Monday, September 30, 2013

A Few Firsts

Last week for our Wednesday tri group workout, we were biking.  Hills, to be more specific.

Now, these hills weren't new.  I had been up one many times and the other just once (and that was after a 45 min swim and 2 loops on a third hill).  I knew they would be hard, but could be conquered.
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We started at B.S. Hill (haha, love the initials).  It was slow going.  As I was halfway up, I noticed that my gears were funny.  I never touch my gears for the front, just out of habit, but the bike shop had left it differently than they found it.  I changed gears...in the middle of a hill.  Yeah, I can be an idiot sometimes.  I was huffing and puffing, but did not fall over :)  The ride back down got me a sweet 30mph.  Love that!

We rode from that end of the park to the middle, where the other big hill is located.  I did this hill on July 4th.  I didn't remember it being that bad, but I knew it would still be hard.  I followed my group up the hill...slowly, very slowly, I made it to the top. Ugh, ouch, argh.  Breathing really hard.  "Crap!", I told myself, "I thought the first hill was always the worst!" The ride back down was a breezy 28mph, not too shabby.

I did not want to do the hill a second time, but I told myself not to be a weenie.  Hills are good for you and this one isn't insurmountable.  I started out again.  I was cranking my legs as hard as I could and in my easiest gear.  Only looking about 10 feet ahead of me, so as not to psych myself out by looking at the top.  It was hard.  REALLY hard.  I was passed by a group of riders that was all matchy matchy and envied them going by so quickly.  I finally made it to the top and took a short ride around to catch my breath.

On the descent, I could tell my bike felt weird.  Like shaky.  28mph isn't the best time to think "gee, I hope I don't have a flat", but yeah, it was.  I made it to the bottom, found my group, and confirmed that I had my first flat.  Tri Coach Jeff put some CO2 in my tube and he followed me the mile or two back to the YMCA.  He checked out my tire and didn't find any glass in the tire, replaced my tube, and got the wheels back to their normal again.

Then he put on my new pedals!!!  I was VERY nervous to go clipless, but Tri Coach Jeff and teammate Karen were both very encouraging (and thank goodness my coach is a former bike tech!).  My right shoe was decently hard to clip in, but it wasn't bad.  I got going a little bit and got my right to clip in pretty easily.  When it came time to try to stop, the action of twisting my foot to unclip was easy.  I think that having toe clips as pedals for the first 5 months was to my advantage.  Whenever I needed to stop with the toe clips, I had to wiggle my foot out, which is the same premise as the clipless.  I rode around the YMCA parking lot with Tri Coach Jeff and teammate Karen until the street lights came on.  After riding hills with a flat tire, riding in a flat parking lot with sufficient tires and clipless pedals felt amazing!

That night I woke up to pee and thought "wow!  I'm pretty hungry!", but was able to go back to sleep.  The next night, I had my Run for God group (31 min run) and then did another 7.7 miles on my bike with my clipless pedals.  I had some snacks at R4G (cheese, crackers, orange slices, a few chocolate covered pretzels, etc).  At home, I had 3 eggs and 1/2 a taquito.   It sounded like enough food to me, and I wasn't hungry at the time.  I knew I could have eaten more, but the scale had been dropping all week and I really wanted a good weigh in on Friday.

I woke up at 2am and thought I just had to pee.  Nope, laid there and tossed and turned and kept thinking how hungry I was until 2:40.  I got up, went downstairs and had the other half of that taquito.  My kindle battery was nearly dead, so I couldn't entertain myself that way.  I don't have a TV in my room either.  The TV in the living room is too far away to see w/o glasses.  So I ended up sitting my bed, eating Aldi brand cheetos, in the dark, at 3am.  Not my finest moment!

