Bikes and Break Throughs

A lot of new things have been going on the past few days!

Like this bad boy (or girl - name has yet to be determined). I spent 6 hours in the car on Sunday driving to Mansfield to purchase this fabuloso road bike. It was a long time in the car alone, but a stop for breakfast with Dana at the Northstar Cafe in Columbus (the Big Burrito had been occupying my dreams for weeks!), and a somewhat good (somewhat weird) audio book helped the time fly by. Ed taught me more about the bike than humanly possible in an hour in his basement - fit, training, maintenance. I am so grateful to be able to have this bike and to have an amazing MS 150 team to ask questions and encourage me along the way. I am also extremely overwhelmed. To go with the fabuloso new bike, I ordered these shoes.

Marc has already declared he will be recording me the first time on the bike with the shoes. I'm sure that will get replayed a million times. It makes me laugh just thinking about it.  I might wrap myself in bubble wrap the first few times. I am terrified of falling, but know this is what makes my bike a Big Girl bike. I am excited, overwhelmed, nervous and down right scared all at the same time. The shoes should come in March 16 which is exactly one month before my first real tri. I hope the good ole Cincinnati weather cooperates enough to help me learn to ride my bike before the race.

I think I need to go breathe into a paper bag now.

Sometimes things just work out so well it amazes me. The bike is one example. Also, I went to try on shoes and the girl that ended up helping me runs with the same running group I do, belongs to the same tri club as I do, is an Iron(wo)man athlete, and a master's swim coach at Lifetime. She was so helpful and so encouraging. So I bought the shoes. :) Maybe if I start hanging around her, her swimming ability will just rub off on me.

In other not so exciting news...I was swimming today and all the sudden I couldn't remember how many laps I had done. Before I knew it I was flipping to go back the other way...and my thoughts the whole time were not "what the heck am I doing, I am not good at this, why can't I breathe, this sucks, can I stop yet, or I hope the other swimmers aren't laughing at me". I was just swimming. Maybe not so graciously or quickly, but I had found a rhythm. This felt like a major break through to me. I admit that some most of the laps were breast stroke, but I did more freestyle than I had any other time. I swam for more consecutive minutes than I ever have before. I declare this a victory.

p.s. eventually I will work on my photography skills, sorry for the bad pics. It is on my to do list. Unfortunately that list is a million miles long. If only there were more hours in a day...

Awkward & Awesome (the lost blog returns home!)

Looook what I found! How amazing is that. It only took me a week. Go me!!!!

A couple of my favorite blogs do Awkward and Awesome Thursday and I love this concept of celebrating the awkwards and awesomes that happen to us each week. For the real deal take a peak at Sarah and Sydney's Awkward and Awesome for this week. Since I don't feel like talking about my training today, I'm joining them.

Awkward

• Writing Awkward and Awesome Thursday on Friday at 2:20 a.m.
• Putting my swim cap on Sunday morning for my tri. Made me thankful I had chopped off my hair. Who invented these awful things? 
• Being so excited after registering to run with Dean that I could hardly breathe.

Awesome

• Meeting the amazing Pioneer Woman on Friday and seeing how excited Sarah was. Five hours of waiting made the meeting all the sweeter.
• Finally being able to register to run with Dean after trying all day.

• My countdown clock is counting in days now instead of months and days until my favorite family that lives in Texas comes to visit!

• These amazing socks arrived in the mail this week and I am contemplating wearing them to work  tomorrow today to prep my legs for Saturday's 18 mile run. I just might show them to everyone too!

Hope everyone has a great weekend. I've got swimming, carb loading, 18 mile run, mountain bike shopping, fab date night with Marc, yoga and a 5 year old's birthday party all on the agenda. I'm looking forward to all of it after this loooong week!

Awkward & Awesome Take 2

Since last week's edition of Awkward & Awesome was never found, I've decided to attempt it again. I know you're excited!

Awkward

* Running with someone for the first time and making it back just in time to puke. Twice. I can barely sit up long enough to type this. Dizzy. Stomach hurts. Might puke again. Ugh.

* Attending my first quarter auction, winning nothing, except queen for next month. Can you say tiara?

* Having a complete meltdown Monday night over my foot. I was in denial, but the stress injury appears to be staging a coup. I'm not giving up yet.
* Marc telling me I look pretty and my outfit is dumb in the same sentence today. I almost warned him he wouldn't like my outfit. Made me laugh though.

Awesome

* Fabulous bike ride on Sunday with Marc in 60 degree weather and seeing at least 6 deer chase each other in a field. Unfortunately I did not have my camera. Fortunately Marc did not have his bow.

* Marc has sisters. This definitely helps in his amazing ability to handle my meltdowns and helping me laugh at myself for "being such a girl".

* Attending my first quarter auction, winning nothing, except queen for next month. Can you say tiara?

* Surviving my first 18 mile run since 2009. 

* Registered for another tri (a real one this time). This will change to an awkward on race day.
* Going to Kroger with Marc and my coupon binder this weekend and saving 32%. I think Marc was only mildly embarrassed.
* Annoying people that talk and text during movies, kids that can't work cash registers, and restaurant managers that don't know how to seat tables attempting to wreak havoc on our date night this weekend. We showed them and had fun anyway. Ha.

