadcast on the internet, and I settled down for some boring TV. As I turned on the TV, The Hangover movie was on. I cracked up at the end of it, and then put it on some other weird movie. It took me at least an hour to finally fall asleep.

I got up at 4, and I started getting ready. We left at 5 and got there with PLENTY of time. They had warned about difficult traffic and parking, so we were happy to be there early (well Courtney and I were – not so much with Travis). We went into the Wegman several times for a bio break before the race, and Courtney checked her bag. We hit the port-a-potty one more time before the race began. The national anthem was sung, and then the wheelchair participants began. Then, they shot the gun from the 1800’s to start the race, and we were off! Travis kept wanting to keep up with the crowd. I must have said Slow Down Travis at least 30 times.  The first thing I notice is that the elevation chart from the website is very deceptive. It makes it look like the first 9 miles are mainly downhill. HA! There are some pretty good hills for that first 9 miles. There is downhill, but it is after going uphill first. There was one BIG downhill that made me nervous for “hospital hill” which is in the 10th mile and is supposedly enormous.

The first four miles FLY by. The 5 min run and 30 sec walk is going well, and I can’t believe how fast the beeps are coming to walk. The race did this whole “green” thing with the bibs and you supposedly can plant them to grow flowers. Well, I am all for green and such, but these were awful. Mine had torn in the first mile, and I had to stuff it in my water belt. It was shredding the whole time, and I was just trying to make it with my beer coupon and my massage coupon. I text Mike and Morgan at mile 4 to let them know where I am. Miles 4 – 9 weren’t too bad, but I was conserving some energy as I am still very nervous about this “hospital hill” I have coming. 4 – 9 had some hills as well. Around mile 7, Travis went ahead, and I was glad as I could see he wanted to go faster. I knew I couldn’t, so I was happy he got to run faster. I got some jelly beans around mile 7, and they were pretty good. Along the way, there were gymnasts, several bands, radio stations, people dressed in colonial clothes, a confederate cemetery, some cool houses, a bagpipe group, and elementary school music group, lots of kids giving high 5’s, and LOTS of people. At Gasparilla, the road thinned out after a while and you had a lot of room around. That never happened at this race. There were always lots of people around. I guess with 7000 people, that is what happens. We did see quite a few people getting aid from the medics, and there was one guy who took a nasty fall behind us at one point.

As we go from mile 9 – 10, I am so nervous. I hope I can do this freaking hospital hill thing. My legs are getting tired, and my foot is hurting. Lovely. However, that only lasted a few minutes, and then I felt good again. As we start up the hill, I think, ok, you can do this. I ran up quite a bit of it, and then I decided to walk. I was so happy when 5 seconds later my watch beeped for my scheduled walk time. I walked an extra 30 seconds and then ran again for a while. Then, I walked a bit and wondered if this hill was ever going to end. I was really happy to get to the top. There were lots of people encouraging and cheering us up the hill, and almost everyone was walking that hospital hill. I actually passed a lot of people when I was running it. There was a sign that said, “Detour to ER” which was pretty funny.

Mile 11 – 12 also had a pretty big hill. I ran almost all of it, but I took a walk break for a minute near the top. Then, I went back to my plan for 12 – 13 and pushed a bit at the end. I thought a lot about Matt (and the Chick Fil A at the finish). When t was over, I was so happy to break my Gasparilla time – barely. However, I think that it counts as a big difference since this one had hills! Time was 2:35:45.


I had a marine put my medal on. I loved that. My friend Liz has a brother in Afghanistan, and I was thinking about him the whole race. He has had some difficult times lately with friends of his getting killed, and I cannot imagine what that is like. I figured if he could do it, then I could. I thanked every Marine I passed, and it was quite humbling to have them cheering us on, passing out water, etc. They were really awesome and inspiring. So, Matt Humiston, I dedicate my 13.1 to you and thank you for all you do. Please be safe and get home to your family.

As soon as we finished the race, Travis found out that Riley had falled from the swingset and needed stitches. So, we went straight to the car. Just a tip, if you don’t have to sit in a car just after finishing a race, don’t. It makes your legs worse. We rushed to the hotel, did a quick shower and change, and headed back out. I tried to get a flight on the 1 something flight Travis got, but there was only one seat available. Bummer. So, Courtney was nice enough to drive Travis to Dulles and then to take me to Baltimore. We stopped at a Wendy’s, and I had a chicken sandwich that might have been the best I have ever had.