First time waking up b/c I was hungry.  Pretty lame!  I had that "do xyz to lose weight" mentality and let me tell you, it was stupid!  I would much rather get a full night's sleep on a full belly and be up a few tenths of a pound rather than go through that again!  In the morning, I weighed in at 219.2, which officially marks 70 pounds lost from my highest weight and 60 pounds lost since the beginning of 2012!  How awesome is that?  On one hand, the changes I've made make me totally believe it and on the other hand I'm like "have I really lost that much?!?".  Yep!


BTW, TeenSwimSis turned 15 this weekend!

Birthday Cake Pancakes (and bacon)

Some pretty lil roses I picked up for her.
PS - FORECAST FOR MY TRI THIS WEEKEND (AND A FEW DAYS LEADING UP TO IT)...

Um, in a word: No.


Tuesday, September 24, 2013

A New Weekly Schedule

I've had my Monday-Wednesdays booked each week for quite a while now and it wasn't until recently that I got to add something consistent on Thursdays!

Monday: Tri Group workout - mostly swimming
Tuesday: Yoga
Wednesday:  Tri Group workout - biking, occasionally running.
Thursday: Run for God small group
Friday: Rest
Saturday:  Varies, hopefully Pilates + 1 other workout once life slows down
Sunday:  Rest (and work at the church)

I'm so excited about my small group!  I have been working at this church for over a year and have been attending services occasionally for about 6 months.  I know some people, but no one really well.  I really wanted to fit running in somewhere on my schedule, and I am glad that this fits the bill!  It is 1/2 bible study, 1/2 running, though not at the same time :)

I have been paying for Pilates on Saturdays, but since August, I've been busy with other stuff!!!  Yes, my first time back I know I will be sore for 5 days afterward!  I've been busy with things like:  2 tris, 1 - 3k swim, 39 mile bike ride, 20 mile bike ride (with SwimSis - it went EXACTLY how you would imagine 2 sisters riding 20 miles together would...terrible and hilarious all at the same time!), working a convention, and even a 6.8mi run last weekend (4 min run, 1 min walk).  The run was promptly followed by a bourbon themed bar crawl with bourbon samples at each (9!) bar.  It was delicious.  And yes, intoxicating :)


First time running with a hat...I liked it a lot!


I also have been reading a bit of my blog from last year, just to see where I was at, what I was going through.  I love this blog for that.  Otherwise I would forget.  I do this blog for no one but myself.  That's why the design is so crappy :)  One week, I switched around my rest days so I could go order a bridesmaid's dress for a wedding I will be in.  Easiest dress fitting ever - in and out in about 15 minutes!  When asking for what size they should bring, they asked "what pant size do you wear?".  Well, I knew they could care less if I squeeze myself into size 18 skinny jeans.  I know my body and I know my main concern is my bust!  I told them I'd like to start with a 22.  And it was perfect.  Any smaller and it would have been too restricting.  Very glad that it is 2 sizes smaller than the last bridesmaid dress I wore!!!

Aaaanyway, back to the point, I was reading this post about how I swam a 400 IM.  I was like "what?!? I haven't done that since!  Can't let my last year self beat this new and improved me!".  So I set out to my favorite pool to get a workout in.  I knew 400 IM would be no piece of cake - heck, anything that starts out with 100 butterfly is not a joke!  However, the joy I get from pitting me against myself is pretty great.  Last year I said my time was just a smidge under 8 minutes, which probably means it was like 7:58.  My strategy was to swim the 100 fly slow and steady.  Well after 50 yards, it sucked.  It was really hard still!  Well, that's butterfly for you!  I cruised for the rest of the 400 looked at my watch - I made it in 7:37!  If it wasn't easier, at least I cut off 21 seconds...made me happy!

How have you improved in the last year?  New PR? Small size?

