Tri-tastic start!!!!

This morning, instead of going to work, I enjoyed a flex day and slept in (10 hours of uninterrupted sleep thankyouverymuch!) rose slowly and enjoyed a cuppa joe and some breakfast before heading off to pick up my girl Cess. She is doing the tri with me and we decided to head down to the tri-expo together to pick up our race day packets. The expo was at the Minneapolis Convention Center and due to construction and such, we actually had to walk several miles from our parking garage to the Convention Center. Given that I was in flip flops and today was supposed to be a REST day (Hello? What is restful about walking two miles through downtown construction zones getting lost because you don't know where the hell you are? NOT MUCH!) Anyway, we finally made it there and were very excited!

We kept following signs and following signs which meant more walking and more walking......

Cess took everything in stride but your little flower? Well she was getting pretty cranky to be honest! So typical!
We finally made it to the big show and man oh man, what an expo it was! There were all sorts of vendors, free samples to try, contests to enter and of course lots of shopping to do!
Cess bought a cutie little t-shirt to commemorate her first ever tri!
While I bought new swim goggles because I'm slightly terrified that mine will break race day morning and without backups, I'd be screwed because I wear contacts. So really, I was buying some peace of mind. And actually, these are really nice goggles so I'll probably wear them tomorrow.
We stood in line and picked up our packets and goodie bags....
...and then got our free t-shirts. Ugly in my opinion but hey, it's free and come tomorrow afternoon, I will have earned that bad boy!

And finally, we stopped and bought some energizing snacks for tomorrow. There was no shortage of hot boys at the convention center let me tell you! Wayne here was no exception. He is from Australia and was very sweet and helpful. AND it turns out that he is working the transition pit tomorrow so I may very well see him again. He promised to keep an eye out for us. It will be sweet to have a familiar face there, even if I just met the guy. Anything to help calm my nerves you know?
Anyway, I've been getting lots of well wishes today which I totally love and appreciate. Here are a few emails I took in this morning.

First from my fellow blogger Kim:
Helloooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo my little fish!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I just wanted to wish you ALL OF THE BEST for the big tri tomorrow!!!!!! I am SO SO SO SO SO freaking proud of you for taking this on, and for working so hard to prepare. You are as always, a shining light and true inspiration of what wearing the big girl panties is supposed to look like!!! :) I can't tell you how much that I wish that I could be there to help cheer you on and celebrate once you cross that finish line. Please know that I'll be there in spirit, rooting you on the entire way.
Will The Captain be there??? I hope so!!!
Please have a fabulous time, and let the athlete that you have become out to ROAR!!!!!
LOVE AND HUGS AND HIGH FIVES!!!!


And then from my awesome Kitten:

Lucas!!!
I so wish I could be there in person tomorrow to see your awesomeness and to cheer you on!! Know that I will be cheering from the West Coast, my dear. You are totally amazing and I am proud of you for doing this tri - no matter what. You rock. And I know you'll find a way to have fun here and there, too. Otherwise, what's the point, right?
Love ya,
Julie

And of course, from UD:

...Today is a day off for rest, carbs tonight and lots of sleep. I really do think the Captain said it best in your previous blog. You are in shape and now is the time to just go do it and have fun doing it. Go with the attitude that no matter what happens or how you finish or even if you finish, the whole objective is not to prove you are a tri-athlete, but that you are a confident young woman who is pushing her envelope and having fun doing it. We all couldn’t be more proud of you just because you decided to take this on and train for it. I know that I never would have even tried, but that’s mostly because even though I was a life guard at one time, I sink like a rock in water and depend on forward movement to stay afloat. You’ve seen someone skip a rock on the water and when it finishes skipping, it always sinks. That’s me. So this tri is something that your uncle wouldn’t have ever done, and I was at one time in my life a pretty athletic person. So regardless of the outcome tomorrow, we all think you are pretty great just for trying.
Good luck, give it your best, and most of all have fun doing it.
Much love to you from here on Wentworth.
UD

The Captain is downstairs as I type, cooking up a big mess of carby deliciousness. We are having Cess and Deeg over for dinner along with The Pirate and AC. Then it's off to an early bed with fingers and toes crossed for a good nights sleep and then tomorrow before the sun even thinks about making an appearance, Cess and I will be up and rolling towards the starting line.

Thanks to all for the kind words, encouragement and LOVE! I am definitely feeling it! I promise not only to do you all proud, but to do MYSELF proud as well, no matter what. I'll be back soon and when I am, I'll be able to call myself a triathlete! BOO-YA!!!!

