Bloggaversary

January 1st marked the one year since my first blog!! I looked back at some of my posts and felt so many things! 1. Man I sound cheesy and lame. 2. I have come so far physically! and 3. I have come so far mentally!
It's amazing to go back and read what you wrote, now knowing what would happen all through out the year. But seeing God's grace and blessing this year. W O W.
I was going to try to go to Morgan Hill today for a funeral of one of my dear friends Dad (huge trial at home church I talked about). Sadly I couldn't go do to finances. My prayers are with them today.
2011 so far:
1st: Successful at eating only fruits and veggies, wanted to eat anything and everything in site that was not a fruit or veggie [especially the left over fudge cake I made new years eve..what was I thinking?].. but I didn't. We went on a family bike ride on the aquaduct, very nice. We rode 10K. I got my new bike up to 18.6 MPH (thanks to the speedometer Davey put in my stocking I could see). That was pushing to my max. Love the speed of my new bike... But I gotta say.... I really miss the comfort of my pink bike! This bike is very rough on the lady parts and even though I wore my bike shorts, I was glad we were done after 6 miles! What am I gonna do? :(

2nd: Training schedule said to run 8 miles. Due to Church I would have had to get up and run at 5am outside in the cold dark. I was dreading this very much. Then a light bulb went off and decided to go to the gym and run on the treadmill. It was so nice to be in a warm area, where I could watch Friends clips on my iPhone. Downside- fighting boredom. There are only so many clips on You Tube of Friends. I didn't have enough nutrition the night before due to eating only fruits and veggies so I was really tired after mile 3. I fought with myself to keep going. At mile 4 I paused the treadmill to go potty. Came back and it erased my mileage. Really bummed bout that because I was going to take a photo of the treadmill reading 8 miles. Went potty again at mile 6. The last two miles I had to run slow to make it. My tummy started really hurting. 1 hour & 54 mins later I was done. I ran 8 miles people! Can't believe it.

3rd: I headed to the gym to do Yoga, and then I swam 1/2 mile.

I have been tracking and doing well and sneak peaks on the scale tell me it's working.

January 1st also marked the one year mark for going to the gym. I've always gone here and there since like 1998. (seriously, I've been a member to 24 hour fitness since I was 13.) But this year I was consistent.
My wonderful Mom gave me money for Christmas to get new running shoes. I've been wearing mine I have for a year and a half.. and not just wearing once in a while.. wearing them everyday. I need new ones. The boys and I are taking a little trip to Sports Chalet today for a new pair. Yay!
New post later tonight with my actual goals for 2011 written down, because my pastor always says, "What doesn't get planned doesn't get done." & "He who aims at nothing hits it every time."
Have a fabulous day!

Love,
The Curvy Housewife

Cycle Auditions & Christmas Challenge Update

Cycle auditions were yesterday at 1:00 pm. My goal was to get to gym by 12:15 pm to practice. My five audition song playlist:
1. Half Way by Black Eyed Peas- Flat Combo (in & out of saddle)
2. Pump It by Black Eyed Peas- Sprints
3. In the Air Tonight by Phil Collins- Long steep hill Slow in and out of saddle. (Yes I will rock this song when I teach.)
4. Only Girl in the World by Rihanna- Jumps
5. Fallen by Sarah McLachlan- Cool down

Let me just say how music disabled I am at the moment. I usually only listen to Christian and sometimes Country. So to find lyrics that weren't talking about getting drunk or doing the deed was hard. Some songs I picked may talk about that and I just don't understand the song.. anyways...so I thought these songs may be older and was worried everyone would have already heard them in cycle class or taught them before.

Auditions were a group thing. Everyone did everyone's audition while Jackie watched and took notes. It started with Turbo Kick Boxing, then dance, then Zumba.. then cycle. I went first.

Of course...their plug for my iPod on my iPhone was not working. The music kept skipping in and out and I just continued to go and give my intro..but Jackie stopped me and said she didn't want me to have to audition like that. So she said I could go burn a CD and come back at 2:30 with the other group, or reschedule a one on one with her. I choose the 2:30. I grabbed my things and Jessica gave me a big hug and said she was sorry.

