See--there IS still hope!

People are always trying to console me with stories of folks they know that "...didn't get married till they were 40+..." or whatever. As if I was asking for consolation of my single state. It just cracks me up. So, when I spotted this article today, I simply couldn't resist posting it. I mean, surely I have more options than this poor gal, right? :-)

106-Year-Old Single Gal Still Dating
Dating & LoveWeird News48 CommentsStatia Kealy of Ireland has never married, smoked, drank or even put on makeup. So maybe that's why she's finally ready to cut loose and hit the dating scene at the tender age of 106.

Statia, who could easily pass for 88 or 89, says she's looking for love. If you know any lonely centenarians who live near Ireland, maybe you should pass along her number. She's got a sense of humor, telling one reporter, "Those that get married do well, but those that don't do better." Fiery!

If she can't find a man and is willing to learn Chinese, maybe she could be pen-pals with Wang Guiying, a 107-year old Chinese lady who finds herself in the same "predicament." Although 106 years of eating Poptarts alone in bed doesn't necessarily sound so bad.

Blogging Slacker

I haven't felt much like blogging lately. I'm not really sure why that is, exactly, but we'll just leave it at - I've been a blogging slacker!
The good news is that I haven't been slacking in every area...I've been getting in a lot of training! Yeehaw!

So, here's what you've been missing:
June 14 - last blog post
June 18 - drove home from Chicago
June 19 - long training ride
June 20 - WIN for KC group workout from Epic!
June 21 - celebrated Father's Day with the fam at the firestation
...training, training, work, training...
June 25 - HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JANIE! Celebrated at Jen's apartment - food and games
June 27 - went for a 3 hour bike ride in the sizzlin' heat. Friends from NE, Chad and Carol, were in town. Met lil' baby Miriam - she's so sweet.
On to a wedding! Erin and Aaron got married this evening - congratulations!
June 28 - church, work, church, surprise party for Heidi/Haley, movie with Jen!
June 29 - lunch with Angie and Morgan. Leslie also stopped by to say hello.
June 30 - HAPPY BIRTHDAY, STEPHANIE! Another celebration with the Fullers. We ate at Stix, and you'll see Steph pretended to try some unusual cuisine. Barf.
...work, training, work...
JULY IS HERE!
July 4 - Ride from shop with fun group. Fourth of July celebration out at the Fullers. Lots of people, games, food, fireworks, fun!

See there - I mean, it's not like I've just been sitting around. :-)

1st Triathlon of the Season

Sunday was the Naperville Women's Triathlon - where else? but in Naperville, IL. I did this race back in 2007, and remembered it being fun, so I signed up to do it again. Sadly, my friends weren't here before the race, but it still worked out great for me to watch their house and dog, Ginger!

I went to packet pick up Saturday, and it was so chilly and rainy outside! I was glad the forcast was calling for nicer weather on race day. There wasn't really much excitement at the expo, so I just did a quick breeze through and called it a day. I think it helped that I was not at home, and no one was around - no distraction. It was funny - I think this was the first time I had actually eaten dinner and had all my race stuff ready to go - WAY early Saturday! I got in bed by 8pm, but as luck would have it...could NOT go to sleep! I think it ended up taking me 2+ hours to fall asleep, but I guess it was good to be relaxing, right? Once I fell asleep, I slept pretty well. The alarm comes WAY too early on race morning - 4 a.m.!

I jumped up, showered, dressed, ate my breakfast, drank coffee...yadda, yadda, yadda.
I left the house right at 5, and arrived at transition shortly after it opened. I wanted to get there with plenty of time to find parking where I wouldn't get boxed in post-race, and to find a nice spot in transition. I accomplished both. It's funny at this race, they are ultra-cautious about making sure everyone has their stuff together...you can't even get in transition if you don't already have your chip strapped to your ankle, and all your stickers in place.

They do have assigned transition areas, unfortunately, my spot was right in the center of this HUGE transition. I mean, center down the super long bike racks, and center across all the rows...we were in the 16th swim heat, and I think there were 30+ heats. At least everyone in your age group is in the same boat, eh? I set up transition, and headed for the porta potty before the lines got too long. As I walked out of transition, I saw Coach Liz setting up her area. She was on bike rack #1 - lucky! I suppose those gals have earned their spot, eh? :-) I only chatted with her for a couple minutes as I didn't want to interrupt the race mojo! I wished her a good race and headed back to collect my stuff for the swim.

So, the race starts at 7 a.m. Well, Liz started at 7, and when the winner was crossing the line, I was just starting my swim. Too funny. The swim heats go off in 4 minute intervals, which is absolutely necessary in this laned pool set up. I mentioned that the swim has 5 turns...too many for me. It was cool to see the pros come out of the water. I went over to cheer for Liz as she ran past...these gals are speedy! Finally, after lots of people watching and worrying that I wouldn't find someone to help me tug on the arms of my wetsuit, it was my turn to walk down to the start. I had spotted this guy helping these gals pull up their wetsuits - there is an art to this, and I wanted someone who knew what they were doing - so I beckoned his services. He was fantastic! I was ready to go!