Holy Lake Beating Batman!

The big lesson learned last night? Lucas has clearly NOT done enough (or any) lake training! Oh sure, in my head I was thinking, "Now Lucas, you have to remember that the lake will not be as easy to swim as the pool. There will be waves and murky water and other bodies thrashing about, but you are a good swimmer and it should be no problem for YOU." But having that in my head and experiencing it out in the actual water....NOT THE SAME THING!!!!

Cessica and I went to Lake Nokomis last night to do a lake swim. It was her third. My first. All I gotta say folks is WOW. And I mean W.O.W.! The water temp was great, no worries there. It was a bit murky but not too bad, there were a few seaweed strands but nothing at all scary, it didn't even smell bad, but the waves and the bodies? Those are gonna be a problem folks. I started off with a freestyle stroke which quickly had me panicking a bit. I couldn't swim a straight line to save my life, the waves (small as they were) were tossing me about quite a bit and occasionally when I turned my head to the side for a breath, I got a face full of water instead. Ok, freestyle? Clearly not the way to go! So I started in with the breast stroke. MUCH BETTER! I could see where I was going, where the other people in the water were and was able to get actual air into my lungs instead of lake water when I came up for a breath. Sure, it's a slower paced stroke but who cares? If it gets me from A to B without panicking or drowning then it's the stroke for me! Every now and again, when there was some empty water stretched out in front of me, I switched to freestyle and was able to use that stroke for a while before returning to the breast stroke and I think I developed sort of a system to be able to get me through the water. Sort of. I hope. Oh God, I hope and pray!

I am SO GLAD I went out to the lake as my very last workout before the tri. What if I had skipped that step and found myself panicked and trying to figure this all out on race day? Would have been a lousy way to start the race! So while I maybe got beat up a bit last night, I also learned a lot and am feeling better about the swim now that it is not such a HUGE unknown. And the best part is that after we swam approximately how far we will be swimming on Saturday, I didn't feel tired at all, even with the beating I took. I know the length of the swim won't be a problem, just navigating through the waves and bodies will and I now have just a bit of an idea of what that will be like.

And so that's it! All training is behind me. Workouts are done. All I need to do now is keep on eating right, resting and getting some serious sleep so that I'm ready and fresh for race day. The Captain came home late LATE last night so I know I'm in good hands; grilled protein and veggies here I come! So I'm off for now.

Hope you all have a great Thursday!

Reality Is Setting In!

Holy shit kids! I'm doing a mini-tri! In THREE days!!!! Race day, an event that has loomed in the distance for the past two months is suddenly right around the corner and I'm a little freaked, I gotta say! I received a fabulously helpful email from Lifetime Fitness (the main sponsor of the event) and while all the information is helpful, it has also made this very REAL. This ain't no cute little 35 dollar 5K where about 200 people show up, NO! This is the BIG TIME folks! If you add up all the money I've spent getting ready for this race, including the totally steep registration fee, it's probably over 400 beans! Thousands of racers and even more spectators. There are rules and regulations and if you do anything wrong.....DQ'd!!! Wear an MP3 player? DQ'd. Ride your bike from your car to the transition area without a helmet WITH THE CHIN STRAP BUCKLED??? DQ'd! How bad would it suck to prep for 8 weeks only to be DQ'd before the race even began? There are checklists of things to get ready, snacks to be prepared and timed just right, traffic to fight, parking to find and that's all before the report time of 5:30 AM!!! Ok. Sorry. Lucas is just a little bundle of nerves right now but it's ok. My rational self is telling my fuckingfreakedoutpanicked self to calm the eff down. I know there will be loads of volunteers to help me. I know my teammates will be there with their bevy of previous experience. I know my body and my mind are ready to do this race. I'm just a bit jittery is all.

Last night I hammered out a nearly effortless 5 miles. (WHAT? Seriously! Part of me is still wondering where the hell this girl came from! 5 miles.....nearly effortless??? I'm sitting here shaking my head!) Tonight I swim the lake portion of the race with my girl Cess in the actual lake where the race will take place. That all by itself is sure to remove a big part of the mystery for me. I'll get to feel the water temperature, learn about the weeds in the water, get a whiff of that delicious lake smell (not!) and get an idea of how long it will take me to swim it. There won't be a billion other thrashing arms and legs around me but at least I will have SOME idea of what I'm looking at. Then Thursday and Friday I have to take two mandatory days off from working out so that I'm fresh for Saturday.