I drove fast to Walmart.. literally ran in the store, ran and found blank CD's... and I may have grabbed the first chocolate thing I saw, which happened to be a huge candy cane thing with Hersey's kisses in it. Of which I shoved several in my mouth in the car. Chocolate relieves stress. Didn't you know that?

Got home, burned my playlist, ran back to gym in time for next group cycle. When I got back Jackie gave me a big hug and asked if I was okay, and said she would have cried if that was her. Which I almost did. She gave me the option to go first or last, and I decided to go in the middle. I gave my same introduction.. "Hi my name is Adrienne. I have been cycling for...... I have lost.......I have done 3 triathlons... I am training for a half Ironman... I love cycling!! Let's go!!" I really didn't have an intro prepared. So halfway through Half Way she asked me to give people some cues on form. Not really sure what she wanted I started directing the people to keep upper body relaxed, hands relaxed not gripping the bars super tight, you want it to be all legs, make sure your bum is right above the seat and you should tap the seat with your bum while ridding out of saddle.. Then she said, "Okay great! Thanks Adrienne!!" and it was someone else's turn.

After, Jackie asked me if I felt okay with my audition and I said yes, it was just a little short, and asked her if she saw enough. She said in a whisper, "Yes I saw enough, and if I needed to see more I would have asked you for more." So I hope that's was a good thing. At the end of it all she said it is a short audition because people decide in your intro weather of not they like you. I hope people would like me. I am right there with them, still needing to lose weight.

But you never know! So Jessica, Jackie and the gym manager all took notes, and will be discussing it all and Jackie will call us before Christmas. She said to us all, don't be surprised if she says, "I want you to work on... then come back". So we'll see!!

Christmas Challenge Update:
1. Bike- 48 miles of 150
2. Run- 22 miles of 75
3. Swim-.6 miles of 5
4. Gospel's- In Mark now
5. Plank- Held for 1 whole minuet! check!
6. Tracking food- Not so good. :/
7. Lose 10 pounds- Lost 1 of 10 pounds.. down 1 from last week! yay.

Behind on everything, but still really good for me to have a goal to work towards! I'll see how close I can get. Davey is on his way home.. hurray!! Missed him so much this week.

Merry Christmas Babe. Love Davey & Dad!

God is so good. Been praying for a new bike for a while. Davey and my Dad split the cost of this bike. It's used, off Craigslist. Very affordable. I found it and it was love at first site. It was my exact size (according to investigation online), 52 cm. I prayed, if it wasn't God's will he wouldn't allow me to get it. But He did.
This is a Centurion Ironman Triathlon Bike.
It is going to take some getting use too. Very rough on my bum. VERY fast and super sensitive steering. Clip in pedals. Have not manged to accumulate enough courage to try it with my cycle shoes.. I am not ready to crash yet. He had different pedals on it, white ones, but they didn't fit my cycle shoes. He happened to have extra pedals that fit my cleats, so he swapped them! Saved $40-50 there.
Learning the bike mechanics. Very different to ride, to turn, to climb hills, to change gears (gears are on on top tube, not handle bars). I'm already getting the hang of it though. I see bright successful races in this bikes future. I'm gonna name it.... have any ideas of good names?

Christmas Challenge Week 1

Bike- 33 of 150 miles.
Run- 15 of 75 miles.
Swim- 0 of 5 miles.
Lose 10 lbs-0 of 10 lbs gone.
Gospels-Halfway through Matthew.
Track food- Good the first couple days... than... came Cody's surgery.. needed groceries.. excuses, excuses. Right now I am baking cookies! It's Christmas. I can't let my boys miss out on all the Christmas traditions. Ok. Ok. So they are too little to know. The cookies are for me.
Plank-Can hold for 30 seconds now :)

So I am not wear I hoped I would be by now. But I also forgot about Cody's surgery. You are probably thinking, okay that's one day! Right? Wrong. 4 days spent in Hollywood in December so far due to his surgery. It's the 9th. That's 4 whole days gone.. so 5 days to accomplish what I've accomplished. Not too bad! But I can do better.
My knees are still feeling achy. I've been standing up a lot running errands and cleaning. Time to stretch them.. but HOW?
Like this.

