Marathon time...

Well, marathon time is not for about 2 months yet! I just did the online entry into the George Washington (GW - like me!) Birthday Marathon to be held on Sunday, February 15th. If all goes well I will be participating in this event. At least I am 'on track' for it training schedule-wise. My team is doing marathons that same weekend in Myrtle Beach, SC and Austin, TX. I even got up this morning and did a little spinning - since I missed my spin last night. I did not miss it, per se, I chose not to go to/do it. I did most of my Christmas cards, instead, which was also important! I feel very good to have gotten those taken care of.

Speaking of spinning and training, this has been a pretty good week for me, training-wise, especially since I got up this morning and did a bit of spinning. This means I have done every workout or shortened version of a workout every day this week...so far! I'm completely STOKED about this. Seriously. I think it is a first! Even though I had a kind of cruddy swim practice yesterday, I'm really happy about my training week. Wheeeee!

Busy weekend: Patrick is running in his first Varsity indoor track meet in the 4x800 (the first event) and has a chance to earn a spot in the 1000 run later in the meet...it depends on his relay split. Go Patrick! Andrew has a Varsity Quad Wrestling meet at his school. Andrew is always concerned about making weight and yesterday was trying to survive on ONE PIECE OF TOAST. I made him eat pizza and explained that his body would kick into starvation mode and start conserving instead of burning... Of course, if his weight it up I will feel bad, but I am hoping that all will be well. I might need to talk to the coach and athletic trainers... I explained to him that he needs to eat for strength and of course he won't have energy to wrestling in his matches if he does not fuel his body!!! Hopefully he will weigh in just fine...

For tomorrow's wrestling meet, tonight I am cooking up some taco meat (about 5 pounds worth) for the concession stand. We also need to supply a case of soda and a case of water. Current plan for tomorrow: Go to track meet. Watch and cheer on Patrick. Leave when Patrick is done (after relay? or after 1000?). Depending on the time - run 10 miles per training schedule. Go to wrestling meet. Watch and cheer on Andrew. Run 10 miles if not done earlier. Dinner with Jeff and friends Lisa and Steve - we are taking them out as a thank you from my father for all they did for his 90th birthday celebration!

I'm looking forward to my dinner tomorrow night. We are meeting up in Old Town, Alexandria to enjoy the scenery and have a good meal. We will have a drink at an Irish place, have dinner, and have ice cream after. We are going to walk around - regardless of the weather - and enjoy the beautiful decorations that are up!

Sunday training calls for a 4 hour bike ride...this is now weather permitting due to the wintery stuff/rain that is coming into town. The coach is trying to arrange a room for spinning for 1-3 hours if weather is too bad to go out. If that is the case I might just have to do this because I need TIS! (Time in saddle!)

I'm in...

I'm in the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile race that is! Online entry opened up this morning bright and early at 8AM. I finally remembered around 9AM - I think. After a few tries I got to the registration and I am in. I noticed this year they did not ask for a Chamption Chip number...so I wonder if they are going to be using the new "D" chip thing that I got to use at the Virginia Run Turkey Trot....anything to make my feet lighter - works for me! I know a bunch of my teammates will be running there beside me... I look forward to meeting up with everyone at the race site - at least hopefully it will happen. I wonder if it will be a wet or dry day in 2009? This year it was a bit wet at times...

More slacking...

I've slacked this past recovery week. I really hurt my left ankle on Thanksgiving night - getting out of the car I caught the heel of my shoe and it jerked my foot back. Ouch. I'm still hurting. Running 11+ miles two days later probably didn't help it, either. Oh well. I only ran once last week and nothing over the weekend. I will get back on track this week and see how it feels.

On another note, I am still slated to go down to WDW for the races January 10-11, but will probably back out of being "Goofy" and just do the half for a Donald. I hope to become Goofy in the future though. With my parents' health, specifically my father's I should cancel WDW all together, but we will see...

I will concentrate on a mid-February marathon like the rest of my team and go from there. I will stay local and plan to participate in the GW Birthday Marathon. I will sign up as soon as registration opens up.