I lined up right at the front of my heat, off to the left side (if you don't watch it in this set up, you'll get completely pinched into the buoys)...I had my plan. About 60 seconds before they blew the horn, this gal came up behind me and asked if she could move ahead because she was a really strong swimmer. Uh, sure, I guess. I shoulda stuck to my guns, 'cause this totally threw me off. The gun sounded and the race was off. Mind you, you are about shin deep in the water at the start, but I wanted to just dive and go, go, go...this swarm of women all just started wading/jogging down into the swim - INCLUDING this really strong swimmer who I let in front of me. Hmmm. Dawn, that was dumb. I tried darting around to the left and swimming hard for a few strokes, but I couldn't quite get away. Then, the rest of the swim was just like that - several hard, good strokes...running into people who couldn't swim straight...grabbing feet...I just couldn't get it together. About the time I felt like I would get it together, I'd hit another turn and run into someone back-stroking, doggie paddling, etc. Believe me, I'm not blaming others for this, I should have been able to get my mental game together and just didn't do it. Finally, I reached the final turn and just pulled it up to the exit.

This is quite possibly the longest run to transition - ever - in the history of triathlon (does everyone say that? ha ha). It really is long. You exit the water onto sand. Up the sand you go, hit some grass, then some cobblestone, then the pavement that takes you into transition. I saw a guy with a broom prior to the race, so I was thinking the pavement would be smooth - wrong-O! Ouch, Ouch, Ouch! It hurt my feet SO badly! One of my goals was to run all the way to transition, however, so I kept running. YEOWZAH! I was soooo happy to hit my towel. I grabbed all my bike gear and ran out to the mount line. This is pure chaos, mind you, as you have every type of bicyle trying to mow you down. I got on the bike and took off! I was just looking to take out all the "16's" that beat me on the swim...I wanted ALL of them! he he (evil laugh)

I tried to hold it back just a bit on the first loop, letting the legs get to spinning. I was feeling really good. I also knew that I had some business to take care of on the run - I was *NOT* walking anything this go around - so, should I hold back for that? My nutrition plan was working great...meaning, I actually followed it this time. :-0 I hit that 2nd lap and picked it up, still feeling great. This course was mostly flat, with just a touch of uphill and a little wind at a couple parts, but nothing at all to complain about - it totally suits my riding! Coming into transition was a bit ugly...girls were slowing down a half mile before they needed to, so it's a bit dangerous flying by. I was yelling "LEFT" a ton! Anyway, I hit the dismount and tried jogging into my bike rack. It was tough on that surface in my shoes, but I made it back to my towel and threw on my running hat, shoes, and race belt. I was off! I ran out of transition and onto the run course.

The legs weren't feeling great for about the first mile, but once I hit that water station, I grabbed a cup and kept right on running. I felt pretty good. Get this, I actually passed people on this run! Stop it! I'm serious. I hit the 1.5 mile mark and walked just long enough to down a gel and drink some water. I knew I just needed to keep it rolling right to the finish, and that's what I did. I was supposed to turn it on at this one spot that Liz pointed out Friday night, and I tried...I picked it up a little bit and then backed off again. Once I hit the grassy patch leading into the finish, I was able to pick it up a bit more. Woohoo! I was done! I didn't even see the clock, so I had no idea how I did, but I was happy to be finished.

It was a bit of a let down not having anyone else out there to cheer for or meet up with at the finish, but that's ok. I walked around the little booths to see what they had, and then made my way back to transition. It hadn't opened back up yet...so I waited just a few minutes. Once transition opened back up, I went in, grabbed all my gear, and jumped on my bike to ride back to my car. I felt good.

Later Sunday afternoon, Liz and I talked about my race. All things considered, it was pretty good. I asked how she did - YEAH FOR LIZ, she placed 3rd overall! CONGRATS!!!

Liz invited me to join her and her hubby for a bike ride Sunday evening. It was great! I met them at their house and even got to meet Boss (their dog), and we just rode around neighborhoods and such for about an hour. It felt good to spin out the legs and get to know each other a little more. Thanks Liz!

Lonnie, Eric and the kiddos come home tomorrow...I'm looking forward to having some company at their house!

(I have just a couple pics I took of transition that I'll post later)