Christmas Challenge

I've been looking for a Christmas challenge to do for the month of December to help keep me on track. I couldn't find one I liked, so I decided to make one up of my own! I invite you to do it also if you want to, and you can modify it to your own challenge, or just do one of the challenges.
Challenge details:
Run: 75 miles in the month of December.
Sounds like a lot right!? It's part of my training for Surf City half marathon. It will be very challenging keeping my schedule. I made a chart, but as long as I reach the goal of 75 miles, I will be happy.
Bike: 150 miles in the month of December.
This is actually about 50 miles short of the beginning Olympic distance bike training. I am going to account every Spin class 8 miles, and do the rest on the road (yay for my new bike trailer thanks to Sara!). Since I have already done over 26 miles at Bike the Coast, I know I can do the bike leg of the Olympic Distance Triathlon, but I need to stay conditioned.
Swim: 5 miles in the month of December. Olympic distance tri is a 1 mile swim in open water. That is 4 x's what I've done other triathlons. In January I will really kick up my swimming miles.
Track & stick to points: Track and plan meals, stick to allowed WW points.
Starting December 1, I will track all my points, and plan my meals ahead of time. I am giving myself Christmas Eve and Christmas day to slack a little on points.
Weight loss: Lose 10 pounds.
I hope that with all the running, and tracking this will be easy.
Plank: Minding my Weigh challenged her readers to do a Plank Challenge and I committed but have not followed through. I am going to challenge myself to hold the plank for 1 minuet before this month is over!
And my final challenge is...
Read all 4 Gospels: Read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John through, in the month of December. That's 2-3 chapters a day. Considering He was born this month, to die for me, this is a reasonable goal for me to accomplish! I love spending extra time with Him this month, next to my Christmas tree, with a hot cocoa or a tea.

These are some very high goals I have challenged myself too. I am very bad at sticking to plans. So to say the least, I have my work cut out for myself. My biggest enemy is time. I have scheduled most of this, and will work hard to stick to it!
p.s. I realized I have not posted my goal for Thanksgiving day Turkey Trot 5K in Modesto. My goal time is 38 minuets. :)
p.s.s Happy birthday to my wonderful, beautiful mother! Thank you for having me :) You don't look 52 at all. xoxo

Tri Carson Finisher!

The day started off early, at 3:30am. We got on the freeway by 5:15am. We got to Carson at 6:40, so really not bad time. It was raining hard and still very dark. I didn't have a good feeling about this! From the time we pulled in to the college I knew it was unorganized. No direction leading you to the right area, no parking instructions, nothing. I knew it was the first year for this event, so I just brushed it off.
When we found the area, I went and got my packet, and set up my bike in transition. It was set on a small patch of grass on a slight hill... sound awkward? It was. And muddy!! This race turned out to be a mud run. 3 porta potties for 300+ people as well.. nice. Okay so I am complaining a bit.
So we started the race. The 5K first. I'll just say, there were pros to running first, such as, don't have to worry about changing and being wet.. except I was wet due to the rain. And it's nice to get my weakest thing done first, but.. it also wore me out more than a swim would.

Run- I believe I did manage a PR. I am pretty sure, according to my watch, I finished the run in about 41 minuets. Didn't make my goal (39:50)... but still beat my last time. I ran quite a bit of it! On the last mile I ran about 2/3 the mile straight with out stopping and felt strong!! Starting out on the other hand was hard. I was cold and wet and my asthma was really bothering me. Thank God Jocelyn gave me an inhaler. And due to the porta potty issue, I was at the back, so really was in the kaboose the whole time. It's okay, I know I will do well on the bike... or so I thought.