On a positive note, I signed up for the Nations' Tri on 9/13/09, which will give me something 'easy' to train for after IMUSA on 7/26/09. I think going into the fall of 2009 I am going to work on my 5K times and do some Sprint Tris in 2010. I have some 5K goals and it would be fun to see what I can do...after I get the IM but out. :)

Here's to a new week!

I trotted...

On Thanksgiving I trotted...at the 2008 Virginia Run 5K Turkey Trot that is! It was a great day for a 5K, I think. Cool and dry! I ran with my son, sort of. I mean he ran faster, and finished first. He had an OK run, I think. This was his best official road race 5K. I did OK for me - my best 5K of the year, and I've done three total, and one other as part of a sprint triathlon.

After the running was done, we got some snacks (I had a bagel) and water. One of the sponsors even had Starbuck's coffee - the Pike's Place roast. I had a cup and it was delicious! We were chilly so we headed out. On the way to the car I saw a fantastic woman runner that I had actually gone to high school with. She is so fantastic she won our age group, and she WON overall for women! I never really 'knew' her in school, but knew who she was. I see her a lots of races and finally had the nerve to say hello. She always inspires me to keep plugging along, even though I will never be as speedy as she is. Then we ran into my old boss from work and one of his two daughters that were there running with him. That was fun.

So, overall I placed 20th out of 153 women in my age group. Of course some of those 153 women were probably in the 'walking' group. Oh well. I felt good about my time: 26:08! This was probably one of my top 5 5K times. I also got to use the new "D" Chip that I've been hearing about. A disposable thingy. Pretty cool. I did not even know it was there.

Next stop: eating turkey gravey, courtesy of the friends' house we were invited to for dinner. It was delicous!!

Slacker...

OK, I feel like a slacker. Actually, I kind of AM a slacker. I've been missing a few workouts. I did not swim last Tuesday or today... Which is also Tuesday. But there have been things that go beyond my control... Like my dad going back into the hospital. Then there have been important things like my cousin's wedding and the fun leading up to it: spa day (way cool), dinner, shower, fittings - all with the girls of the wedding party. Then there was the all important fall sports banquet with my kids - my younger son got his first athletic letter, my older son received a star for his second. That was a fun night! Then shopping for the all important 'letter jacket'. I think I am back on track now. Of course, Thanksgiving weekend (Friday AM - Monday AM) I am out of town visiting my mom, who is ill.

Gosh, both my parents are ill right now. Oh well... I'm doing what I can. I will bring my running shoes when I visit my mom - it is the least I can do. I should be able to get a few runs in...maybe there will even be a local Turkey Trot I can do up there! I did that once before (not a turkey trot, but a local school 5K) and managed to grab 2nd place in my age group. What a shocker!! I do plan/hope to do the Virginia Run Turkey Trot 5K here on Thanksgiving morning with my younger son, who runs way faster than me but so what. It will be good. I would like to fit a morning workout with my tri team, but I don't think I can swing both...

Cool new tool...

Today while browsing some other blogs I came across the cool widget below, a countdown timer to Ironman USA. (See post below and the new addition on the side...) I have been wanting something like this for my blog, so this is perfect! Now I need to add it to my e-mails... :)

Happy training....

Oh yeah, I ordered a nutty long sleeve running shirt with the following: "Does this shirt make my butt look fast?" I'm not sure why, but I find that incredibly humorous. Not that I want to draw attention to my rear ed, but...I guess my odd sense of humor and it just click. I hope to wear it soon. I have some running 'buddies' that will get a big kick out of it as well.

New SpringWidget

Get this widget!

Big day...

Today is a 'big day' because my runner son is participating in his first District Cross Country meet. All eight teams from the Patriot District are running this afternoon (boys and girls) and the top four teams advance to the Regional meet. His team is currently tied for/ranked fourth going into this meet. I'm not sure where the girls stand.

My son has been doing really well with his running and has dropped his time considerably in the 5K distance. Very exciting! He has one team mate who is ranked first in the District and Region, which is just awesome. I am going to be leaving work early today so I can watch. Being the nice mom that I am I baked a batch of brownies for the team for afterwards.

GO ATOMS!