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Losing 5 Pounds Every Week

Unfortunately, it has been the same 5 pounds every week this past month or so.  So bad!  I will be up 4-5 pounds on a Monday and be back down to 222 by Friday.  Then the weekend hits and a few bad choices each day really add up.  Luckily, this was not the case last weekend as I weighed the same on Monday as I did the Friday before!  Hoping for a little loss this week too :)

As I've mentioned before, my quest is to get healthier and the scale is one reflection of many aspects of health.  It does affect my mood to a degree whenever I weigh in the mornings, so during the weeks I had tris or the like, I didn't weigh myself because I wanted to focus on what would make me physically and mentally sound.  And yes, I indulged waaaay to much a time or two (I'm looking at you, comedy show where 1 order of nachos could have been for 4 people and my 2 margaritas had very little mixer!).

I've been in more of a routine this past week or two and I've loved it and it has been exhausting all at the same time.  I have workouts and people to be accountable to Monday-Thursday with Saturday being my wild card.  I have been getting home between 7:45-8:15 most nights this week and I had to do midweek cooking on a couple of nights because I neglected to do it over the weekend.  Whew, I've been so rundown during the day, but after I exercise, I feel great!  (and please do not suggest morning workouts :) hehe)  I got asked to work a catering job tomorrow (Friday) night but I said no, because I need Friday to just be Friday! 

I have a dilemma regarding another tri this next month.  It is an open water swim, but I don't have a wetsuit.  A local place has them for rent and I went in to see if they had one in my size.  Apparently its by height and weight.  I gave him my height and the salesman found the right row and he asked my weight and his finger just scanned to the right across the columns.  Kept going, and got to the end and I heard "Well, doesn't look like we have anything that will be a perfect fit". I was 80% sure that was going to be the response when I went looking anyway.  He said there were a few I could try and he would gladly help me out (he emphasized that several times - weirdo), but I didn't feel like shoving myself into a wetsuit that day!  Their rentals are $65 and can be applied toward the purchase of a wetsuit, but when it comes down to it here are the facts.

That swim, the first time, took me 6 mins 13 seconds.  Meaning as far as swim time goes, the rental would be costing me $10 a minute.  No bueno.  I don't want to buy a wetsuit now because I'm hoping to be a smaller size eventually!  But what will the water temperature be on Oct 5?!?  :)  haha could be terrible!  I could drop down to the duathlon, but the only thing worse than a freezing swim is running twice!!!

Any input would be appreciated!

For now, here are some pics of my life from the past few weeks!


Ah!  Spoiled myself!  New Saucony running shoes and Shimano bike shoes!

I will probably make this again this weekend.  Spinach, chicken, blueberries, mandarin oranges, walnuts, raspberry vinaigrette - YUM!

Weird but tasty mash up meal.  Veggies, Italian sausage and salsa over spaghetti squash.  Taste buds love it!

Had a man/pedi this weekend.  Went with blue/purple for the toes (not gel/shellac).

And breast cancer pink (it really was!) in gel for my nails.  Still miss my red!

Needed some compression after a trail run.  I believe this is what Honey Boo Boo's family would call "smexy".


Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Your Words Have Power

I'm not a super negative person who puts themselves down.  I don't call myself names, I usually don't think the worst of myself.  But that does not mean that I am out of harm's way.

I didn't notice that in my attempts to be modest, I was putting myself down.  When I was a nanny, I would say things like "Oh, I'm JUST their nanny".  Or "I'm not their mom, I'm ONLY their nanny".  Then a time or two I had a couple of women say to me "No sweetie, you aren't just or only their nanny, you ARE their nanny.  You are raising them in the hours that their parents can't.  That is a meaningful job and should not be overlooked in its importance".

That got me thinking about the rest of my life and I noticed this pattern in my everyday speech.  I wasn't being overtly negative, but I wasn't being positive either.  In the past month or two I've readopted this awareness.  I noticed I was saying JUST or ONLY when I was asked if I was a lawyer (I'm a paralegal).  Not being the at the top doesn't make my job less important.  It doesn't make me less important.