Bike- Well, I finished in about 60 minuets, and did probably 3 extra miles, but spent a lot of time trying to find my way, stopping to ask the volunteers and CHP if I was going the right way. UGH! So at the "Meeting" before the race, no bike description was given except it's wet, and go slow. So when me and a several of us on the course see a turn, but no one tells us to turn and everyone else is going straight, we go straight. You follow the people. So that turn, was actually the way we were suppose to go. Right, and then do that loop 3 times THEN go straight, making your way back to the college. Again, no signs, no one saying "First lap turn Right!" nothing. And yes, of course they had a timing sensor at the right turn so they knew if you did 3 laps or not.
So a few of us made it back to the college and they were telling us to dismount at the cones. I'm thinking, "What? It's only been twenty minuets. That can't be right." Then I ask someone, "Do we do two laps?" "No you do four!" "Four?? What!! Where?!" And FYI it was 3 laps and the several miles when you go straight. No one knew anything. So we ask what to do, he points that we go across the campus, (where no one on bike are) and get back on the street and do the laps. Okay, so I find the street and the other bikers. The guy and girl I was with cut across the street, missing the timing sensor, and cut into the bike crowd and I didn't see them again. I see the sensor, go opposite way everyone is going to make a U Turn and go through sensor. A CHP stops me and asks me what I am doing. I tell him we got off track and what ask what we do and where we go. He said, make a u turn, you have to do 3 laps. By now it's been a good 3o mins into the bike leg of the race.... I am thinking, "If I do 3 lasp now it will take me at least 40 mins!" Ugh again. So I do the loop. On the way back to the TURN the same CHP saw me and said "Go straight this time!" I am like, "what? I have to do three laps!" "This is the 3rd time I have seen you!" as a volunteer agrees with him. Okay I know buddy but I got messed up! So I say, "can I just go through the sensor then turn around and go back?" He says, "Sure! I don't care." But I didn't want to give up. I would do one more lap, knowing I would be doing more than the 12 miles, but at least I could finish knowing I did the required amount. So now I am ALONE. All alone. Very lonely and discouraged. I wanted to just get to the college and give up. But I passed the CHP again and went all the way back to the college to transition area. I am not sure how far I went, all I know is I got messed up, along with MANY others, and they did not do any laps. So, I was upset.
The course was tough, several long gradual hills, nothing too extreme though. Oh and at one point my front brakes weren't working down hill (and it was wet). I managed to stop real quick to look and realized it wasn't connected :/ Yikes. I fixed it and was on my way.
It seemed I was last when I was coming in to T2. People were already leaving the event. I see Davey and Karissa and her friend and the boys, I express my frustration and they already knew I got off course, because many others came back and told everyone they messed up.

Swim- I grunted all the way to the pool through the muddy grass, as Davey and everyone came with me. I got in the water, surprised to see people still swimming. The pool was very warm. I was in and out in 5-6 min. No one was there to keep track of how many laps people did, and a volunteer kept telling me to move over which slowed me down. The exit was across the pool so I had to wait for swimmers to go by, then out of the pool and cross the finish line. I was happy to see that people were still coming in the pool sometime after me. So I wasn't dead last like I thought.

I spoke with someone right away, but got no answers. Then Davey showed me the lady running the event, I told her what happened, and she seemed real nice, but busy. So oh well. They results were up, and I wasn't on there, guessing it was because I didn't get scanned 3 times on the bike course. About an hour later I saw a Twitter message from her and she asked how I liked it, and I told her what happened and she said they will work on the timing. Oh Well, what can you do?! I guess every triathlete has a race like this once in their lives right? Below: About to start.

Below: Finishing the run

Starting the bike.
Here I am asking why I am back at the college so soon...

Finishing the bike.
Onto the swim now.

and here is my motivation..........

The end.

Weigh IN - -BIG 5-0!

Weighed in today! Hit -50 baby! Yay!! At first it read 195, then 194, then 193 (5 times in a row) then 194 (4 times in a row)... yeah my scale is being funky. Anyways, so I decided to just go with 194. So yay! If I saw this day 15 months ago, I would be so happy and excited. I am very happy, but I am still very aware that I have 54 pounds to go to reach my goal. Hopefully it won't take me as long to lose the second half, but I am not going to put a "goal date" on this journey any more. I'll get there eventually. I do hope it is by next summer so we can start trying for another baby. But if not, that's okay. I have my whole life to get there.
Yesterday in Coach's class he kept commenting me on my form and telling me how good I looked. It felt so nice, but I kept looking in the mirror and saw my side, and realized I am still really big.
I'm all set for the tri on Saturday! I am starting to stress about the 25 mile ride I registered for. I am sure I can do it, but that's roughly 2 hours or 1 hour 40 minuets on a bike. It's a long time! I have to think of a strategy to prepare.

See Jane Run Triathlon Finisher!!

Above is after the race, below is before the race.
Just got the results!! Finished in 1:53:02 (1 hour, 53 min, 2 seconds). Yesss!! Swim: 10:34
T1: 5:26 Bike: 49:19 T2: 1:49 Run: 45:50 (If I can improve run time it will cut so much time out).