Meeting Coach Liz

I mentioned that I have a new coach, but I don't think I mentioned that I LOVE working with her! (don't worry, Liz, this is not a stalker situation...)
So far, she has provided excellent information, training and advice, and I can really tell that it's helping! Anyway, we hadn't met in person until I came in for the triathlon. Liz arranged to meet me for a swim at the "beach" in Naperville on Friday evening.
I was a little nervous about our first meeting - not just the actual meeting of her, but having her watch me swim, etc. - oh the pressure! ha ha Centennial Beach was our meeting spot. It's a really different area - but cool for hanging out/workouts. I don't prefer it for the race because there are like 5 turns to the swim course. It's been chilly here in the Chicago area, so at the last minute (and after consulting with coach) I threw the wetsuit in the car. I was happy to have that wetsuit as the water was pretty chilly! I swam for 30 minutes or so, and then they blew the whistle for everyone to get out. They do these safety checks periodically to ensure parents know where their children are...checking to see if anyone's at the bottom of the quarry (ha ha)...so, I hopped out of the water and went up to grab my water bottle.
As I was heading back down to the water, I spotted Chris - Liz's husband - standing down on the deck in his wetsuit. I immediately recognized him from Liz's blog and facebook (see there - these things aren't a waste of time!). So, like a big nerd, I pointed at him and said...you're Chris...Liz's husband...I'm meeting her here...
I wasn't expecting to see them already in the water, so it threw me off a bit. Oh well, nothing like acting stupid at first meeting someone, right? :-)
Liz came over and the three of us chatted for a couple minutes. Finally, the safety check was over and it was time to swim for the coach! I jumped in the water and swam down/back while she stood on the deck watching me. I was nervous to hear the feedback. After 2 down and backs, I stopped at the wall like a puppy with its tongue hanging out, waiting for her comments. She hopped in with me and told me that I was actually a good swimmer. Whew. Hearing those words was such a relief! Of course, she told me not to change anything for Sunday's race, but did provide me with some excellent feedback on a few things I could improve. I'm eager to get to work on those things.
We stayed in the water and swam around to different piers in the pool - even climbed up a couple and proceeded to dive off into the water. That worked the first time, but I knocked my goggles off on the 2nd dive...smooth! Anyway, it was fun.
We all cleaned up and decided to drive the race course (bike and run). This was good, as I realized it had changed a bit from the last time I raced it. After driving the courses, Liz and Chris kindly invited me to tag along with them and get a bit to eat - and treated - how nice! It was great getting to know them and talking through my race plan, etc. After dinner we walked all around downtown Naperville, and stopped in at Naperville Running company - cool store and a neat little town. It was a good time!
Why didn't I take a picture???

Road Trip to the Windy City

My third race of the season is Sunday. While it's my third race, it's the first triathlon of 2009. Woohoo. I decided to road trip it this time. It's just easier to throw all your gear in the car and not worry about your bike making it in one piece, or the extra fees when flying. So, I had lots to do this morning, and was up and at 'em early.

I didn't start the drive until 11:30ish, but my timing actually worked out pretty well in the end. Much like any type of travel, taking a long drive can be fairly entertaining. I mean, I was by myself, so I had to find things to occupy my time, right? I couldn't possibly capture all the excitement of my trip - clearly there was just too much!

So, about 30 minutes into the drive I broke into the trail mix. ha ha Seriously, you've been on the road for 30 minutes and you're already hungry and bored. :-)

Somewhere near the Iowa border, I saw a fella on the shoulder, pulling 2 shopping carts behind him. Poor guy, it was uphill for certain and he was using some kind of rope system to pull them. I'll give him credit - they looked very stable and he seemed to be making good time. Following this sighting, I spent some time pondering his destination.

Shortly after I hit the Iowa border, I started running into various sections of construction...8 miles, 11 miles, 15 miles...good times. It wasn't too bad if everyone maintained the construction zone speed limit. I think a few vehicles I encountered were equipped with brake sensors wired to engage each time they passed an orange barrel. Really, it doesn't require braking people. Just drive.

About 33 miles outside of Des Moines, I spotted some cows that looked like Oreo cookies. Was I just hungry? No, upon second glance, they were black at both ends and white around the middle. Mmmmm. I could go for some Oreos (or even better - some Newman O's!). By the way, this cow has a name. It is called the Belted Galloway. And, I guess my likening it to an Oreo isn't original. Bummer!
I didn't get to snap a picture myself, but found one online. Look at this picture and tell me it doesn't make you hungry for a cookie.

I thought I would stop in Des Moines, but I was changing interstates there, and didn't want to risk missing my new route, so I waited. My first stop of the trip was at 2:30pm in Altoona, IA! It was a spur of the moment decision - I spotted a sign for HyVee and thought...I'll exit here! Altoona is a cute little town - even Altoona has a bike path running through it - why can't Kansas City get 'er done?! Never mind, on to the *new* HyVee. See there, no gas station potty for me. Niiiice! I was especially pumped to choose my lunch from the Health Food market in this new store. I picked up some greek yogurt and a couple apples for the trip. Mmmm.

I also visited a gas station in Altoona, where I watched a man with a minivan try to pull between two cars, into the middle pump. It was entertaining. He finally gave up and waited till someone was finished. I was fueled up and on the road again.

I crossed South Skunk river.

5:04pm - passed a truck with my name on it. 5:05pm - contemplated truck driving as next career. 5:05:30pm - back to looking at farm land.

More construction in Bureau County - 11 miles more to be specific. As luck would have it, I got stuck behind a gal in a champagne colored Chrysler, going about 20 mph UNDER the posted construction zone speed limit. Good times. Despite her low speed, she was making me nervous as I could see her leaning way over into the seat next to her, trying to fetch something. There were a couple times, she narrowly missed taking out an orange barrel! Finally! A second lane allowed me to escape the torture. As I passed by, I glanced over and saw a messy-haired lady, staring at the road with her mouth hanging open. I drove on. stay tuned for an update on Chrysler woman)

Second stop of the day - Princeton. This was around 5:30pm, I think. Fill up, potty, bug wash #2, and I was back on the road. I hadn't been back on the road long when...look! up ahead - it's a bird, it's a plane...it's more orange barrels and CHRYSLER WOMAN! Aggghhh! Please, please, please let me get around her before it's down to one lane. Whew, I made it. As I passed by, she was still in a blank stare at the road, mouth open.