At the airport, I had two double Maibu and Diet Coke drinks. Well earned. YUM. I am not on the plane headed home feeling proud, wearing my medal, and sporting my new shirt. :) Mission accomplished.

Thanks Travis and Courtney! I had a blast! Thanks so much Courtney for taking care of us and for driving all over the place.

Next plans:
Olympic Triathlon in Nashville in July
Half Ironman in August in September
Women’s Half Marathon in November
Jacksonville Half or Full Marathon in December (will decide later)

5(ish) run

Today, I started out on the treadmill as I was kind of nervous to go running by myself. Also, my stomach has been hurting a lot (I think it is the antibiotic). I just don't like the treadmill. I can't feel comfortable, and it was hurting my foot. So, I just went outside and started running. Also, my watch battery was dead on my GPS watch, so I just had to wing it without. Man, I am so spoiled by that watch. :) I think I did about 5 miles based on the time and where I went compared to Tuesday (when you include the mile on the treadmill). I saw sea lions on my run and they were barking at me!

6 Mile Run in Monterey

Today, I ran 6 miles with Bob through Monterey. It was so beautiful. When we first got to the train (about a mile in), we passed these Army people. I said Good Morning, and they YELLED GOOD MORNING and shouted and whooped. :) It was invigorating and inspiring. :) We saw sea lions and lots of beautiful views. It was really fun. Thanks Bob!

11 Miles

I haven't been running as much because of my evil foot decided that I shouldn't. I am doing a half marathon on the 16th, and I am quite nervous since I haven't been able to do long runs. I think "real runners" who have been doing this for a long time forget that I am still new to this. It isn't like my legs are used to it because I have been running for 10 years. :)

I felt some better after I got the 8 miles in on Thursday, so today I met Travis for an 11 mile run. It was his first double digit, and I was so happy to do it. I feel beter. I am mainly worried about miles 10 - 12 since it is a big hill. I looked back at my old runs and I have never run a hill this big ever. :( I might be walking a lot on the hill, but at least I know I can do 11!

Biking

Today, Mike and I met Travis for a bike ride. We did 20 miles and then did a short run after. It was pretty funny to hear Travis groan about the brick. I think he gets the difficulty now. :) He has a new bike and a new bike outfit. Mike and I were just in our normal tshirt and bike shorts. We felt left out. :) Just kidding. It was fun to ride though. :)

8 Mile Run

Today, I ran 8 miles (7.57 and then .43 a bit later as I ran out of time). It was my longest run in 4 weeks. I have a half marathon coming up in 10 days. YIKES! I hope I can do this. I was doing so good before my cough and then foot pain, but then I had to put a halt on the running. Once I did the 6 miles at St. Anthony's, then I was sore so I only did some short stuff before going to Vegas. In Vegas, it was hard enough to get in a 4.4 mile run, so I didn't get in a long one. I am planning on trying 10 - 11 this weekend, and then I should be ok if I can do that (I hope!). Holly suggested another semi longer run during the week next week so I will try that as long as my foot is ok. Today, I ran in my new Kswiss shoes, and I think I liked them. They are different than my Nike shoes that I love. I am thinking the Nike shoes might not be so good for my foot, so I am trying some new ones. They were the most comfy in the store, and my foot did ok during the run. However, about an hour later, I had the worst pain I have had in over a week. :( However, a little advil and some ice later, it is better).

I finally uploaded my garmin again. Here is the link to today's run. http://connect.garmin.com/splits/32444780

Track

Tonight we had team track work out. Because I am still struggling with my evil foot, I just took it easy. I tried to keep a consistent pace, and I tried to get used to the heat. Man, running in the heat is not fun. It was good to see the group again.