Friday, Cess and I will head to the EXPO where we will be picking up our race day packets with our numbers, timing chips, swim caps and commemorative t-shirts along with rules and regulations. Then we will probably take a spin around the convention center to visit some of the vendors. See what I mean about all this? BIG TIME!!! The packet pick up is at the Minneapolis Convention Center? WITH VENDORS??? Big time Baby! BIG TIME!!! That little trip is sure to get me so amped up that sleep will be tough Friday night for sure. The alarm will be going off at 4:30am on Saturday and then the scary but exciting adventure begins. My stomach is doing flip flops right now just thinking about it all.

But I think it's good that I start this little pre-panic now, take in as much information as I can so that I can calm myself down by Saturday, don't you? I mean, who wants to get punched in the face with fresh panic on race day morning? Not me. I'd like my panic to be nice and seasoned thankyouverymuch! And so for the next 3 days I will be remembering to breathe and I will be doing what I can to finish getting mentally prepped for what is sure to be not as big a deal as I'm making it out to be. And that's the plan Stan!

Before I sign off, I thought I'd leave you with some pics of my fun dinner out with Cam and Randy and Ann and Amy on Sunday night. We hit the Eagle Street Grill in downtown Saint Paul for some awesome food and drinks.

One slice of their cake fed 5 people AND there were leftovers! It was enormous!
AND delicious.


Happy Hump Day everyone!

Wrapping up Mile High

After breakfast with the boys, I headed over to my auntie's house for a little hang time and to help her prep for her 4th of July party. It was nice to spend some quiet time with family, my mom was there and we had a few nice hours of just chatting and looking at pictures together. Then the family started to arrive. I took some shots but truthfully, was a bit too busy saying hello and catching up to do any serious shooting. I did manage to catch a few fun shots though.

My mom has been best friends with Marilyn since first grade. Marilyn is like family....

...and she has the best eyes ever!

My cousin Ian's wife, Rebecca. What a stunner! (She reminds me of one of my fellow bloggers a bit. Anybody want to guess who?)

I actually lightened thess up quite a bit in photoshop but I must have grabbed the wrong versions because they are all dark, but here is my momma in all her glory!

My Aunt Marty loves to have her photograph taken!

Luckily, her son, my cousin Jake is more obliging.

Rebecca and Asher. How totally sweet is that?

Uncle Teece. Handsome devil!

Uncle Jim Bob.

And a few of me and momma with some fabulous softening effects! That Barbara Walters knows what she's doing!

Manning the grill!

Me with my cousin Ian, his wife Rebecca and hey! look who's awake? Hi Asher!

And probably the biggest surprise of the entire weekend, seeing my friend Merrie after nearly 18 years! First, I can't believe it's been THAT long since college! Second, it was great to see her again and meet her husband. (Facebook sparks ANOTHER reunion!)

Later that night, it was time to go out AGAIN! Someone thought it was a great idea to order a ridiculous flaming drink chock full o rum! What's a girl to do?Raising a toast with Jake's amazingly gorgeous girlfriend Jacey!

And finally, what better way to wrap up Denver than with a shot of the most beautiful girl in all the world.......Riley Sue! Don't let her tough exterior fool you, she's a dainty little flower, just like her cousin Lucas! :)

Later peeps!

Lucille's

Saturday morning I was actually able to sleep in a bit and lolled about in bed until 10am! Nice! When I finally did get up, Jake and Eroy took me to Lucille's for some seriously great breakfast. Of course there were mimosas...

...and something amazing called Beignet's. Whoa. How have I never had those before? Danger! Danger!And ridiculously big biscuits all hot and buttery fresh!!!

While sampling lots of the treats the boys got, I ordered fruit and an English Muffin. Don't be too impressed, the fruit was in heavy cream. YUM! And of course, all the food went down better with a big side of attitude! Later that day was the family party and I have more pics and stories to share but I just couldn't get the pics loaded when I got home yesterday. I took a nap instead. I am one seriously tired flower who has returned from Denver feeling a bit blue. Not sure if it was coming home to an empty house or leaving my family or both but I am feeling really overwhelmed by life today. I'd like nothing better than a weeklong staycation at home to just sleep, do some chores and get myself back together but instead, I have an insanely busy week as I log 9 hours a day at work and prep for my final push towards the tri. I'm not gonna lie to you folks, I can't wait until this tri training is over and I can workout like a regular person again instead of some insane girl. I miss my yoga and my lazy 4 days of working out a week. Ha! Well, hope you all are enjoying your Monday. Mine might be a little blue but I'm still happy to have it.

A backwards look at Denver

Due to time limitations and the fact that I am working on a computer that isn't mine and I'm not sure how to work everything, these pictures and stories are starting last night and working their way backwards over the past two days. Enjoy.