The remainder of my trip was pretty uneventful. I arrived safely to Lonnie's house, and was greeted by their pooch - Ginger - who was extremely excited to see me! (Lonnie and Eric are graciously allowing me to stay at their home, even though they're away for a few days - THANK YOU LONNIE AND ERIC!)

On a more serious note, please pray for Lonnie's nephew, Kyle, and their family. Kyle was in a terrible car accident May 31st, and remains in critical condition. You can read more about Kyle's accident and his progess on this blog his family set up. Kyle has made some small steps forward, but it will be a very long road ahead for him and his family.

Another Du!

Early start this morning! The alarm went off at 4am, and I was ready to roll. I drank coffee, ate breakfast, read over my race plan, and pulled the final few items together before hopping in the car.

I drove over to Terry's house and we headed to Sedalia. We're gonna do the Sedalia Duathlon today. It's about a 2 hour drive from Kansas City, so plenty of time to relax and think through the race. The drive went fairly fast. As we neared Sedalia, I noticed some lightening and rain off in the distance. Oh dear. I don't want the race to get cancelled after driving all this way, nor do I want to race in a storm! We got to the race site with plenty of time to spare. In fact, there were only a couple cars in the parking lot.

We got great spots in the transition area, set it up, and went to pick up our packets. Then, it was time to warm up. We started with the bike. When we rolled out onto the course, my legs were feeling pretty good. I tested them just a little bit, with some harder efforts, and things were still checking out. We flipped it around, rode back into transition, and got ready to run. The 2nd run of the Du started on pavement, but quickly moved into a grassy section. I didn't love the grass, but at least it wasn't terribly long. We ran this section for our warm up, and headed back to the start.

We were just a couple minutes from the start and we stopped at the potty and I think I just pulled my shirt down a bit and the zipper totally opened - as in off the track. (Nothing says "dainty" like blowing out the zipper in your jersey!) Uh-oh, this isn't good. Um, er, uh...hmmm. Let's try these safety pins. Nope, that's not gonna work. I'll run back to my car. Nope, no time. Everyone is lined up ready to go. Ok, the t-shirt they gave us for the race is in my transition bag...I'll just have to wear that. Racing in cotton - always nice.

Here we go! This was a pretty small race. I think someone actually just said, "go", for the race to start. Funny. Ok, so toe to the line...I was ready. The first few steps of the run, my legs weren't feeling it. I thought, "what am I doing?" Then, I quickly set those negative thoughts aside and settled in. I'm tellin' ya what, these folks shot off that line like someone had a torch to their shorts! I kept thinking of my plan, and just settled in at a steady pace. I felt good. The route was fairly flat, slight uphill in just a couple places. The stretch on grass had some uneven spots, so I didn't love that part, but thankfully it wasn't too long. Anyway, I was pleased with the first run and felt good coming into transition. Time to get on my bicycle!

The legs didn't feel too bad when I got on the bike, so I tried to stay in an easier gear and keep the cadence high (slight problem - I must have bumped my cadence sensor, 'cause I wasn't getting a readout for that. oh well). I picked up the pace a little too soon, and way underestimated how hilly this course was! Sadly, I totally tanked on a hill around mile 6. I was trying to push over the top and then realized
the hill kept going. Uh oh. Yeah, so it took me just a minute to pull myself back together and pick it up.

Just about that time, it started raining...thankfully that only lasted for a few miles and cleared away. The winds picked up a bit with that rainstorm too, and it started to heat up and get a bit more humid. Getting back into transition required going up this hill. It wasn't very long, but fairly steep, so that wasn't too much fun after the 40 minutes of pushing on the rollers.

Here's where I'm not so happy with my performance. I hit that 2nd run and my
legs just felt like cinder blocks. It was ugly. I ran out transition (with
bottle of Heed in hand) - this time we ran the course in reverse, so it started on the grass. I hated it. My feet felt so unstable and I was really having trouble keeping going. I made it through most of the grassy portion, and just as we turned onto this gravel trail, I pooped out. I walked fast, but I was walking! It's a race and I was walking. I knew I would be disappointed if I couldn't get it together. I drank some Heed and continued to walk fast for a couple minutes. Then, I was able to run again, but it was terribly slow and I just couldn't pick it up. About a mile in, I finally felt like I might make it...then, going back into the finish I hit the steep ramp-type deal into the parking lot...I had ridden up it, but this felt
nasty. Terry was actually standing there at the turn, cheering me on. He ran (and walked) up the hill with me. It's always nice to have encouragement at that point of your race! My legs felt like they were gonna explode and I felt a bit woozy. I shuffled up it, but also ended up walking a few steps of it too - hating that I couldn't muster up the guts to just tear up that hill. I had no big burst into the finish, merely a steady pace just across the line.