I almost forgot...

I almost forgot to write about the Army 10-Miler, that is! While I did not reach my forever goal of 1:30, I had a pretty good run overall. I think the heat got to me in the last few miles, but it was a beautiful day! It is possible I wasted some energy dodging peeps at the beginning, too, but that is OK. I basically ran the entire 10 miles - only walked the water stops. I felt good the whole time, too, for the most part. As I just said, the heat did get to me, but I did not feel sick, I only slowed some. It was pretty crowded as I mentioned - it too over 20 minutes to cross the start line - see the comparison between the gun time and my chip time: 1:59:09 / 1:38:05. Isn't that nutty? I guess that walk made for a nice little warm up. :-) Before the start I was able to meet up with a bunch of folks from TeamZ, which was nice, so I had some company before hand. I found them again afterwards, too. Many of them were heading out for brunch after but I had a prior engagement to attend to...

Then, this past weekend I attended an Evolution Running clinic as I am hoping to learn to run quicker. I feel like I have a long way to go, but I vow to keep working on it. I need to adjust my cadence and the way I run. Last night I ran with the metronome again - I set it for 2 beats below optimal, which I find I can maintain. I am going to use this setting for a week and then adjust up one. I also tried off and on to concentrate of my foot placement and the use of my legs. I need to review the DVD again this weekend, I think. Tonight I hope to go to the track to use the metronome and work on my foot placement, etc.

TRI-ing something new...

I wanted a fun and catchy blog name... So this is my new blog name. Make that title. I was TriChick64, but that is so boring... I see all those other catchy blog names out there and I wanted fun-ness. I think I like it. Besides, I love the play on words. I am certainly working at being fit, and I do those TRIs... Anyway, while the address to the blog is still trichick64 the title says 'fun'!

Cheers!

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Afterthought: I have written in the 'about me' section that I want to be an Ironman. Now, don't get me wrong, triathlon is not all about being an Ironman, but getting to the finish line - in any race. At least that is what it is to me. Personal accomplishment. I will never be on the podium (unless something miraculous happens!) but I just get such a great feeling upon crossing that finish line. It is amazing. I want to do Ironman though because I am just so inspired by the people that have done them. Reading about personal success stories really gets to me. I am now inspired to do the same and will find out if I have 'it' in me (not Gatorade!) on 7-26-09! Ironman USA Lake Placid, here I come. Of course, there is a good chance that at times I will have Gatorade in me! :-)

Three days and counting...

So, three days till the Army 10 Miler (ATM). I am really excited about this now because the weather forecast looks awesome! It has to be better than the heat wave of last year. Yikes!

This morning I had a great swim. My total swim distance was 1.42 miles. There was a really wacky set that kept you thinking: a 1000 yard swim, or 40 lengths of the pool. On lengths 3,6,9,15,18,21,24,27,30,33,39 were kicking on your back; lengths 4,8,16,20,28,32 were Z3/Z4 and we had to sight (for open water swimming practice); lengths 12,24,36 were all out hard; the remaining lengths were ‘cruising’ at Z2. It was FUN!

I have not been on my bike in several weeks now...maybe a whole month. Tonight I plan to go out for 30 minutes for an easy ride. And I also need to drag my son out since he has not been on the bike in a month either and he has a Sprint tri a week from Sunday (10/12). However, his running is up to speed with all of his Cross Country training! Saturday I plan to go for an easy 20 mile ride in the morning, before packet pick up for the ATM. Sunday I plan to catch the Metro at 6AM. I am really looking forward to this weekend!

Also, I think I am officially in marathon training mode now and am looking forward to that, too. I also want to 'commit' to ironing out the kinks in my strength training and my diet. That means I need to commit to doing both. By my diet I mean more of body fat reduction than weight reduction, but if I lose weight in the process too, then that is a bonus! I have fallen off the wagon in regards to strength training, so I now commit to doing my scheduled training. I need to get a countdown timer going for the countdown to Lake Placid!

I love Napa...