I knew I had that 3K swim coming up, which I was swimming with triathletes who were swimming 3K, then going on to bike 60K and run 15K.  Just because I was going to be done after the swim portion didn't make my race any less important.  It was something I had to be very intentional about because I did have to convey that I was stopping after the swim portion.  I chose to word it as "I'm doing the 3k swim only", so as to not make it a pre-qualifier (don't know if that is a real term or if I made that up).  I stuck to my guns and felt really good about that and was able to talk to several other athletes about the lack of long open water swims in the state (another post for another day!).

As far as a race report goes...I did it!  Factoring in sighting and wind/waves, it was more like 2 miles.  I had not swam in that choppy of water ever, so it made it interesting, to say the least!  My two wonderful friends (and one of their babies!) surprised me and came to see me compete.  I'm glad I got the notion to look at my phone when I went back to my car after checking in.  I normally don't look at it, but they had called me to tell me they were on their way!  

The Olympic distance was set off just after 8am.  And there was a ton of them!  200 people did the Olympic distance, which was 1 loop of the swim course (horseshoe shape - 1500 yards/meters).  They had allowed 20 minutes for them to go off before my group was supposed to go, but it was much longer that with the time trial start!  My friends arrived, I got them settled on the beach and everyone in my wave, the special distance that I mentioned above, was already in line.  I just hopped in the back of the line and was the last person off from my wave at almost 9am.  We were to do 2 loops.  After the first loop, we had to run along the beach from the swim finish back to the swim start and get back in there.  The sprint wave (400 yard swim) started after my wave.

It was windy, which made it feel cold on the beach, so I did not "warm up" due to the fact that I would have been cold very soon after!  And with that long of a swim, your warm up is built in!  I spent quite a while trying to get in a groove and not have the waves hit me in the face while trying to breath. The first buoy felt like it took forever to get to.  I was working against the waves at that point.  Swimming the 200 or so yards to the next buoy was relatively easy and then I turned the corner and was ready for loooong home stretch for the first loop.  But I was pretty confused as to what I was supposed to swim towards.  The kayakers weren't being very helpful.  "ORANGE BUOY - LEFT" was what one kayaker kept yelling.  Soooo...am I supposed to go to the left of the buoy or is it supposed to be on my left?  I was just cruising along and finally figured it out (buoy was supposed to  be on my left).  I caught up to one or two people from the Olympic wave as well as the end of the sprint wave.

I swam close to the buoy that was near the shore.  I stood up and went to walk beside it, except the cement block that was keeping it anchored down got in my way and I nearly tripped!  I have some nice scratches on my toes thanks to that.  My friends met me as I got out of the water and jogged with me back to the start of the second loop.  they're too precious.  I think I'll keep them around!  They asked if I had another lap in me and I said "Definitely!".  Probably a sign that I took it too easy on the first lap. 

I was back in the water and pretty much stroke for stroke with another swimmer for a while.  Then my cap popped over my left ear.  I could also feel it creeping up the back of my head too.  I told myself not to worry or stop and fix it.  I could do that when I got to the buoy to turn.  However, that was at least 600 yards away!  It took my cap nearly falling off to get me to stop.  Grrr...new caps and big heads.  Don't really mix!  I maintained a good pace and a good ratio of strokes to sighting.

I rounded the last corner and knew it was my time.  I was stopping after this last 500 or so yards and I needed to give it my all!  I kicked it in to gear and was picking people off one by one!  With less than 200 yards left, a swimmer got in front of me and I either had to pick up the pace to pass him or keep behind him.  As much as I enjoy drafting off another swimmer, I totally needed him to get out of my way!  Sooner than I knew it, I was back at the beach and out of the water and crossed the timing mats.  I looked behind me and I was happy that there were 10-15 people still in the water (I had started last).  I knew I didn't break any speed records, but I was happy with my performance.