We grabbed some water and walked over to the bikes, talking about the race. It felt good to be done. After loading all my stuff back into the car and changing into clean/dry clothes, we went back up to transition for the awards. Terry had a great race - he took 2nd in his age group! WAY TO GO, Terry!

Follow this link to view a few other pics from the race.

So, overall a good race. I was fairly pleased with the 1st and 2nd legs, but also have some clear indication of some areas for improvement. I'll get there. Next race - 2 weeks away, and we'll be adding in a swim!

HAPPY 60th MOM!

Can you believe it? 2 days in a row! I promised more updates, and here they come...

On May 9, my mom celebrated her 60th birthday - HAPPY 60th DONNA MARIE!!! :-) We had some surprises up our sleeve for her, and they actually worked. It's not too easy surprising my mother, but we managed to do it in a couple big ways. Woohoo!

The first of the surprises came on Wednesday of the birthday week. Mom has wanted new furniture for quite some time, so Dad and Bill picked up the couch she looked at, and had it in the living room (with some help from Terry - see, these birthday surprises take a lot of participants!) when mom and I came home from taking the doggies to Petco. I think she may have had an inkling on this little surprise, but she played it off well and was too thrilled with her new sofa!

Birthday surprise #2 came on Thursday. Sharon (my sister), Dan and the boys traveled from PA on a stealth mission for the birthday festivities. This just fell into place perfectly. I worked all day (as did my dad), so mom asked me if I wanted to stay and watch some finale shows after work. I did. Dad got home a little before 9, which was perfect - they were just a few minutes away. When my dad came in, he mentioned that the neighbor was gonna stop by in a few minutes. So, when Sharon rang the doorbell, Mom just says really casually, "come on in..." Then we watched her complete confusion as she tried to figure out why my sister and her clan were walking through the door. I regret that I did not capture my mother's face on camera that night - priceless!

Third on our list of surprises was a party on her actual birthday - Saturday! Terry and Kathy agreed to host the party at their house, and we invited a hanful of my parents' friends and operation party was underway. Mom loves wedding cake, so I found a local bakery that received rave reviews from local brides, and I ordered her birthday cake. I looked at tons of pictures and with the help of the gal at the shop, I chose a style they had done before, but we changed the colors on the cake to white with some red accents (very different than the blue with brown accents as shown in the picture!)
The family had planned to go out to an early dinner at JackStack, and then end up over at the Wilkes' house. I ran around getting the party stuff together on Saturday - Kathy helped me set up things at the house and it was lookin' good.

We hadn't quite decided how to get mom to the Wilkes after dinner, but I was thinking I would tell her that the cake was messed up and Kathy offered to pick it up for me. As luck would have it, this wasn't hard to pull off! I couldn't pick up the cake until after 3, which was a snafu too - we were actually supposed to pick it up Friday, and since I was working, Terry attempted to pick it up...only to be told that they wouldn't have it ready till Sat. When I arrived at the bakery, I was excited to see the finished product. There were two gals working, (neither of which were the ones I ordered it from) so one of the gals brought out the cake - opened the box - and....well....it wasn't the right cake. It was BLUE and BROWN! How can I take a blue and brown cake when my mom hates blue, and the whole party is based around her favorite color - Red! Um, this isn't gonna work. After several phone calls and apologies, the bakery told me that they could strip down the cake and re-decorate it - and, Terry and Kathy would go pick it up. Aaaaghhh! So, see...we didn't have to lie after all!

When I got over to the folks house, I told everyone about the cake - it fell right into place. We had a great dinner, and then Bill entertained us all by driving around downtown...taking the longest route possible to get home. Oh, I almost forgot - while we were eating, mom said "did you invite Terry and Kathy to have cake with us?" Um, well...sure, that's a great idea. So the hoax was set. We arrived at the Wilkes and when mom walked in and saw all the decorations, she thought Kathy had done that just for her - then everyone popped out and shouted, "surprise! happy birthday!" She was really surprised. And, we had a fantastic time celebrating with friends and family!

HAPPY 60th BIRTHDAY, MOM!!!!

(more pics on facebook album)

Aaaagh! I need to update...

where o where does the time go? I feel like I say that with each blog entry...yet, here I am again! As usual, I've been keeping busy. The bike shop is hopping, and I've been fortunate to work up there more often. Have I mentioned that I love my work at the bike shop? This past weekend, I was able to host our Epic booth at the WOW KC Bicycle Festival out at Swope Park. I had such a good time talking to many women about cycling, triathlon, racing...what's not to love about encouraging women to get out there and enjoy these activities?! One gal I talked to was saying that she really wanted to do a tri, but just wasn't sure she was ready, etc. I commented that we (especially women) tend to wait until...we lose 5 more pounds, can run just a little faster, get our hair cut - you get the idea, it's always something. I challenged this gal to just get out there and do it! It was touching, because she was actually moved to tears. I guess I hit on some things that were holding her back and helped her to see that there's never a perfect time. (I think I may have talked to myself there too. ha ha)
I also met another lovely lady who had never ridden a bicycle! She is doing the WIN for KC tri this summer as a team, and was asking me if she started training after that race, could she be ready to do all 3 legs of the race next year? YOU BETCHA! I responded. And, how cool is this? She came by the shop and bought a bike!!! She's gonna do it! So, again I say - what's not to love about this?!