Napa….Lisa and I had a GREAT time! OMG – I drank more wine in 4 days than I probably have all year. It was so much fun. The group we were with was small – maybe 20 people! This included peeps who brought guests. I was VERY lucky! Lisa did not know anyone outside the wine people that were setting it up with their company. Everyone else that was not a guest of someone was in the same position as Lisa in that this was an incentive trip. Funny though – there were TWO people from her company but they worked out of Austin, TX. She’d never met them before.

Anyway, we got in on Thursday morning (9/25) , got our rental car, and went straight to a sparking house (Domaine Carnaros) for a glass of champagne, two actually.

Then we had an appointment for a tasting and tour at Nickel & Nickel. Very cool place; good wine.

Then a bite to eat followed by another tour and small tasting at Dominus. I did not like their wine but their building was very cool. We met a friend of Lisa’s for dinner that night at an Italian place. More wine. Friday morning we had breakfast then a spa treatment (courtesy of the sponsoring winery!). Then we had two more appointments Lisa had set up: first at Darioush (amazing winery – the building was spectacular (palatial-like) and the wine pretty darned good, too); no tour here. Then we inhaled lunch and went to the second tasting and mini-tour at Joseph Phelps. More good wine AND an amazing set up. That night we had a short happy hour with the group (first meeting with them) then we were bussed off to dinner at a winery (Franciscan) where we were greeted with glasses of wine. Franciscan has their own chef and staff. Very cool. The dinner was ‘murder mystery’ style and they had hired actors to put on a show while we were at dinner. The menu was hilarious – it incorporated the murder mystery theme and we ate ‘mystery meat' and later had to 'ID the cheese’. So funny. More good wine. Plus they sent us off with a plastic cup of wine if we wanted. I was ‘wined out’ by then though. Oh, the winemaker (a woman!) from Franciscan/Mount Veeder had dinner with us. I got a very good wine education. Saturday morning started with a bus trip up to Mount Veeder Vineyard – Mount Veeder Winery was the host of the whole weekend. Once up to the vineyard we hiked up through the vineyard to a picnic table area with a beautiful view.

There we were given, guess what? More wine. After lunch we hiked back down and headed out. Lisa and I had driven the car because we needed to make stops at two more winerys – Opus One so she could get Steve his favorite wine and back to Nickel & Nickel because she’d decided she wanted some of their wine. Then back to the hotel where we sat by the pool while we waited for Lisa’s turn to go up in the helicopter for a tour of the Mount Veeder Vineyard and surrounding area. I went for a run. It was HOT out! Then we met back at the hotel and went back to the pool where we had mimosas with the champagne we had purchased at Domaine Carnaros on Thursday. Then it was time to get ready for dinner. Another quick happy hour then on to the bus for a ride to a house owned by one of the Mount Veeder related companies where the chef and staff from the night before took care of us. We were greeted with wine and served another amazing meal and…more wine. They had a 10 year vertical of one particular cabernet. It was SO cool. I did not get through all 10 years but did manage to try 6 of them. LOL Sunday (9/28) we were up early to get ready to head out. Our flight left at about 10AM. I was home by 7PM that night. Whew! What a whirlwind. I felt SO spoiled. It was just amazing!! I got a very good wine education – between Lisa and the other people we met; just fascinating actually. I brought home almost a case of wine. That will last for a few…months!?!?

RR: Women's Half Marathon Trail Run

Well, I almost forgot to report on this from Saturday, September 13th. Well, I finished! It was a hot and humid day out, unfortunately, but I thought the trail was in pretty good shape considering we'd had hurricane rain come through here the weekend before. The park with a lake (Lake Accotink, Springfield, Virginia) I sometimes run at had been really flooded in places! There is a damn in one section and it had flooded.

This is what the damn normally looks like:

This is what it looked like during the 'flood':

Look how little of the damn you can see!

I copied these pictures from a local newspaper - the links to the articles should be on the pictures for reference and your reading pleasure. That water looks CRAZY high!