Lessons Learned

I'm so confused...I posted a blog Friday morning (at 2:20 when I couldn't sleep), but just realized it's not here. I guess it is lost in Blogland somewhere, if you happen to see it, please send it home. It was titled Awkward and Awesome and had a lovely tribute to my friend Sarah and this fabulous blog The Daybook. I didn't feel like writing about my training so it was just some rambling about the awkwards and awesomes of the past week. Maybe I'll try again this Thursday. And I'll remember not to blog at 2 a.m. since apparently I don't know how.

Saturday morning I was awesomely greeted by Maureen as I walked in Mojo with a "Bethany, you beat me" high five. Let's be honest, she beat me in the swim, I beat her in the bike (my legs are about twice as long as hers) and there was only a slight difference - maybe .3 miles - on the run. Nontheless, it was a nice greeting at 7:40 on a Saturday morning before embarking on an 18 mile run. A run that would teach me a lot of lessons.

First, let's keep in mind this is not my first marathon and I should know better. However, I failed on 2 huge aspects of long runs. 

1. Body Glide, Body Glide, Body Glide. I totally and completely and stupidly forgot to apply it before my run. I typically slather my feet in it and also under my bra band and straps,  This stuff works miracles - unless you forget to use it. As the miles increase, so does the chance for chafing. An unpleasant, yet avoidable aspect of distance running. My feet are blister-free, however I have a 2.5 inch reminder to wear body glide next week on the front side of the band of my sports bra. Ouch!
2. Fuel while running. Once again, totally forgot. I was out of GU and didn't realize it until I was about to leave my house and head over to Mojo. I meant to buy some at the store before running, but was distracted by all the people, the routes, and checking out the yummy food that would be welcoming us back to the store a few hours later. 

That all being said, I had a decent run - at least for the first 15 miles. The last 3 felt like a marathon itself. I struggled. A group of 6 of us stuck together for most of the run and the last 4 or 5 miles we broke off into twos. My partner wouldn't give up on me in the last mile and refused to go ahead even though I kept telling him to. "We've stuck together for 3 hours, I'm not going to leave you the last 3 minutes." I had not rebuttal to that.

A group of 5 or 6 runners were stretching outside the store when we got back and they all warmly greeted us with high fives and a congratulatory "great run!". Once inside I grabbed some fruit and crumb cake and fell into the chair next to the massage table. I was spent.

Once home, I took a nice hot shower to feel human again and when I got out Marc had a wonderful pancake breakfast waiting for me. I scarfed it down and then took a 2 hour nap.

Looks like I'm registering for a sprint triathlon tomorrow...

The Deans

My #1 Dean

I have two favorite Deans in the world...and apparently the stars are aligned as I get to see BOTH of them in the next 2 months. Crazy, huh?

Here is Dean #1. He's pretty stinking cute, eh? Dean is bringing his new little brother, mom and dad for a visit in March. Since I haven't seen them since May - and have yet to meet the new little nugget, I'm pretty freaking excited. Like, so excited I started a count down clock on my computer. Yes, I'm THAT dorky excited.


And Dean #2...none other than the Ultra Marathon Man himself.....Dean Karnazes. Not only do I get to meet him, I get to run with him. As part of his fight against childhood obesity he is  running across America.
                                            

My #2 Dean

I am pretty sure the next two months are going to be pretty incredible.  So, what does one wear to run with one of the most elite (and possibly insane) runners ever? Oh my, I better start planning the outfit right. this. second.

I think I need to sit down.

Run. Bike. Swim. Nap.

I did a triathlon.        

And I am still alive and breathing!

I arrived at Lifetime Fitness an hour before my wave started. I just wanted to check out the lay of the land and make sure I had plenty of time to get ready. Of course this also meant plenty of time to freak out. I wanted to see the swim start and see how some of the other (ahem) triathletes (!) were doing. Basically I just wanted to make sure I wasn't going to be the worst swimmer. The majority were rocking the freestyle pretty well, but there was a fair amount of breast stroke, some back stroke and even some walking going on. This made my heart stop racing a tiny bit. 

I knew Maureen (or Mrs. Mojo) was going to try to get in my wave, but I didn't know if she had. I saw Mr. Mojo who was working at the tri and he assured me Maureen would arrive soon. It was nice to have someone to help calm the nerves. Since everyone had to share lanes we shared so at least we would know who we were kicking or getting kicked by. 

The set up for the indoor triathlon is a 10 minute swim, 30 minute bike in a spinning studio, and 20 minutes on the treadmill. We had 10 minutes between the swim and bike to get dried off changed, and up the stairs to the studio. The another 5 minutes between the bike and run. Honestly, my worst fear was slipping on the wet floor in the locker room or pool deck and cracking my head open. Or flying off the back of the treadmill at the end Biggest Loser style because I have jell-o legs. That is totally something that would happen to me.

It all went pretty smoothly. I didn't drown. I didn't crack my head open. I didn't fly off the back of the treadmill. I would say it was a success! I'm pretty sure I did not set any world records. But I did it.

Bummed

After a fabulous Friday night meeting the Pioneer Woman with my friend Sarah, I ended up with a horrible headache. By the time I got home I was so dizzy nauseous I couldn't even eat. This was a major bummer since Marc had made some fabulous Pad Thai for dinner.

I woke up this morning for my long run and was still feeling just as horrible, so I didn't run. This is not like me and I was very unhappy, but I was afraid the pounding of running and increased blood flow from exercise would make it even worse.

So hopefully I survive tomorrow morning's adventure and am not too exhausted to at least get some double digit mileage in.