I've been training a fair amount too. I'm working with another coach and am pretty excited about it. I felt like I had lost a bit of my zest for running, and I can now feel it creeping back in. Woohoo. It's been great to have workouts planned that push me in all three sports, and receiving feedback on my training again. So, the big reveal? My new coach is Elizabeth Fedofsky Waterstraat! It's funny because I've been reading her blog for a couple years. She's a very entertaining writer! I recall reading about her Kona experience when I was preparing for Coeur d'Alene...very inspiring. You can check out her blog, and I'll also put a link to her coaching website, Multisport Mastery, for you to check out if you're interested. I'm sure there will be much more to come. I'm looking forward to meeting Liz in person when I head to Chicago for the Naperville Womens Triathlon. Yippee!

Speaking of my new coach, I need to head out for a long run this morning, so I better end this for now. I have many more things to blog about, so more to come - I promise!

It's already May?

Where is the time going? Seems like the past few weeks have been keeping me busy. Let's see if I can figure out what exactly I've been "busy" doing.

This crazy not-so-spring like weather has still managed to make things peppy at the bike shop! I've been working many more hours up there, which is fun and, at times, exhausting. I absolutely love my job there - what's not to love when you're helping folks enjoy the sport of cycling! I meet new people every time I work, and also see many of the familiar friends of the shop. It's just fun!

Updates to my house haven't ceased either. Last week, Terry kindly helped me out again - we painted my 2nd bedroom! I copied the design we used in Harrison's room renovation a few weeks ago...only I didn't use Cardinal's colors. :-) I will post pics soon, but am pretty happy with the way it turned out!

And, while I haven't said much about it, I have done lots of THINKING about what it is I would like to do. I'm fairly certain I have that somewhat decided, but working through how exactly I will pursue it. More to come on that stuff as I iron out the details.

I've also been busy training! I'm really trying to ramp it up again and get a bit more serious and scheduled. With that in mind, I started working with a new coach! I'm very excited about this as well, and so far (it's only been 2 weeks) things are going really well. This week, coach has me doing some tests to determine my pace on the swim and run. I hope I pass! he he
I'll reveal more scoop on my coach in another post.

I'm sure there's more, but it escapes me at the moment...and I need to get ready to hit the pool for my swim test!

Business is that good?

Yesterday's weather was absolutely gorgeous! After a morning bike ride, I came home to clean up, eat, and head out again. I had a few errands to run, and ended up out at Zona Rosa (for those unfamiliar, it's an outdoor shopping center). It was such a nice day - and I haven't been casually shopping in a long time - that I was really enjoying just walking around looking in different shops.

One shop (that shall remain nameless until I get annoyed enough to divulge) had its doors propped open. I had never been in this shop and decided I should take a spin inside. So, in I went. I had only been through the doors about 2 seconds when a voice comes from behind me, "what are you shopping for today?" I simply said that it was so nice, I was just out looking around. The voice, belonging to a sales clerk, who-in my estimation-was older than I am. She had bleached hair (no offense to every blonde), and apparently hadn't spoken for a while, 'cause she had lots to say to me.

Anyway, she responded to my comment that I was just looking with a "are you shopping for your daughter?" I turned around and said, "I don't have a daughter", and kept walking through the store. My new best friends says, "you don't?...well, our target market is 17..."

I think I responded with something like, "oh, should I not be in here?" To which, the obvious response was that I was welcome to look around.

Are you kidding me? Are you really standing there telling me that I shouldn't be in your store if I'm not shopping for someone other than myself, 'cause I'm clearly NOT the target market!?! Too funny.

I understand the whole open ended question to start the sales interaction, but I've never heard of telling someone that they aren't your target market. Interesting sales approach. Lemme know how that's working out!

The funniest part of the whole ordeal is that I think she realized how ridiculous her earlier statement was, because she never stopped talking in the time it took me to get from the back of the store out the front door. I mean, every table of tees or tanks were just soooo cute, she wanted to be sure she pointed them out to me - ya know, pointed out the tees and tanks that the 17 year old (that I clearly am not) would want to purchase.

Happy Birthday, Jennifer!

Happy birthday to Jennifer! You might remember Jennifer from a pic of her with her mother, when I went over this winter to bake Christmas goodies. Anyway, today is her birthday, and we helped her celebrate tonight!




(left to right: the birthday girl! Jennifer, Stephanie, Doug...and random workers in the background) It started with her dad, Doug, taking us to dinner at the Japanese Steakhouse. Jen's sister, Stephanie, surprised her and met us at dinner. So, it was Jen, Steph, Doug, Bonnie (Jen's roomie) and me. We were seated with a couple, and the fun began. Please note, in the picture to the left, that there are 4 workers just standing there along the wall - watching us eat. It was the most bizarre thing ever...we would look up, and at any given time, there were anywhere from 4 to 8 employees just standing there looking right at us. Hmmm. Clearly there wasn't much going on at the ol' Japanese Steakhouse tonight.