Anyway, back to the race report at hand... So I got to the race venue (Fountainhead Park) about an hour before race time, which was good because I ended up with decent parking. I went through packet pick up then hit the restrooms. They gave a nice wicking T-shirt at packet pickup. After I just hung out while more people started showing up and got ready to race. I chatted with a few folks, then I met up briefly with a friend who had told me about the race. I did not see her till the second half of the course when she passed me at a water stop. I caught her a bit later and hung out for a few before I moved ahead. This event had the most casual start I've ever seen. It was small - limited to 240 participants/women. I think they just yelled ready, set, go and we were off. However, not until we had been serenaded by the men of the Virginia Happy Trails Running Club - they sang "Happy Trails to You." It was GREAT! This is one tough half marathon course! I've run parts of it before, but not the entire course. The hills go up so steeply at times I walked them and of course the downhills are tough going, in my opinion. There were lots of rocks and roots to dodge as well. I did not fall but I did trip a few times. The trail was marked with yellow strips of plastic hanging down to let you know you were on the right track. Then there were double yellow strips on the left or right deisgnating a turn. Areas to keep out of were marked with red. It was GREAT. At times I felt like I was all alone, but I know others were out there. I did not get to see any fun wild life, which was too bad. I would have liked to see a chipmunk or two. They are so cute! The aid stations were well stocked with the exception of the last one. By the time I got there they were just about out of stuff. I think the heat had some bearing on this. So, I did pretty well, all in all, for the most part. I took it easy and tried to only walk on the hardest uphills at first. I walked some of the easier ones as the day wore on. My hamstrings got a bit tight in the last few miles, but I managed OK. And I was able to finish strong! It was a really fun race, despite the heat and hills. :-) I would definitely do this event again if it fits in my schedule.

Next stop - the Army 10 Miler. This is after my upcoming awesome trip to Napa Valley, courtesy of my good friend. I will have to write a report on THAT when I return. I do plan to run at least once while I am out there. It would be a waste not to run in a new location.

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Other:

My older son's high school Varsity football team won their game 27-0 on Saturday afternoon. He did not get to play, but that was OK with him. He was totally psyched they won because this team beat them last year. Now the team is 2-2. The two teams they lost to are not in their district, either, so their district stats are 1-0, which is nice.

My younger son ran his second cross country meet of the season AND he got to run with the Varsity B group and he came in first of his teammates in that group plus was faster than two boys in the Varsity A group. I was thrilled for him. This is his first season of cross country as a sophomore. He played foortball last year. He also broke 20 minutes in a 5K on a tough course at 19:56. He has been improving steadily. Way to go!

Beach fun...

So, this summer we went to the beach (the Outer Banks, Duck, NC) for what was now the fifth time! We started going with friends back in 2004. They invited us back then, and amazingly enough, we have not worn out our welcome. They keep inviting us back! It has been AWESOME!! We always stay in the same house that is almost right on the beach. Anyway, my friend's husband is THE KING of sand castle building. His specialty is a Sphynx and every year has made one (or two) - and it always gets bottle cap eyes; usually Corona Extra.

This year I had just done my entry for IM USA for 2009 and decided to make an M-dot sculpture - and here it is! Now that I look at it I see a couple things I would do differently next time. Oh well, it was fun. I guess the stairs going up to the top represent the journey along the way. I'm not sure. I think it was really just decoration.

The next day we decided to build the Olympic venue from Beijing. We made the birds nest, the swimming cube, and one big sculpture that had the Olympic rings on it and another that had USA on it. We got a lot of looks. It was great! I think we have pictures of it somewhere ... I have to find them.

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Tomorrow is the women's trail run half! Yay!!

Patriot's weekend...

Well, after all of my stressing out, the Half tri event for Saturday was actually cancelled and I guess that worked out OK. I even get a 50% credit towards next year's entry fee if I so choose to particpate. I might just do that! Depends on how I feel after IM USA...and in addition to my Half being cancelled, my son's Saturday morning cross country meet was cancelled. (Damn Hanna) After most of the rain had left the area on Saturday my son and I headed down to Williamsburg to get ready for Sunday. Part way down it was nice to be driving into blue sky after all the rain/clouds/gray sky we had had all day.