I had no idea what my time was as I did not bring my watch.  I asked one of the guys who worked for the race company and he said there would probably not be immediate splits and there would be no awards for the three of us who did the swim.  Booo....  Oh well, I found an unopened Vega gel on the ground, which I totally took.  Those things can get expensive!  I also got a tri hat.  I told you about the weird trivia to win the door prizes before...well this time his question was "Do you want this hat?".  And I ran up and said "yes, I want that hat".  And it was mine.  Haven't worn it yet.  Still a little more excited about the gel, to be honest. :)

I am learning little by little to be proud of my accomplishments instead of downplaying them in front of others.  Just recently, when someone asked at work how I am losing weight, I said "I'm training for triathlons" instead of "eatting a little better and moving more".  Definitely a difference, and it is the truth!  I will use my words to empower myself and not tear down any of the work - both emotional and physical - that I have put in this past year and a half.  Just trying to be the best version of me!

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Annoyed

I'm annoyed at my indecisiveness.

I was supposed to do a triathlon on Saturday.  I was signed up for one that got cancelled later this month.  The company said to email them and they would give you a refund or transfer your entry to a different race.  There are two races left.  This one and one in a month.  Same location, same as my first tri.

I wanted to do this weekend's tri, so I emailed them a couple of weeks ago and did not hear anything back.  I emailed again this week and didn't hear anything either, but was told by one of my teammates that they had resolved her issue (a different issue), but did not respond to her.  I wouldn't worry, but there is no race day registration. 

Also annoyed that I found this on their Facebook page " And people wonder why we are hard to get on the phone on race week hosting 400 athletes, 400 families and 300 volunteers: Race team of 25, 8000 cups, 400 chips cleaned, 300 gallons of water, 2 kegs of beer, 500 pizza's, 4,000 lbs of fence, 75 banners, 3 rolls of crime tape, 25 emails per day asking water temp. 52 bike racks with 208 legs, 3 sets of 400 bib labels, awards for 7 races, 400 finisher medal.".  

I get it.  Triathletes can be jerks about the water temperature or specifics about the course, but dangit, my emails were about wanting to do the tri!  Weird customer service!  (Yes, I realize I could have gone a long way with contacting them other ways.  Like smoke signals and such).

So today I went on the website to see if there was more contact information/an explanation.  When I saw this:  timed 3K open water swim for only $20.

Crap!  Like a friggin' bug to light.  What?!?  Only swimming?  Open water?  Longer distance?  Pick me!  Pick me!

Honestly, I was planning on a 10 mile bike ride yesterday morning, but my body was still like "WTF, you did 39 miles last weekend and I still hate you".  I ended at 6.8 and was tired, had sore hands, had my slowest time on that route, and was covered in spider webs.  Blech.  This gives me no desire to swim, bike AND run the course again.  My mental state has been close to fragile lately and I'm afraid if I do worse on this weekend's tri than my first one, I would lose it (pretty sure TOM is creeping up!).

So fine, what if I pick the 3K swim?  (BTW, the 3K swim is only the first part of the BIG tri.  They also have 61.8K bike and a 15K run...I was planning on the Sprint Tri)  Then I would have another tri entry left.  If I do the one in October, I'm afraid I will need a wetsuit.  #1 I don't own one, #2 I'm afraid to rent one because I'm afraid it won't fit/they won't have my size.  Then again, maybe I will get ballsy and ask for my money back from the first entry.

Alright.  Thank goodness I have a blog where I can type out my situation and see it on paper, er...screen.  I'm going to do the swim and deal with the rest later.  I did fine w/a short swim and trail run on Monday, I felt tired in yoga on Tuesday and that bike ride was crap on Wednesday.  Let's hope rest today and Friday make for a great swim on Saturday.  I only know of about 2 other open water swims in the state that are a mile or longer, so this should  be great!  I mean, since August I've swam 3 times, plus 2 swims in tris.  Not exactly any training involved, but that's a fairly common theme in my life!

