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.