After dinner, we went back to Jennifer & Bonnie's apartment to hang out and play games. More of Jennifer's friends came over too...it was fun, though I was pretty bad with the games! Thanks for including me in your birthday celebration, Jennifer...and I hope you had a very happy day!

No Throwing the Ball in the House!

Perhaps my parents thought I learned my lesson, about throwing a ball in the house, many years ago. I can't recall exactly how old I was, but I think it was somewhere around the 3rd grade. We were living in Chicago at the time, and our family had some company over. My little friend and I were playing in my room, and I had the grand idea of throwing a softball back n' forth. As luck would have it, my friend was positioned right in front of my bedroom window. (you see where this is going)

Sure enough, after many successful tosses, we had a miss! The ball went right past my friend, and out the upstairs window! I was mortified! I remember being so afraid that I would get in such trouble. I do not remember every detail, but I know my dad was way more understanding than my little mind anticipated. He simply said that accidents happen and I shouldn't be throwing a ball in the house. Whew!

Fast-Forward 20+ years, and you'd think I could remember that lesson learned. Nope. Tucker and I were playing with a basketball (yes, that's his favorite toy - AND, he can "mouth" the ball like someone would palm it...scary, eh?). I was throwing it and he was chasing/catching. Well, I ended up on the floor, wrestling it away from him and chucked it over my head, and - just like that - glass was shattering! Poor Tucker immediately thought he was in trouble, 'cause I was telling him to stay put. No worries, I cleaned it all up. Thankfully, I still have Terry's shop vac here from all our floor work, so after sweeping up what I could see, I broke out the shop vac to pick up any leftovers. As I was shop-vac'ing, I sucked up one of my cute lil' tri chick socks. So, I just thought I'd show you the before and after view. Aren't these the cutest socks?!


Moral of this story? Don't throw the ball in the house!

Oh Dear!

Well, this wasn't exactly how I would've liked the 2009 race season to start...I competed (and I use that term loosely) in the Shakespeare's Pizza MaxTrax Duathlon today. This race is part of the UltraMax series, and while I've participated in other events under this organization, I haven't done this one before. The race was in Columbia, MO, so I had to get a pretty early start. I'm a bit rusty on the ol' 4 a.m. wake up call!

My buddy, Terry, was also doing this race. He actually stayed in Columbia at a relative's house, so we met at the race venue. I had most of my stuff ready to go when Terry got there. We went over to pick up our packets and get our timing chips. Funny enough, my race number was 100! Crazy!


It was a very chilly morning...in fact, I think this is the first time I've raced a multisport event in long sleeves and longer pants! I took a very short spin on the bike and knew I wasn't overdressed for the event. I didn't realize that the short course was starting first, so we had to wait in the cold an extra 15 minutes. Oh well, I was ready to go. The run started with a downhill, grassy stretch. As you can imagine (with recent rain), this was pretty sloppy. Once off the grass, we hit the pavement that ran along a ball field. This stretch was so muddy, the whole group quickly darted off to the grass for the worst part. I actually started toward the back of the pack, and with all the people passing me, I honestly wondered if anyone was still left back there! All I can say is that I couldn't get a full breath. As I described it to Terry post-race, I had so much fluid movement in my chest/throat that I felt like I was drowning. Wait a minute - this isn't a triathlon!?! I know, I know...there's always an excuse when you have a bad race. Trust me, this isn't the only reason for my pathetic performance. :-)

Ok, so the run was ONLY 2.5 miles, but it seemed to take forever. Sadly, when I arrived back in transition, my bike was the ONLY one left on the bike rack - there really weren't many left on all the other bike racks either! Ouch.
As the transition times indicate, I pretty well took my time changing shoes and getting ready for the bike. I thought surely I could make up some time and get myself together on the bike!

The bike was 15+ miles, and really shouldn't have been a big deal to me. The course was hillier than I thought, but I really felt like I was doing a good job of spinning a high cadence up the hills. It's so funny (and pretty much summarizes all of my races) that I get passed out the wazoo on the run, and rarely get passed on the bike. Ha ha...I know what you're thinking. You're saying, "duh, Dawn, that's because they're all already ahead of you!" Yeah, you're REAL funny! So maybe I'll just say that the people I pass never pass me again.

Ok, really, the first 5 miles of the bike were just painful today. I didn't realize it was so windy, and I just wasn't getting in a groove. Hmm. Once I finished the first loop, I caught a second wind and was feeling strong. I still wasn't moving quite as fast as I expected, but I definitely felt better than I did on the first loop. I guess it must have been about 5 miles or so from the finish (not positive) that I hit a pretty rough road spot and heard something very clunky. I thought I must have hit something in the road. I kinda looked down at my bike, making sure nothing seemed off - didn't notice anything odd, so I just kept riding. A few minutes later, I looked down to check the mileage and guess what? MY GARMIN WAS GONE!!! Riiiiiight, that's what fell off my bike. As I discovered this, I was approaching an intersection with some course volunteers. I stopped, and asked if they had radios. As I was talking to them, a moto ref pulled up to see if I was ok. I told him about the Garmin and asked if he found it out on the course if he would PLEASE let them know racer #100 is missing one! Off I went.