Praise God I did it and finished strong! Before I go into detail I will say I am so happy with my performance. I did much better than my first time. I rocked the bike course. The swim was good & challenging, and the run was tough. Event was EXTREMELY unorganized. Many many upset people. I was okay with it all though, I just had fun.

Me & Cody waiting for my wave. Swim caps are so ugly. I know.
Finally started! And another wave! I still have a while though.
Friday September 24-
We left at 1:00 pm, got gas and snacks and hit the road. I was trying to buy something healthy for me for a snack in the car, so I got a bag of pistachios. Note to self: next road trip bring own snacks. Gas stations have no healthy option! So I start snacking on them and about 20 pistachios later I noticed my mouth starting to itch and swell. What's going on?! I am not allergic to any nuts... at least I didn't use to be. Thank God I brought Benadryl to take to get a good nights sleep. I took 2, and it helped my mouth. Then my stomach started acting funny. We had to stop 3 times! I was in so much pain and wondered if it was the nuts or if I was getting a bug. I was getting dehydrated but felt like if I drank too much I'd throw up. I was stressing out, but felt so sick I didn't care about anything but getting to my grandparents and laying down. I took Imodium, Tums, and Gas X. I then felt like I was sick from all the medications!
We made good time and got to my grandparents by 6:30pm even with stopping 3 times. I felt a bit better by then and knew I needed to energy from the dinner my grandma made specially for us, so I at pasta, yams, carrots, and chicken and a muffin (yum) and felt much better. Now I was just worried about my tummy acting up during the race. I got all my stuff laid out, put the boys to bed, took more Benadryl and went to bed by 9:00 pm.

Race Day, Saturday September 25-
I had a good nights rest, and woke up at 4:30 am. I had an Ensure (could only get one down) ate the oatmeal and banana my grandma had made for me, she french braided my hair, and then the boys woke up. My grandma made the boys and Davey eggs and bacon while I got dressed. My tummy was a little finiky, but not too bad. I took an Imodium just in case. We left my grandma's at 6:15 am and got to the park at about 6:30 am. It was still dark, but soooo exciting seeing all the ladies getting their bikes ready and getting ready to race. My favorite things was seeing all the husbands who came and put their wife's bike together than take care of the kids while their mommy went and rocked a triathlon. It was an amazing experience. There were also a lot of ladies that did the race with friends.

The atmosphere was very laid back, not many super competitive ladies racing, it was really more for fun, for a liberating experience. It was a great triathlon for beginners. BUT I noticed, the staff was still setting up the transition area and the Bike Out path. I thought that was odd. I got my bib and timing chip and swim cap. We had some time, so I went and felt the water, not to bad. I decided to go set up my bike in transition area.. here comes more disorganization. In Avia you had a designated spot for your bike by bib number. If I would have known that people were setting up where ever, not in their own rows, I would have went right away and got a spot. Lucky for me a nice lady moved over so I could go next to her. Completely chaotic. I laid out my towel under where my bike was hanging, set another towel folded next to my shoes, socks, hat, and shirt with my bib umber pinned on. I laid out my wetsuit, body glide, and goggles down (still had about 30 minuets before race began and once you get your wetsuit on very hard to go potty). I had my fanny pack strapped to my bike with my inhaler, chap stick and gels inside it. Helmet hanging on the bike with glasses inside.

Went and found Davey and the boys, went to the bathroom, and went back to get my wetsuit on. Going back into the transition area to get ready, I couldn't find my bike!! Because.... there were no visible signs with numbers on them. Oh gosh. Took me like 5 minuets to find my bike. I should have brought a balloon to tie to my rack. Finally found my bike, got all suited up, and went to wait by the shore with Davey and the boys. 5 minuets to starting time, no signs of starting. 5 minuets late, 10, 20, 30 minuets later the first wave finally goes. I had to pee twice while waiting, and wearing my wetsuit. What an ordeal. Then, you'd think the waves would be organized by age or something. Nope. I was in the 7th wave! Very last wave. The waves were every five minuets I would guess.

When my age group, which was 19-25 by the way instead of how it said it would be online 25-29 [much better for me to race being at the youngest end of my group instead of oldest] lined up, there were only about 25 of us! Every other group had at least 100. Weird huh? Well it was good and bad, good because no one kicked me in the face or trampled me in the water, bad because less to compete with, harder to get in the higher percentage.