Anyway, the Sunday events, the Sprint and the Oly, went off - but not without a hitch. First the start times were pushed back an hour so the event staff had more time to clear the course. Second, they dropped the swim portion. I was pondering how the races would start with all these bikes at once, but it turns out they added an extra run at the beginning. 1.2 miles for the Sprint, 1.8 for the Oly. My son the runner, doing his first Sprint, was actually fine with that! Anyway, all things considered he did ok - he was 3rd in his age group! (Of course, this was out of three...) :-) He did just fine with the two runs - his bike skills need a little work. He said he took it pretty easy - one of his legs was starting to hurt. I think the seat still needs to be higher - I will work on that before his next race, which appears will be Sunday, October 12 down in Richmond. I am going to register him tonight. This will be a 400M LC pool swim, a 20K bike, and a 5K run. I think with a little bit more time on the bike he will do fine. If he does any races next year though he will need a bigger bike! Anyway, for being 3rd in his age group he received a wine glass! Funny, he doesn't DRINK wine...and as his parent I got a bottle of wine from the Williamsburg Winery. There were other Team Z peeps that placed as well in the Sprint and the Oly. It was a beautiful day!

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OK, so now I have my half marathon trail run this Saturday. I'm actually getting excited about it. I know two other ladies doing the event as well. After that it will be time to tackle the Army 10 Miler again - I hope to do a bit better than last year... Then I guess it will truly be time to start building my running base and getting ready for/doing IM training. I am really excited!!

No go...

OK, now it turns out my son WILL be racing on Saturday morning in his first high school cross country meet. (Weather permitting, of course...schools will make decision today on tomorrow's meet.) What with the weather situation and my son's change in schedule, I've decided to NOT participate in the Patriot's half. Not only that - he has a team dinner tonight, after that there is a Varsity football game that my other son will be dressed out for, and there is a team/parent dinner on Saturday. I've already figured that the money I'll save on the hotel cancels out the race fee. So while I feel kind of bad, I think it is the right decision for me. The RD is supposed to make the announcement by Noon what the status of the race is - whether it is a go, or modified, or perhaps cancelled. My son's race for Sunday looks to be OK though, so we plan to go down tomorrow night and I will be a cheerleader for him and other Z peeps on Sunday. It will be fun and relaxing, I think.

Now for the GREAT news! My name is FINALLY back on the participants on the IM USA site! I am so relieved! I was really worried. I mean, I'm sure it would all be OK in the long run, but I feel tremendously better actually seeing my name on the list. *whew*

I guess now I will just focus on the women's trail half marathon for next Saturday, then the Army 10 Miler...then my crazy marathon weekend in January. After that it is all about the IM. Though in getting ready for the Goofy Challenge I will in fact be building for the IM. I looked at last year's Team Z training schedules for the winter marathon preparation and modified the dates to get an entire training schedule for me that began this past Monday (9/1) and will take me through race day(s). Of course it had me racing the Half this Saturday...but I'll get over it.

Side note: There is a Sprint tri on October 12 in Richmond that involves a indoor pool (50M) swim. My son is interested in this race! I will have to get a time on him for the 400, but it is looking good - race is only 40% full.

Hurricane...Hanna?

Well, I now have confirmation on this weekends events and the fact that my son does NOT have to attend the cross country meet on Saturday. This is good as it means we can drive together to Williamsburg and I will not have to make the extra trip back and forth. All for the sake of racing though! It would have been worth it! :-) Now on to the weather...

In my last post I was looking ahead at what the weather may have in store this weekend. Could be perfect, could be hot, could be rainy. So, with Hurricane Hannah heading towards the east coast 'they' are currently predicting rain - 70% chance on Saturday - high 82; 15% chance on Sunday - high 91. I guess since this is my son's first tri (on Sunday) I'm glad he is having the lesser chance of rain. I would trade anything for him to have 'perfect' race weather. Oh well... I raced in rain at the Lake Anna Sprint, I guess I can do it again. LOL Of course this time it will be for a LOT longer. But really, what do I really have to complain about when all the Z peeps (IM racers and spectators alike) endured HOURS UPON HOURS of rain at Lake Placid in July?