Holly and Jen talked to us about the race plans for the rest of the year. I guess I am doing the following:

May 16h - Marine Half Marathon
July 4th - 5K
July 25th - Olympic Tri in Nashville
Sept 11 - Sprint Tri
Sept 26 - half Iron
Nov 21 - Women's Half marathon
December 20th - Half or Full Marathon - Jacksonville

Wow, typing that it seems like an AWFUL LOT!!!!!!! AHHHHHHH

4 Mile Run in Vegas

The fear of my half marathon coming up got me up out of bed hungver in Vegas. I did a little over 4 miles on the strip. It was really windy, but it was a great run. I ran from Harrah's to NY NY, turned around and ran back past Harrah's down to the Wynn, turned around and ran back past the Venetian, turned and went back to Wynn, and then took it back to Harrah's. I didn't want to go over the pedestrian bridge at the Wynn so that is why I did that little loopback.

Hiking

Today we hiked in Red Rock Canyon. We did two trails - one that was 2 miles and one that was 2 miles but steep!!! It was challenging but very fun!

Short Run

Today, I tested my foot with a short 3 mile easy run. It felt pretty good. I got up and ran before getting Morgan up, and she didn't like me being all sweaty in her room. :)

Post Race Report and Workout

On Monday, I was SOOOOOOOO sore. WOW! I made a lot of noise each time I stood up, sat down, and went up or down the stairs. I am feeling better today, but yesterday was brutal!

Tonight, the WCTT met to do a 10 mile bike with a 1 mile brick run after. It felt good to use my sore muscles. No rest for the weary! I am still trying to decide what my next goal will be. I am not sure I am ready for the half-iron. Still thinking on it.

Bike and Short Run

I rested for a day after the race, and then I did a 10 mile bike and a short 1 mile run to get the brick effect. Carmen, Jennifer, and Nicole were there, and it was good to see them!

St. Anthony's Triathlon

I stretched before I got up. It was painful to walk on, but not too bad. I took 2 advil. I put it on ice for a few mins, and then we left. This was about 5:15. We walked the half mile or so to transition from the parking and got the stuff put away. I kept my shoes on for the almost mile walk to the start. It was hurting and I was really getting nervous. Then, we went into the water, and it felt really good. Hmmm....maybe that will help I thought. So, then we walk on the sand. DOH...the sand got ALL in the tape on the bottom of my foot and the tape started coming off. Lovely. Then, they stopped the race and changed the swim course to make it 1k instead of 1.5k as it was REALLY rough. So, we waited for an extra thirty minutes. I went in the water again and relaxed. Sand all over again. Lovely.

We started at 9:33. The swim was rough, took in lots of water, but I enjoyed it and didn't feel like it was too awful from an effort perspective. I did the 1k in 18:11. I had put some shoes between the swim exit and the transition so that I wouldn't go barefoot. They weren't there. :( Bummer.

I got all muddy in transition because I tried to get the sand out of the tape by pouring water on my foot. FUN. I was way too slow on the transition, but I figured it was important to not have sand under my food in my shoe.

On the bike, i did well until mile 18.It was great to see Monica, Brian, Heather, Amy, and Mike as I was on some of the roads that did a turnaround. It was VERY windy for the majority of the ride. WOW. My foot started killing me. Lovely. I wasn't really anticipating that it would hurt on the bike. I started taking my right foot off every minute or two and pedaling wiht my left foot while I stretched out the right one. At this point, I was REALLY nervous about the run.

I was really happy to finish the bike. The wind was brutal. Then came the real test. I almost fell getting my foot over my bike. :) HEE HEE...i jogged to the transition area and it was hurting on my foot. But, the amazing thing was that it stopped hurting COMPLETELY as I started the run. For two comlete miles, I had NO pain (well in my foot....my LEGS on the other hand were killing me). At the two mile mark, it started to ache but wasn't painful. Around the 3.2 mark, it started to hurt. I kept trying to play with my stride to make it hurt less. Around mile 4, Around this time I had seen Monica, Brian, Stacey, Amy, and Heather. It helped so much to see them! it stopped hurting again for a bit, but then BAM just before mile 5, it was sooooooo painful. My body was also pretty mad at me by then. It was HOT. My heart rate was up. I was geting a sunburn, and my legs hurt. I started limping, and I decided that I should try to walk. So, I tried to do 2 minutes or so and then walk, then 2 mins, then walk. I think I walked 4 times in last mile. But, I DID It!!!!!

The weird thing is that it actually feels better today than it did. I thought it would be worse. It is still tender, but much better than even on Saturday.

I had fun, but let me tell you, it was hard. :) Abhijeet and Morgan took pictures. Here are some