Swim-
When the horn blew we were on our way. It was much less competitive feeling. I hit the water and ran as far as I could, which turned out to be a very good strategy I wasn't planning, but got me ahead of most. Then I dove in and started swimming. I was in the front with a couple of others for a good part of the way, but my breathing started to feel restricted and I slowed down. I did back stroke. I would alternate between free style and back stroke. One time while doing back stroke was going sideways in the wrong direction, probably cost me 45 seconds! Finally I see ground, and I swim fast as I can until it's shallow enough to run out. I run out see Davey and the boys and run to transition. Which by the way was far away, and had to run through mud, and jump over concrete block. Disorganized.
Me right before we took off. I look like the biggest in the bunch! But their were much bigger participating. One lady 300+ pounds. No joke.
I have the pink on under my suit. In the front closest to the camera. Here I am passing women with pink caps that started in the wave before me. I am the second green cap.. not the one right in front. Out of the water! On to T1
T1-
I got to my bike, tore off my wetsuit, threw on my shirt (btw I did have to wear just my sports bra under my wetsuit because I didn't have any where to put my bib, and it was so fast, no one was looking, and it was all woman..), slipped on my socks and shoes, ate a few gels, had a couple bites of protein bar, put on my hat and glasses, put on my helmet, uh-oh! strap was too tight with my hat on.. cost me at least 30 seconds, drank some water and Gatorade and jumped on my bike and was out of there.

Bike-
Waved to Davey and the boys (can I just say how much I love them for cheering me on so much?!!), up a pretty steep hill out of the park, then a flat busy road. I caught my breath, had some more water, used my inhaler, got passed by a woman and once I caught my breath... I took off. I powered through the wind fighting against us. I passed the lady that passed me, and continued to pass woman right and left. I felt strong and powerful on my bike. It was a smooth course, and the road tires I got last week for my bike helped a lot, although my bike is at least 8 pounds heavier if not more than all the other ladies with 8 pound road bikes. That didn't slow me down though. My legs were pumping the whole time, I barley ever rested them, even while going down hill. There were a few hills, but I never got off my bike (Yesssss!!!!!). "On your Right!! On your left!!" I was shouting all the time as I passed woman. I kept thinking, why are they going so slow? It must be because they are pacing themselves because they know whats ahead. But a lot of them looked so worn out already.
I came up to an intersection and was stopped by CHP!! It was only for a minuet or so but later I found out a lot of woman were stopped for 5-10 minuets! Again.. disorganized. They are trying to work out all these problems that is why I don't know my exact time yet. Hopefully today I will. I passed a beautiful winery on a gradual slope, not too bad though. Then hit the U turn and went back.
Around mile 8 we hit a very steep hill, most people were walking their bikes up. A cycle man (not in the race, again, another disorganized factor) was going up too, and I passed everyone, and kept up with him side by side. Going down hill I saw my grandparents on the corner yelling and waving at me!! I was so excited to see them. At this point they think I am super last because the race started so late and I was the last wave and they saw many others ride by before me. But I passed many woman that started before me, and I could tell by the number on their calf which was their age. (BTW I got compliments on my pink bike :)
Saw Davey and the boys as I rode in, feeling great and knowing I did awesome on the bike, I was ready for the run. But once my feet hit the group my legs gave out and my knees felt like jello. I shook it off and ran to T2.

T2-
Mounted my bike, took off my helmet, had some Gatorade and powerbar, stuffed my inhaler in my bra and ran for the run out. Davey is yelling, "Run hard babe!" and I remembered I forgot to check my phone in my fanny pack to see my bike time (was about 9:05 am when I started) and I shouted to Davey "what time is it?" and a volunteer said almost 10:00 am! Whoo! I quickly realized that I had done the bike course in about 50 minuets!! Whoo hoo! I can make my goal, which is to finish the whole thing in under 2 hours! But this tri is longer than my first, and I had to run an extra mile...