Anyway, just three days till race day for me; four days for my son. I don't even know if it is wetsuit legal. Right now I can barely fit into my wetsuit, but I will bring it, just in case. My son could even wear it on Sunday if he wanted. We shall see!!!! I will definitely be bringing my camera though so I can document his first official triathlon!

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Oh yeah, and I finally got to go and redo my entry for Ironman USA, but my name STILL is not on the list! I am going to have to bug the nice lady at NA Sports again, I think. *fingers crossed*

Missing...

Well, the IM USA site appears to be back to normal for the most part. You can now even access the participants list. However... my name is not yet back on the list! I know another person in the same situation as me, with the special entry via the community fund slots, and they are not yet on there either. But we are both confident that we will get added back eventually. As noted in my last post, my entry fee check was cashed, so that IS a good sign!

Anyway, there are only 10 days till the Patriot's Half. Yikes! But boy, if the weather that we've been having continues like this it should be a pretty pleasant day. But I don't want to go and jinx myself and the other participants. It could be hot as blazes that day! Or it could be raining! And my son who is doing the Sprint the day after still has not gotten into the pool. Oh well, he can take that slow and the build as he goes, I guess. He is not worried so I guess it does not do me any good to worry either. I just want him to have fun and finish. And I still don't know if he has to run in the cross country meet on Saturday yet either. But at least he has been doing some running!

Last night I went to a wedding. Odd for a Tuesday night, huh? My good friend got married (to the same man for the second time) but this time they had a church wedding in the Catholic church - now that they were allowed. Their first wedding was in Las Vegas! Last night's wedding was very nice. I stood up for her 12 years ago and I got to stand up for her again last night. They had a little reception afterwards in a Japanese style steak house, which was the same type of reception they had 12 years ago. It was a lot of fun and they had some good friends in attendance. It was wonderful to be able to be a part of both of their weddings!

It's ba-ack...

The Ironman USA Lake Placid site that is... Whew! But...the site is very limited. And if you click to view the participants list, you cannot view any lists except this weekends list for Canada. Oh well. On a positive note, my check for the entry fee was cashed yesterday, so I take THAT as a good sign!

Two weeks and one day till Patriot's Half. Slow and steady - that will be my 'mantra'.

Hardware failure...

OK, since my application to 2009 IMUSA was accepted I've been going to the Ironman USA site somewhat regularly, just to look and for motivation. Sometimes I would then look at the list of participants to see who I knew, or whose names I knew. Anyway, since last Friday, 8/15, when I go to the site, this is what I see:

We have had a significant hardware failure that has damaged some of our data files and backups.
We are working around the clock to restore data and set up new servers.
We hope to be able to be back online in a few days.
We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.

That is really stressing me out! I am worried that my name won't be on the list when they are back up. NA Sports, who does almost all of the races in North America is having this problem on all of their sites/for their races, except the one for Canada which is this weekend. It was down, too, but obviously getting that one back up and running was a priority so the athletes could have access to information!

Anyway, I will just hope that everything turns out OK, and my name will (still) be on 'the list' after the servers are back online. Until then, I do have a race coming up - Saturday, September 6th - my second half iron distance of the season! In addition, my younger son has his first 'official' sprint distance the day after (Sunday, 9/7) at the Patriot's events down in Williamsburg. Now for some stress here: my son is running cross country this season; he may (but I won't know till maybe the day before on Friday, 9/5) have a cross country meet on Saturday, 9/6 - which means I will go down alone on Friday, do my race, miss his first cc meet, and come back to get him Saturday afternoon, so he can race on Sunday. But I will deal with this as I must at the time.

In the mean time I need to determine my race strategy: I have not been training quite as hard since I returned from Mooseman so I do not plan to race hard but to take it easy the entire time (all in zone 2) and finish running with a smile on my face! I have other events looming ahead that I do plan to train harder, and of course more seriously, for: the Army 10 Miler and the Disney World Goofy Challenge! Of course with Goofy, I just plan to take it super easy on day one and finish with a smile on day two! I may add another marathon in February with the team... Oh, and I also just found I out I got into the Virginia Happy Trails Running Club (VHTRC) Woman's Trail Half Marathon on 9/13. I know one person running this besides me. It will be my first official trail run.