PS - Not to leave you all with a pictureless post, here is a pic of me and some open water (Lake Erie) from when I went to Cleveland in May.  I believe this is the beach at the Rocky River Reservation (which is great, especially if you love alliterations!).


Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Changed.



Last week was a pretty low week in terms of my self-esteem.  All week I just felt like I was 290 pounds again.  I felt in the way.  I felt like all my clothes fit weird and weren't flattering.  I felt "yuck".

Friday morning, I was in that stage between sleep and awake where your mind is wandering and you have no choice but to follow.  For some reason I was thinking about the BMV and how I was 280 the last time I had my license renewed.  When the woman asked for my weight, I said 250, but she did not hear correctly and kept 215 like I had before (ha!).  Then it hit me like a mack truck - 215 pounds...I'm 7 pounds away from being the weight I have had on my drivers license for the past, oh let's say 7 years.  Say what?

And just like that.  My hope renewed, my wits were about me again, I could clearly see the results based on pictures, the scale, and my improved fitness.

On someone's blog maybe a month ago, there was a post about how she's no longer the same person that she was 5 years ago.  I thought "BS! I've lost some weight and I know I'm the same person as I was before.  I don't think I've changed a bit!".

Cue the 3 day holiday weekend.  If this were years before, I would have reveled in the chance to sit on my arse and do absolutely nothing the entire weekend.  For many, many nights and weekends in the past 6 years, I have done just that.  Even as recent as 2012, I laid in my bed watching Netflix and eating.  Only leaving the house to go grocery shopping or to stop by fast food.  I would also wonder how many fast food meals in one weekend was too many. 

This year, I wanted to go to the hometown for the big festival over Labor Day weekend.  TeenSwimSis was dancing on Friday so I was definitely going to see that.  I hadn't really been to the festival when I had a steady job, so I wanted to shop some of the crafts.  I went on the website to see what time they opened on Saturday as I had to get back to the city Saturday afternoon.  While on the website I saw there was a bicycle cruise associated with the festival.  23rd annual it said.  23rd annual?  So this has been going on since I was 5 and I never knew about it?!?

My desk calendar for August was a bike - love it!

They are also coasters :)

There were a few routes/distances to choose from.  I decided on the 31 mile route.   I was nervous because I was going by myself, which is another thing to be proud of.  I'm an introvert and staying at home every weekend wasn't that big of deal before.  Now going out and doing stuff and meeting people - high blood pressure!  I woke up at 6am on the Saturday of a holiday weekend to go ride my bike with strangers, aiming for crazy!  I saw my Ironman uncle going for a ride as I was driving to the starting point, which made me smile.  Love small towns!  I signed up, grabbed a map, a granola bar, and some powerade.  I got my bike off my car and sort of waited around a bit to see if anyone was looking ready to leave/was riding by themselves.  Everyone else was in groups or keeping to themselves, and I saw one guy head out, so I decided to leave too.

The first 5 miles my brain was crazy.  There were some hills on the route and my brain kept saying "Attack!  Attack!", when moseying along would have done just fine.  I kept that guy in my sight that whole time.  I came up to a couple women and was chatting with them for a minute.  They do that bike cruise every year!  I passed them and was feeling pretty confident as a decent size hill rounded a curve.  I saw some markings on the road, but didn't see them soon enough to see what they said.  I just followed the arrows.  I passed through some gravel and was going down this road.  Except, this whole road had about a half inch of pea gravel on the top, which was pretty hard to ride in, and I had to ride pretty slow.  My wheels were turning white from the gravel.  I made it the mile or two down that road and got to the next intersection.  I realized there weren't any markings on that corner and I knew at that point that I had gone down the wrong road!  Genius, Melissa!  I stopped for about 30 seconds and took out my map and found the road I was turning on would intersect the route. :)

Several miles later, I knew the turn off was coming up for the first rest area.   I couldn't read the signs spray painted on the road very well, so I followed the people in front of me.  After another mile or two, I knew I blew it and was going around the lake that the people on the 41 mile route were supposed to take.  I took it on the chin like a champ, at first.  The hills were getting harder.  I passed a golf course - yes "hills" was in the name!  I don't swear very much, but on my bike, it is fair game!  I got to one hill where I would go down quite a bit and then climb back up this impossible looking hill.   A terrible string of curse words came flying out of my mouth when I saw it.  Not even a sentence.  No nouns or verbs.  Just verbal frustration.

