no follow through

so i've started a few posts over the past few days and havent finished any. here they are in order.

Girls Rule, Boys Drool.
So the long and short of it is… a bit of a recap of the ride last night.
NOTE this takes place exactly 24 hours after a blissful, yet tough, girls ride that 4 of us did.
Picture this- its 6 pm. Traffic is just picking up and the sun has lost a bit of its unforgiving burn for the day. I rolled up on the BUS (yep that’s the name of my bike. Some of you will get the reference. Some won’t.) I meet the cast of characters for the evening:
Leader guy: actually named eric and very nice.
Race wheels guy: also know as heart rate guy or shirtless guy cause he was wearing and not wearing one. for some reason he is very anxious at the start. Refuses to stop circling on his bike.
Grumpy pants: named by his wife. no way I would ever make that up on my own.
NEO: named by her husband. Its her new secret alias.
Rider one: plays a very small part. Would only get the $20 pay reserved for extras who walk thru the scene one time in the movies
Softride guy: or red shirt guy, or jerk as he will soon be called.
Soft ride guys friend: enough said.
Me: the heroine. (ha)
Scene ONE:
The warm up. All is pleasant in rideville. There are several small conversations occurring at the moment – some centering around ironman, the deuce, or bagels. There is also a secret exchange happening unbeknownst to many of the participants.
Scene TWO:

....bottom line is dont talk smack on a ride unless you can back it up. getting dropped after you make this evil plan to smoke everyone on the ride makes you look like an ass.

the big deuce
so i swam the deuce on sat. got there way early and helped with packet pick up. i will note that someone else was even more grumpier than me. AHEM! but the race went off well. i swam exactly twice as fast as i swam the mile one month before. guess i have one speed. lovely. i will note that i got beat at the end by a 13 year old. afterwards a few of us headed out in the scorching heat for a 50 mile ride. hot winds, a cup and cone ride full of riders we had to dodge, and heat radiating off th pavement.. lovely...i got to stick on alicia parr's wheel for a while. if you know her you will agree that its NOT easy. but all was good... well until i almost made her crash...twice...call me a loser...


here is a picture of some of us after the swim. these are the GRUMPIEST, most pessimistic, whiney bunch of girls EVER! so yes i'm posting this AGAIN.

oh one note on the swim. i'm famous. or at least my suit is. i had a bunch of people ooooh and awe over it and even one photo of my butt. lovely. i may not be the fastest swimmer but i'm the best dressed.


party planner
i think this could be my calling. the next two weekends will be super fun! but working out the logistics is proving to be somewhat of a challenge.. getting multiple people from one place to another, feeding them and finding shelter, not so easy. you think it would be, but when the options look like something kurt's dad (yes i KNOW you watched ali's show! and by the way- i'm still not sure if its kirk or kurt) would furnish...BUT regardless some good times to come. much needed if you ask me.

one sheep. two sheep. three sheep.

nope doesnt work for me.

i read one time that abraham lincoln only slept 4 hours a night. every night. that is insane.

especially to a person like me who probably could go 10 hours a night. so when things start to go awry and mess with that, its not a pretty picture. i've got the usual suspects - early morning masters, late nights of debauchery (no comment) and well just general things like nights spent listening to the dogs bark at thunder or bobby snoring or getting up to pee. BUT lately i've had to deal with something that i thought i had under control. my sciatica. ugly word that i'm not always sure i spell right. basically it feels like there is acid running thru my legs. sometimes its a bit like what they call "restless leg syndrome" where you have this uncontrolable need to move your legs- just like a bunch of pins cruising up your entire body (literally) daring you to stay still. makes for a tough night. anyway if you're wondering why i'm grumpy (more than usual!) or delerious or zombie like there's your answer. its because i've been up half the night, icing my back (thats where the epicenter of this whole thing is - where the nerve is messed up- which by the way i think i may have traced back to my paper route i had when i was younger.. carrying around that HUGE sack of newspapers on one shoulder.. hmmm)... moving from bed to couch to other bed and back again...its not fun. so wish me some sweet dream please!