Party success...

Yesterday my dad's party was a success. Just about everyone who was supposed to come did, and a few extras showed up. My dad was truly touch by all the visitors, too, and let them all know. He had a great little speech and for him held up for the entire day -- so unlike him but it was great! He had a lot to hold up for. :) For me, it was great to visit with family I have not seen in a while. When I was a kid we spent so much time with family. Now people are so busy it is hard to get together when you live so far away. I'm glad we had a reason to come together.

I cannot thank my friends who hosted the party enough. I really could not have done this without them. They took lots of pictures of the event as well, so I look forward to viewing those online. In addition, I took a few pictures myself. I hope to get pictures posted online tonight.

I'm in...

Yesterday afternoon I received my second e-mail from NA Sports notifying me that my entry had been added to the database. "Your entry has been received and entered in our database for: FORD IRONMAN USA LAKE PLACID." I. Am. In. Wow!!!! I'm kind of in shock because now my quest to become and Ironman is a reality! But I'm also really motivated and excited. I am looking forward to preparing for this personal challenge of mine. I think by the time the actual training for this race starts I will have a great base already, due to what is already on my race calendar. I only have to stay healthy and try to eat better and get more sleep. Always two of my goals. Luckly (not to jinx myself [and I won't]) I am always generally pretty healthy!

So...today is my dad's big 90th birthday party. Last night we went to my friends' house who are hosting the party for us to do a little set up and deliver some items. It was a fun night, as always. My friend's mom even came into town for this so it was great to catch up with her. These folks really know how to host a party and have already done so much for us, outside of loaning us their house! I could not have done this without them. Of course, now I am worried about the weather and whether everyone traveling from out of town will arrive safely and timely and not get stuck in the traffic that always seems to plague us in the DC area... But regardless is should be a GREAT day!

The next step...

Yesterday I received an e-mail with instructions for registering for IMUSA 2009. I just got finished filling out the online sign up form. Wow!! I am very excited. One more step closer. Now I wait for a confirmation e-mail telling me I am 'in'. *fingers crossed*

The past few weeks have been a little chaotic with my mini-vacation and my dad's party preparations. Next week I should be back on track and following the training plan for my next race on September 6th... And the best part is my son is doing his first sprint on Sunday the 7th! I'm so excited for him. He is a much better runner than I am - the little brat. Well he is not really little anymore, either. So each leg of the race will get easier for him as he goes - for me it gets harder. But that is OK because I am out there doing it and I love the feeling of accomplishment I get when I cross the finish line!

Now we are one day away from my dad's big 90th birthday party. I did some of the shopping last night. Tonight we are going to my friends' house who are hosting the party to do some set up. I've got a cake ready for Saturday - a friend is picking that up on her way to the party; balloons are also ready for Saturday - my kids will get those. Today I'm borrowing tables from work and possibly chairs as well. I also borrowed two tents from Team Z (thanks, Ed!) which will really help keep the sun off. Or the rain if that is the case. Right now the weather report does not look great, but it will be OK:
Chance of thunder with light rain showers.
High 86F, humidity 50%.
Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph.
Air Quality: NA,
UV Index: 8
My friends also have a tent, too, so with any luck no one will get too wet.

My first blog...

If you read my profile it states that "I want to be an Ironman." Well, yesterday I mailed off an application for a community fund slot for Ironman USA Lake Placid for July 2009. I could not go to the recent race with my team, and was considering Florida for November 2009, but after thinking it though (schedules, timing, etc.) I thought I would try the charitable route first. So maybe I will become an Ironman yet! I am training for my 2nd half iron distance this year, my 3rd altogether, which is in early September. I've also got a half on the calendar for next June, and will maybe add another - after I see what my training team's (Team Z) schedule for the year is.

Anyway, today is my father's 90th birthday. Is that a lot of years, or what? Wow... I'm having a huge party for him on Saturday; hopefully it will work out great. Lots of great people - family, friends, etc. I'm really excited. It is not a surprise party though. My dad has a bad heart and a surprise like this could be a bad thing. I think he is excitd about it, too.

Anyway, that is it for my first blog.