Last night Jake and I had an amazing dinner at Cafe Brazil where he used to work. It was a really interesting place as waiting on tables is a group effort and we had about 4 different people taking care of us.

It helps to know people who work there because after dinner, Jake's friends kept feeding us shots. Really good shots too of alcohol that I'd never heard of but that was really delicious and has left me not at all hungover. Now THAT'S how to do shots!


A look at my awesome dinner. Halibut with a mango sauce and grilled peppers and zucchini. So fantastic. I've actually done really well while here, not eating anything ridiculous or just go crazy. Lots of fish and fruit and veggies.
Before dinner, we swung by my Aunt Boopy's house to see her, Uncle Jim Bob and my mom. Isn't he a handsome devil?
Yesterday morning I set off for Colorado Springs (about an hour and a half drive south of Denver) to meet up with my friend Michele. She wanted to go hiking and I happily agreed. Little did I know what I was getting myself into. Her idea of a hike was to climb a mile long incline straight up a mountain! It starts at 6600 feet and inclines up 2200 feet until you reach 8800 feet.



It was seriously hard and intense. My hangover combined with the thin air made it really challenging for me but I am proud to say that I did it! I was able to keep up with Michele and her boyfriend and together we made it in an hour and 15 minutes. And when I say made it, I mean we made it to the top. Then we had to get back down. We took a different trail and ran for about a mile down a winding path with switchbacks and loose gravel. It was way different running than I was used to but I found that I really enjoyed it! You really had to pay close attention to where every footfall was landing so you didn't stumble and fall. Because I was running downhill, my quads got a great workout. I just watched my feet and the trees whizzing by and enjoyed smelling that awesome mountain air! I was in front of Michelle and John and really just enjoyed being alone while running through the mountains. After about a mile, we reconnected with the incline steps. The mile run down the switch backs had saved us about a half a mile of walking down the incline so we had another half a mile to go. Let me tell you, going down the steps is definitely easier on the lungs and heart than going up, but it's way harder on the legs. By the time we got to the bottom, my legs felt like jello and I wasn't sure how much longer they would agree to support me. Man, was I wobbly. We headed straight for some food and enjoyed some awesome chips and salsa with some truly tasty fajitas. After all that hard work, my body was ready for some food!! We kicked around Manitou Springs for a bit ducking into a few shops here and there before I jumped in my car to head back up to Denver. I'm so glad I did that climb but it seriously kicked my ass and I was SO tired afterwards.

The night before my climb, I hung out with my cousins. For dinner, my Aunt Marty, Uncle Terry, cousin Jake and I headed to Jax Fish House where my cousin Erin works. Erin ordered up some amazing cod for me to try while the rest of the gang ordered up some calamari and shrimp. After dinner, Marty and Terry headed home while Jake and I hung around waiting for Erin to get off work. After he did, we all headed to a bar right near my aunt and uncles house and just hung out chatting and drinking until it was time to turn in.

I brought the boys some treats from a sweet shoppe I had visited earlier in the day. Jake enjoyed his Juicy Mullet gum and later, there was some fun to be had with some pop rocks!
Jake with one of his candy cigarettes!

Earlier in the day, my girl Daisy aka Steamboat picked me up and we drove to Boulder for some lunch and fun. Daisy has the most adorable daughter and is also currently pregnant with twins.
We stopped by a sweets shoppe and paused for a balloon animal for Natalie.


Although I referred to her all day as Suri and kept asking her where Tom and Katie were. Isn't she so stinkin' cute???
It was great to catch up with Steamboat and I can't wait until I come back next time and get to meet her new additions. So that's it for now. Today is all about hanging with the family for the 4th of July. I hope you all have a great holiday. I'll be back with more pictures and stories soon!

Denver!

Well I survived my very first standby flight on Southwest! It was super easy (and SUPER early in the morning), I got a row all to myself and slept the entire way. Hurrah! By the way, I'm not sure how to fix the text so it's a little wonky. I'm on TC's computer, please forgive. Anyway, while I wait for my girl Daisy to pick me up for a lunch date, let me show you a few of the reasons why I love to come to my auntie's beautiful home!




Well, I'm off to start my day. There will be plenty more where this came from!

And Merrie????? I will give you a call, thanks for your number. Might not be able to make it to your location but we'll see what's what. It would be great to see you again! MWAH!

Biker Chick!

