The Big Sis's Triathlon Report...

...not to be confused with the big sissy's triathlon report!! So earlier today I called upon my sister to submit a race report from her first triathlon of the season...so here's the report, with some embellishments courtesy of me because it's my blog and all those years of my version of the family Christmas letter getting shot down, I can finally have pride of authorship!! :) ...oh and I get to pick the pictures out too because she didn't send me her favs...JK...I'll wait for those!

It was a dark and rainy morning in March when 318 crazy souls descended upon the Freedom Center in Manassas for the Tune Up Tri. This proved several things to me first all triathlons should end with the swim and start with the run it is way better to get the worst part over with first. (the previous statement is the sole opinion of the person writing this report and is in no way meant to influence your decision about what portion of the actual sport of triathlon is better...she's a swimmer, need I say more?!?!) It also proved that people who do triathlons really are crazy cause who in their right mind gets out of bed on a cold rainy morning to go run and bike in the rain when it is only 40 degrees and then after they are totally soaking wet, takes off their warm clothes and walks/ runs barefoot across a parking lot to go swim...and thinks it fun!?* Well I have to say it was fun and despite the fact that Nicole dragged me kicking and screaming (oh the drama...I didn't even have to pay your entry fee for your first race!) to my first tri I am now hooked. This I know for a fact because I would never have gotten out of bed on such a day several years ago to participate in an athletic event. (SOOOO true...the girl can sleep!) While I haven't mastered the art of transitioning quickly yet I did finish 13th out of 32 in my age group in less than 40 minutes (39:29 to be exact) and finished in the top half of the total field. (A BIG WOO HOO to you!) Given that two short summers ago I finished 16th from last I have greatly improved. (...but you didn't finish last just like I promised you wouldn't...) This maybe in large part due to Nicole's consistent pressure to do better and do more or it might be due to all the training Troy and I have been doing together either way it felt good to actually be good this time. (I love that you used my name and Troy's in the same sentence!) Plus having been bad makes you empathetic to the poor soul who is stopping at the end of every lane, had to walk the run and even had to get off their bike and walk part of that too. (...remembering that that person is still there getting it done...way better than those who didn't even show up!) Some things never change and stupidity should be against the rules just like i-pods and flip turns. I say that because despite being told NUMEROUS times that you were to get in the pool and go the guy in front of me failed to follow this very simple rule and nearly caused an 18 athlete pileup fortunately the guy behind me grabbed me and since I failed to fall in and give the guy a concussion the rest of the people behind me were also saved. Needless to say people are SLOW in the pool and I hate when they get aggravated that you are passing them. One person even swam side to side to prevent being passed another guy pushed off the wall in front of me and then gave me a dirty look when I ran into his slow side stroke swimming self. At the end I touched before three people who got credit from the ham radio guy for finishing ahead of me. I guess no one told him to record numbers in the order you touch not the order he felt like. (...had to remove what you wrote here because God bless Mr. Ham Radio Guy for volunteering..."be nice to the delivery guy, it's not his fault he can't read..."...but I digress on with her report!) Anyway, for the first time I actually felt competitive and I was doing the passing instead of being passed. YIPPEEE!!! As always the sherpas were present (Mom and Dad ROCK!!) and the ever elusive husband sherpa actually showed up too. (Way to Go Lar...when you gonna do a tri?!?!?!) Hunley the four legged sherpa was wet and smelly all the way home but the kids thought he was just awesome and as he was the only four legged sherpa there he got loads of attention. (Damn dogs know they are soooo cute!) Some adult even knew he was named after a submarine but the kids still think he is named after Curious George's friend. This is sweet revenge for me because I wanted to name him after Max from the Grinch. So in the end he got a story character name anyway! But I digress...the race was fun and I am looking forward to seeing how I do in June. Might be time to take Eduardo up on his clipless pedal advice and see if it makes a difference. (it will...and the two of us won't have to keep having the same discussion about whether you finally got clipless pedals or not!!) Hopefully, this completely fills everyone in, provides a good advertisement for the Tune Up Tri (the folks down there actually always run a nice event), and encourages all those struggling tri people to keep at it cause you just might get better! Here's to sunny and warm days for the rest of the season's events (though not as warm as last year's Sandman) so that we can all work on those funky tan lines!! I'll drink to that!!

And there folks you have it...my first guest race report (spell checked because the elementary school principal didn't remember to!!)...I'll post pictures tomorrow to give her a chance to get her makeup and hair done so she looks good!! :)

Weekends...

