IS IT A FULL MOON?

This so far has been one hell of a week. Monday was good . A rest day after the race. I felt good. No soreness. Looking forward to getting back to training.

Tuesday was the everchanging day. The morning began challenging. The power had been out during the night and the treatment machines were down. After an hour I was able to get things working again. My MIL then came in to volunteer at the hospital. She makes heart pillows for the open-heart patients. She was in a hurry after dropping me off a stuffed penguin in honor of my race. She was walking in the hall then tripped and fell. After a trip to the ER, she had a broken wrist. They put it in a cast and sent her home.

Tuesday evening , I had to facilitate a meeting of my support group(Y-Me). During the meeting, my hubby ran in and my MIL was in ER again after a fall at home. Shit. She had pain in her hip and elbow. Xrays were negative but she was in so much pain they kept her and I was glad. It was 130am on Wednesday when my MIL got to her hospital room and settled. I was too tired to go home. I found an empty bed in our department and slept a couple of hours.

My daughter Hooch came home ofter work. Her bedroom is in the basement. She was going down and tripped on a cat. Down she went. But no major injuries.

Today , my MIL is still in the hospital. More tests are being run. I have done nothing all week. I again am so exhausted that I did not workout.

Not waddling..................

ANOTHER IN THE BOOKS

USAT Mideast Championship-- 5k run / 40k bike / 10k run

Put another duathlon in the books for me. I made it.

Pre-race- For some reason, I was really nervous for today's race. It was the mid-east Championship, Tri-club championship, and world qualifier. Everyone seemed so serious. The highlight was waiting in the Port-a-john line. The man in front of me who was 65 and in the Tri struck up a conversation. He wanted to know why did the Du and not the Tri. I explained that I could not swim. He was surprised because I have so much built in flotation in my body. (I am fluffy but what an idiot)

Run 1- 33:59/ 10:57 paceIt was already getting hot at 730 am. We took off and I found myself running with another lady. It was her second Du. We ran together at a nice pace and she talked the entire time. I just listened and it went fast. I was surprised at my time. Faster than what wanted. Luckily there was alot of cloud cover.

T1 - 2:04 I tried to get a couple of shot Blox in me but choked myself and skipped it. When I got on my bike the chain popped off.

Bike - 1:35:04 / 15.7mph ave speed. The sun came out and things heated up. Sugar gave me a great ride. It wasn't the bike that I had hoped for.

T2- 2:53 My legs did not want to go. Temperature up to 89. Got a quick drink. Took off my Evil Garmin as I've hit the wrong button again.

Run 2 - 1:31:02 / 14:42 pace My legs felt like cement and the first half mile was bad. I went to a 4 run: 1walk ratio. Alot of the Tri people were passing me. Everyone that went by gave me words of encouragement. It was awesome. I knew that I would finish but I was slowing down quickly. Every mile had a water station and I stopped at every one of them. With under 2 mile to go, a man in the tri was beside of me and told me that "We own this race now!" And he was right. I know I gave it everything that I had. Sometimes I feel like don't give it my all and I have too much left at the finish. I know that today this was not true. I had nothing left.

Total time = 3:45:19
2nd place in F 50-54 age group

Waddling with a trophy and alot of satisfaction...............

READY, SET ....

I'm here in Sylvania ,Ohio. I have my race packet. I have my number. But am I ready to go?? I don't look at all like any of the other people here. My daughter came with me and they thought she was the athlete. I looked at all the times from last year and I definitely will be last by at least 10 minutes. The good news is that I start in the first wave and it will not be obvious.

I have checked over all my race stuff. I am heading for bed. I don't think sleep will come easy. I need to get up at 430am Chicago time. I am beginnng to ramble so I better quit.

Waddling in my PJs......................

BAD TIMING

It sneaks up on you at the worst possible time. It makes you feel exhausted but unable to get a good sleep. It makes every bone in your body ache. Sometimes on a very hot and humid day -it will give you chills. Then when you are doubting yourself and can't figure out what's wrong -it gets worse and you spend hours between the bed and the bathroom. It is-----

The FLU BUG

Certainly not what I wanted the week before a race. But it guaranteed that I would take it easy and not overdo it. I am feeling better but it is time to rehydrate and get ready for the weekend.

Not waddling................

PERSPECTIVE

Today's weather continued to be extremely hot and humid. Even though it was 90 outside the humidity put the heat index over 100. I waited until the sun was setting to run. As bad as last night's workout was today was amazingly better. I ran 4 miles. It felt ok. With the way the weather was, I did not pay any attention to my pace. My goal was only to complete my run. This I did achieve.

Everytime that I doubt myself or have a day like yesterday, I have a day at work that re-adjusts my perspective. This was one of those days. One of my patients that I treated today was 40 and a very active person. They recently found out that they have a cancer in their spinal canal from top to bottom. Without treatment they will be paralyzed. When I look back at how whiney that I was with a short workout, I feel embarassed compared to what this person is facing. I take for granted how lucky that I am to be able to get out and run or bike. Thanks for the reminder not to take life for granted.

Run : 4 Miles

CRAP

Crap. That one word descibes tonight's excercise. Because of the weather, which was very stormy and humid, I decided to head to the treadmill at the gym. When I began running, I felt like I had never run before. My left rib hurt from the jarring. I just could not run. After 10 minutes I quit and headed for the elliptical trainer and survived 20 minutes. I can;t believe what happened.

I do need to taper for Sunday. But talk about a ego deflater.

Waddling with my head down....................

NOT MEANT TO BE

Today when I woke up an turned on the radar, it looked like the above. No a morning to head out on a 55 mile ride alone on a road bike. I put my head down and fell back to sleep. I would see what I could work in later.

When I did get up at 9, everyone in the house was gone. My daughter to work. My hubby and son to the RT 66(dragway) to run the Firebird. I went to make some breakfast and realized that I needed to go to the grocery. So off I went.


While I put the groceries away, I realized Ironman Kona 2006 was on TV again. I sat down and could not pull myself away. I was totally inspired again. I cried and head chills the entire 2 hours.

At 4pm finally I was heading out the door. I grabbed my mountain bike and headed for a local trail. After about 12 miles, the sky began looking dark so I headed for home. Just 5 minutes after walking in the door, the tornado sirens went off.

On a different subject , last night I did something out of the box. Out of the blue-I got a tattoo. My neighbor was going to get one so we went with her and her hubby. I found a penguin that I fell in love with. Next thing I know-there was no turning back. I actually like it and my kids were in shock.

BIKE : 12 Miles

Waddling with a tattoo....