I finished the bike race and, again, had a pretty slooooooowww transition to the 2nd run. Back I went, across the grass and through the mud...my legs weren't having any part of it. Oh yeah, and as I'm running across the grass, I hear the announcer say, "and here comes Terry Wilkes through the finish!" Oh dear, judging by the way things are going, he's gonna be waiting a while.

It's ridiculous to struggle on a 2.5 mile run! I'm out there wondering, "how on earth did I complete 6 marathons...oh yeah, and an IRONMAN?!?!"
In cruel fashion, the race finished with us running up off the path - up, up, up. Terry was waiting a bit down the hill, but that couldn't even give my legs the pep they needed. I mentioned to Terry that I lost my Garmin on the bike. He told me that he heard an announcement that they had something for racer #100. Wahoo! I did muster up enough energy to run the last little bit into the finish.

As I crossed the finish line, the gal taking my timing chip said they had something for me at the announcer stand. We immediately went over there and got my Garmin. It was still on. Woohoo! I'm so happy I didn't lose that bad boy!

A bad day, is what it was. I came in 11 out of 12 women in my age category. I'm embarassed. I should've done better. That's just the way it goes sometimes! I'm chalking it up to the first race of 2009. I'm considering it the kick in the pants I need to train harder - not just on the bike! It's a warm up for the rest of the season...right into Ironman CDA 2010.

One last funny to this story - when Terry and I were packing up our transition areas, this guy at the end of our bike rack says to me..."was this your first race?" I laughed and replied, "it felt like it, but unfortunately it wasn't."

1st Brick workout...

So, I did my first brick workout (in 2009, that is) this past Saturday. And, really, it couldn't have come any later, since my first race of the season is this coming Saturday. Ooops.
I went up to Epic for the Saturday morning ride. It was cold and windy, so there were just 3 of us - Scott, Terry and I. The way out wasn't too bad, thanks to the strong wind pushing us along. However, it was a completely different story when we headed back in - that wind was brutal. Thankfully we chose a shorter route than normal, so we weren't out for more than an hour.

Terry and I brought running gear, so we quickly changed shoes, etc. and hit the run. I was a bit slower with my transition, and could hardly even see Terry when I started running. It was also very evident that I haven't been training bike-to-run, 'cause my legs weren't on board at all. Oh well. That's the way it goes. I promised myself I would suffer through the first 10 minutes, 'cause that's always the most painful portion. So, I continued to run (though i'm confident to anyone watching, it would've looked like walking!).

Finally! I saw Terry running back towards me, which just meant I was that much closer to turning around. Woohoo. I made it to the turnaround and actually picked up the pace a bit. The problem? Yup, back into the wind. It's always sad when you're running downhill and it feels slower than the "up". Hmmmm.

Anyway, it was good to get this workout in, and it's a nice reminder that I need to hit the bricks more often! :-)

Look Out Ty...

We felt like maybe we were on a home renovation show. I went over to Terry & Kathy's as soon as the boys were out of the house for school. Terry had already started taping everything off and getting furniture out of the way - we are painting Harrison's room and want to have it done - for the big reveal - when he gets home from school. Yikes!

Harrison is a big St. Louis Cardinals fan, and has been accumulating the room decor to prove it. So, Terry & Kathy have been telling him that they would re-paint his room in the Cardinals' blue/red. He's been a trooper, waiting through some of the stuff we've been doing to my house. So, we decided to surprise him. We got all the supplies the other day. I painted all the baseboards (swapping those out) at my house so they would be ready to go. Terry picked up the paint and told poor lil' Harrison that it was for my house.

Terry started trimming out the room, and I followed behind with the roller. Terry had a detour today too - Marcus was in a school competition out in Independence, so Terry went to support him. By the way, he got 2nd place for his sermon! Great work, Marcus!
I ignored my instructions to leave the trimming at the ceiling for Terry (sorry! well, kind of), and had the whole room painted with in the main blue when he returned. Yippee. Things are looking good.

Kathy wanted to swap out bed frames too, so we were painting an old metal bedframe white. This was done in the garage - toxic fumes - Mmmmmm. I painted the bedframe, while Terry worked on installing the new baseboards. We were getting nervous, 'cause time on the clock was tick-tick-ticking away!

Last little job - the red stripe! Terry taped it off and I quickly started following him with the red paint. Boy is it red! It was down to the wire, so as soon as the last strip of red was painted, we put his "new" bed together and I left to pick up Harrison from school. I needed to stall him for a few minutes, while Terry got the HUGE mess cleaned up and prepped for the big reveal. :-)

We had Kathy on the phone (she had to work, though I know she would've loved to help with the painting - right Kathy?!) so she could hear his reaction. He walked in the house and started up the stairs...he only got up a couple steps when he came running back down and gave Terry a huge hug! He spotted his freshly painted room and was soooo excited! He was all smiles while he checked everything out. It was worth the work and the rush!

Here are some pics of Harrison, sporting his Cardinals attire and chillin' in his new Cardinals room!