a tale of two races

the look on my face pretty much says it all. i raced local on satuday and had a hellish day (evidenced by the lobotomy i am attempting to give myself). so i said "F U triathlon I want another go". and went out and did the same race on sunday with much better results.

here are some observations:

pre race nutrition is paramount even for a sprint.
my swim is progressing, not quickly but is better
i havent found that pain locker yet. still working on that
taking a michalob ultra out onto the run was one guy's winning strategy. not sure how that worked out for him.
heed still sucks
it is possible for me to make un-human noises at a very loud volume while fighting pain on the run. noises that i think alarmed those around me.
raleigh triathlon is filled with some very fast people. and some really nice ones too. great to make new friends each time out.
i'm learning how to race by myself. being in O vs AG is a whole other story. when you are not passing people all the time on the bike your head goes to a very different place.
i was proud of myself for not flipping out in the mass open start. even with many male legs kicking and churning - they do not stop to say "sorry".
i am guilty of tea parties in transition.
short cool downs are a very good idea.
race wheels cant help you if they are flat.
even when i think i'm pushing i need to push more.
i took the hills in aero. thats HUGE for me.
as much as i think they wouldn't, my dogs would hate coming to a triathlon.
water with a GU is your best bet.
always just stick with what you know works.
black isnt always slimming.
i love this sport.


over 2 min off my swim from last year!


forgetting that even though i entered the park its still part of the race course...

just click here

lots to talk about but first.. PLEASE click here and vote for Tunica MS to get a no kill animal shelter. even if you dont like dogs. even if you dont like mississippi or cant spell mississippi. even if you dont really care. i care. do it for me. and damie !!!!

thanks

yikes

its HOT out. but yes summer in carolina tends to be that way. what can you do. happy to report my ankle has responded very well to ingested drugs and is feeling pretty ok. we had a tough track workout on tuesday night.. well tough because it was sweltering and somehow we decided to run really fast. BUT that said, when it was over I was happy with the results. maybe 2 weeks off your feet really does help. who knows. so last night i went out on our usual ride, but this time it was just me and brooke. sometimes its really great to have that Q time with a good friend. makes for a great ride. anyway 20 minutes in my bike sort of broke.. err well the left cable is probably very stretched and decided enough is enough and it refused to switch gears. poor brooke was stuck riding with me for 30 miles in my small ring. in other rivoting news i'm racing local this weekend. should be fun. lots of familiar faces. i was looking at my times from when i did this race last year and honestly i'm not sure if i was even in the race. for example - in the 750 m swim (drum roll please) i swam 15+ minutes. perhaps i was wearing floaties, maybe i was just caught in a rip tide, maybe .... who knows! but plans for saturday in clude a very big improvement there.
wow. thats all i have to say and its not very exciting. my apologies. now go watch the tour.
oh and i did find a "bridge to friendship" with my carniverous friends...

a little bit country and a little bit... ghetto

i'm the first to admit i'm not the posterchild for classy. trust me. and when it comes to triathlon, i am definately the step child:

my first jersey was a gift (thanks MCL) because i didnt own a proper jersey. my second jersey was a gift because someone thought i needed a second jersey when that one was smelly. i now own 2 jerseys.

i have been wearing bobby's old (empahsize OLD) helmet since day one.

i rode his TREK road bike for my first year of triathlon. it weighed about 47 pounds. (and his shoes, and pedals and yes i admit even one of his tri shirts. he used to be skinnier)

i normally get stuck at the inner most possible transition spot and someone inevitably over stays their space.

people forgot to tell me you go commando in your bike shorts. i think it was intentional.

i get swum over and dunked in the swim. (absolutly nothing to do with my swim skill set).

anyway- whats the point here? yesterday i got a brand new helmet. and for some reason it makes me feel like i'm starting to belong. maybe because it actually FITS me. probably a key factor in safety. its nice lookin too. thats important.