Probably that low dip near the left of the mile 15 marker. 


I made it to the top of that hill (w/o stopping and walking - thank God!).  My saddle was hurting me, my legs were tired and my mental game was lagging.  I would have liked to have seen an oasis, but of course this is the second biggest lake in the state and it is 10 miles to get around it.  I weaved the streets through the lakeside houses and condos and finally made it into "town".  I could see cyclists gathering up ahead and I could almost hear the angels sing.  At that point, I had been riding 1hr 50mins/22.75 miles without any real breaks (only the map break when I was lost).  My longest ride before this had been 19.2 miles just 3 days before.  I ate half a pb&j, a banana, a cookie, and drank some nasty red powerade, but I tell you, at that point, it could have been a 5 star meal! 

No cyclists talked to me, but I did find my cousin who was working at the public beach (lifeguarding/swimming/all things water runs in the family!).  I stayed there for 20 minutes, enough time to rest and figure out where I was supposed to go next.  Apparently, the 41 mile route was supposed to stop at this rest stop, go around the lake, and stop again.  Not all at once?  My mistake!

After that, the ride was fairly uneventful except for a big black dog chasing me as I rode past its yard.  I am not an animal person, especially ones that are charging at me.  I didn't know what to do, so I looked at it and yelled "Aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!".  Then it ran away. 
Go to your room.
Just like this Doctor Who quote "I’m really glad that worked. Those would have been terrible last words".
We had another stop at  local monument of historical significance.  Oddly, I grew up in this town and had never been there, although I had looked for it once.  I spent about 10 minutes there and was back on the road with storm clouds behind me!  On one of the last big hills, I came up on a family of 5 riding the family route (16 miles).  There was a little boy, then up ahead his sister, then the mom, then the older boy then the dad.  And wouldn't you know it, even though I was fairly noisy going up that hill and I probably said "on your left" pretty quietly, every single person besides the little boy thought I was their family member behind them and tried to talk to me as them.  Awkward!  "Uh, nope, sorry!"

I pulled into the parking lot of the school, 3 hours 20 mins, and 39 miles after I had started.  I was soooo happy to be done! I signed back in, grabbed a few more granola bars, and hit the road in my automobile! My plans in the city got pushed back, so I went to my dad's to see if TeenSwimSis was still around.  I called her and she didn't answer so I figured she was out with her friends.  Nope, I got there a few minutes after noon and she was still sleeping!

I really just biked 39 miles?  I need to not see my bike for a while!


I left that afternoon and was back in my city for dinner with a friend.  Sunday I worked at the church all day and Monday I hit the pool for a short swim (200 yd warm up, 500 free for time, 200 yd warm down) and a trail run with my tri group.  I went back home, changed the laundry, put my soup on the stove and met a friend for what I thought was going to be an hour.  3 hours later, I returned home, and kept cooking and cleaning.  Not the lazy weekend I had so hoped for.  But somehow I was extremely glad.  And I could see that change, the good in being busy and being active.  In only sitting down when everything was done.  It was a long weekend, it was packed, but it showed me just how sweet life is right now.  Despite what I may feel sometimes, my actions show me how much progress I have  made and how I am so far from that woman I used to be.

Gross.


Plus I got to clean my bathroom from the post-triathlon mess it had become.  Seriously, you can't even see all of the damage from this picture.  My motto is something along the lines of "Messy space = life being lived to the fullest".

How have you seen yourself change?

Was it the scale or an even that made you realize that you were not the same person anymore?