While the crew down here was getting savagely beaten by the 20mph headwind for many hours on the bike, my sis finished her first triathlon of the season this weekend...which I think calls for a guest race report!! So Mooch, send me your report via email, making sure to include at least a paragraph about how I taught you everything you currently know about triathlon, identify which of the pics you want included with your report (you may have to send those too as I only got the second batch from dad...) and I will post it here! Hope everyone's having a great week so far! :)

Shamrock 1/2 Marathon

We had a great weekend for racing here this weekend...perfect for many of the folks chasing PRs during the many races of the Shamrock Marathon weekend. After spending much of the last week in a major funk, I decided it would be best to just go out and enjoy the race and not worry too much about anything else...a good strategy, but in the end I wished I had been a bit more aggressive! Still I ended up with a nice PR at the half marathon distance...and an apparent out of body experience according to my Garmin which some where between miles 4 and 5 lost its signal momentarily, came back up but I was a half mile further down the road than I actually was...the funny thing was that after it shut off at 13.1 miles (more than a half mile to the finish) I restarted it to finish the race and finished with merely 13.19 miles run...I'm still trying to figure it all out...but I wish I remembered more of that alleged half mile I gained!! :) Now it's recovery week and cramming the bike riding in an effort to be ready for my first half IM the first weekend of May. Happy Monday!! :)

it's the 17th!!

HAPPY ST. PADDY'S DAY EVERYONE!!! Hope you all have time for a green beer (or 3) today...enjoy!

Keeping My Favorite Sister Happy...

...my sister has been talking about the perfect birthday card she got me (like 6 months ago...) for about a week now...and how if her Christmas card made the blog then the birthday card should definitely make the blog! Obviously while sisters we are not of the same mold...from me you'd be lucky to get your gift (sans card) in the close vicinity of your birthday (several months after still qualifies as close vicinity in my book!)....her...she shops for cards 6 months in advance...this is why everyone is still awaiting on their Christmas cards from me...from 2007!! Hee hee!! Well Mooch...here you go...the card is definitely funny and I think my favorite is number 2 but apparently I live my life a little bit more like #3!!!!

Birthday Greetings...

...ok, I was trying to upload some balloons but apparently I'm being overly zealous for blogger this morning...so I'll settle for this...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM AND MS. R!!

...hope your Friday the 13th birthdays are AWESOME!!! :)

Let the Funky Tan Lines Begin!!

This is how last week started out here...while my chucklehead doesn't mind bad weather...in fact I'm convinced the worse the weather, the longer he stays outside...I'm a total cold weather wimp. So imagine my joy when the temps warmed up here starting on Friday...Saturday came and I enjoyed a nice long run in the park in shorts...and today...Iron Sue and I hit the open road...unlike our last attempt which I can only qualify as pitiful, this was an awesome ride...50 miles to enjoy the warmer temps, curse the wind (man it was blowing!), see what Coach Troy has done for us during our long trainer sessions and of course start those AWESOME tan lines our athletic apparel produces!!

Iron Sue poses with her bike!

Me with the Blue Roo...

...a really bad attempt to get a photo of both of us...I'll work on that!

Hope everyone had an awesome weekend!! :)

Tired of Troy...

So my sis is tired of me writing about my Sundays with Troy...and while I can't figure why anyone would be tired of Troy and for the record my last post said nothing of his greatness, I thought I'd put a post up dedicated to her need for something new!! :)

...it was 70 degrees here today...hurray for warmer weather! Although I did get to spend the majority of my day inside in standardized testing hell...AKA taking the GRE's. I haven't quite figured out what a standardized test of the obscure verb form of a word we normally use as a noun can tell an educational institution...or what a 45 minute essay discussing a topic I'm in no way interested or even know much about is going to tell anyone about my ability to express ideas, but I did punch my card today and took the test...I passed...I think...here's hoping that I get in to graduate school!!

...I also got to spend a good hour at the local DMV renewing my license because, yes folks, I'm getting older this month...even aging up in the world of athletics...but this arrived on my doorstop from the sister...

...reminding me of two things...1. The kid in me still loves the Muppets...and 2. I'll always be younger than she is...hee hee...so folks...it's time to get things started...it's time to light the lights...

A New Record...

...2.5 hours on the trainer...ugh!...yeah, I know, nothing compared to what some others do, but a new record for me none-the-less!

....at least the dogs were impressed...

....or maybe not!! Hope everyone had a nice weekend...and maybe a little less rain than we had! :)