I have to tell you a little something readers, I may be falling in love with my bicycle......(well, technically, Kitten's bicycle). When I signed up to do this tri, I was the most worried about the biking portion. I worried because I didn't HAVE a bike, I worried because I almost never ride a bike (except for my motorcycle) and I worried especially about the seat (and my lady business). Then Kitten stepped up with the gift of loaning me her super awesome road bike; The Green Monster! When I first started riding again, I was wobbly, had trouble with the clip in shoes, was worried about traffic, fumbled trying to change the gears. I gotta admit, it was scary.......and ugly! But now? Now I get on that bike and I feel confident. That adrenaline starts pumping and I go on the ATTACK! I peddle furiously, I sweat, I grunt and I even let out a whoop every now and again. I love the wind in my face, the speed I can generate, the rhythm of it all. I am starting to think that my weak event will not be the bike ride but will in fact be the swim. Interesting. But before I even start this race, before I pin on my number, line up for the start and wait for the gun, I've already won.....and that is a good, good feeling!

Back to being super busy and fighting some serious fatigue but not to worry, all will be well. I just need a little shut eye. I'll be attempting to jump a flight for Denver tomorrow to spend the 4th with my family there. Wish this little flower luck. Standby is always a crap shoot! Well, no more time today. Hope you all enjoyed popping by the garden. Have a great day!

Lucas is a sleepy little flower. I just want to burrow under the covers and sleep for hours today but alas, no such luck for me. So here I sit, yawning, mainlining coffee and trying to stay alert so I can get through my day. I had a nice calm evening last night, I hit the gym for a great legs and core session with Mark. I also hit the dreadmill for a solid 25 minutes before heading home. I just relaxed last night, had dinner, grabbed a shower and was crawling into bed around 8:30 pm to watch a little TV. I was asleep by 9:30 so I don’t get why I’m so tired this morning but oh well.

Things have finally slowed down at work (thank you summer!) and I have been enjoying just a bit slower of a pace in my life. Just a bit, mind you but I’m enjoying it nonetheless. It brings a tiny sense of calm to this rocket ship I’m riding through life. I have another two days of this calm before I blast off again (I’m trying to get to Denver this weekend to see some family).

Tonight will be a light workout, either a bike ride or a swim depending on the weather. If it’s nice I might actually take a longer bike ride. I’m trying to get in plenty of biking and swimming now because if I do get to Denver, I’ll only be able to run. I do have a few errands to run but I fully plan on being in bed by 9 again tonight.

So in a lovely change of pace, there’s not much to report around the garden today. Hope you are all feeling well rested and peaceful.

SO Proud!!!

I have two really great reasons to be proud today. The first reason is that I rocked my brick training on Sunday morning. I actually stayed in on Saturday night and went to bed early so I could get up and once again, attempt to complete this session of 15 miles of biking followed immediately by 3 miles of running. Once again, I showed up, raised my hand in front of a group of strangers and stated that I was slow and apt to get lost, but this time, I did a much better job of keeping up with the pack, especially on the hills. This time, folks were much better at keeping an eye on me and the guides were especially helpful in making sure everyone knew where to turn and when. This time, I actually finished near the front of the pack in really decent time. After a quick shoe change and throwing the bike in my car, I set off for my run. The course took me around Lake Nokomis so it was pretty scenery and the weather was amazing even though it was just a bit windy. I slowed to a walk about 3 times and just for about 30 to 60 seconds each and finished the entire brick in an hour and a half burning just over 1000 calories. After completing two out of the three legs of this tri, I actually felt like I could have jumped in the water and gone for a 30 minute swim so I am really feeling comfortable that I am ready for this race! I still have two more weeks of training to go and don't plan on letting up at all. And I am keeping my fingers crossed for some nice weather come race day.

The second reason to be proud was because this month is all about pride, gay pride that is! After returning home from my brick training, getting some much deserved breakfast in my belly and cleaning up, I headed off to the Pride Festival with Cam and Randy. We got there too late for the parade but the festival was in full swing when we arrived at the beer tent. These two guys were among the first people I encountered. Lord I love fun people like this!


Of course there was brilliant people watching and lots of interesting things to see.



And besides Cam and Randy, I actually knew quite a few other people that I have met through them and it was really nice to hang out with them all!

Randy, Ryan, Tim, me & Cam

Randy, Patrick, me and a new guy. I met SO MANY new people that I couldn't remember all their names but this guy and his partner were really nice people!

Me pointing out one of Tim's best features. His amazing blue eyes! (Ha! Just teasing Tim. But they are SO pretty, don't you think?)

And of course, me and my main man Cam! It was a great day and a great time with great friends. Hope you all have lots to be proud of today!