Run-
I wanted to run as soon as I started, but needed to catch my breath. I realized the run course was all trail, up and down hills. Running is my weakest area, so I caught my breath and ran...slow. I ran walked the 3.1 miles. I kept thinking of making it in under 2 hours. I pushed but had such a killer side ache! I chatted with some woman, one lady said I was super strong on the bike! Most I talked to it was their first tri. I noticed ladies passing me and they were in the first waves, which meant I somehow past them on the bike. I was bummed that I was losing time because I was slow. But I kept going, running as much as possible, and when I saw the race was nearing the end, I ran hard and about that time I entered the park and heard Shane yelling, "Go Mommy! I love you so much!" and my mother in law and littlest sister in law had come and were cheering me on! I felt great and I ran all the way to the finish where Davey and Cody were waiting.

Praise God I finished!! The time when I finished was 2 hours 24 minuets, but that is based on the FIRST wave, and I was the 7th! So if I am correct, and the waves were every 5 minuets about.. let's just say I went 30 minuets after the first wave, that means I finished in 1 hour 54 minuets! I am not positive because I didn't have a watch, and the results still are not posted, but I hope that's about right!

I loved this expirience and can't wait for another tri. One good thing about not moving to Ohio is California has many many triathlons, so I'm in no rush to do another. Davey wants to do one, so when we can afford it, he will do the next one. I am going to focus on my running, and in time I am going to try and run a whole 5K. I'll need a running schedule, and some friends have told me of some that I want to try.
I just want to mention who my thoughts were on while tri-ing.. The Lord first, and praying for strength, Davey and the boys who ARE my motivation. My grandparents, Aunt Sherry, Tori, and Lucy who sponsored me and with out them I couldn't have done it. My Mom and Dad and Mother in law for telling me how proud they are of me. Sara I thought of you often, was glad you did an organized event for your first tri. :) Kimberlynn, who I thought many women there looked like you (seriously). LOL. Turtle.. kept saying to myself while running, "Slow and Steady". And my loved Strength and Beauty ladies who were praying for me while I was racing! Thank you Denise, Jocelynn, Alex, Katrina, and Melody. And so many more people who motivate me!

I am also happy to report that I am back down 2 pounds. Yay! I am tracking again starting today and hope to be past the huge milestone I've been trying to reach by next weigh in!

Pretty Pink Bike, Weigh-In, Hungry, & Ohio

Well sad and glad to report today I was down... but only .6. So now.. 201.0
This stinks cause I want to be down so bad under 200!! But it's good cause I was sooo hungry this week!! It's that time again, and yep ... I was craving CHOCOLATE all week. I ate all my FLEX points on chocolate. :/ A friend of ours moved out of state, so they brought us all their food. Well this was a huge blessing! They did have a lot of healthy food, but they also had candy & hot fudge. We have had the same jar of Nutella in the cupboard for a few months.. I am never tempted to eat it, until this week I kept sneaking spoon fulls. So bad, I know!! Today I think I am taking off of tracking, and just giving in to my cravings. I am planning on riding my bike at least 10 miles today though. I can't hold back the urge any longer though for a big satisfying brownie with hot fudge.
I just can't. :)

Thursday we are off to Ohio!! Excited and nervous! I really hope they like us, and that the staff wives are nice and inviting. There is a ladies event while there, so that should be lots of fun! I have a good feeling about this church.

Davey is so sweet. He spray painted my bike for me!! Watermelon Pink. It is tooooo cute!! I love it. It just needs a few more adjustments and will be ready for the triathlon. I was looking for a new one but we really can't afford it right now. A triathlete said online, don't buy a good bike until you do 2-3 Sprints. Borrow one if you have to. And we were blessed by my in-laws to be given this bike, which was Davey's when he was a teenager!! Can you believe it?! It runs really well too. I am still praying for a wet suit and the gas money to get there. I know he will provide.

I have been praying that God would use me, and allow me to share His gospel with someone. Would you believe that this morning a lady knocked on my door, asking about our church??!! We are usually the one's knocking doors inviting people! She said some neighbors told her we are Christian and that she wanted some info on our church. I asked her if she had a couple minuets to share some verses from the bible with her, but she had to go. I gave her a gospel tract and told her the verses on there tell her how she can know for sure she is going to heaven. I am praying she will come to church and more importantly trust Christ as her Saviour.

On Saturday we decided to go to a nearby lake we have never gone too. Well... I don't regret never going there. It was so dirty!! It was 101 here and I hoped to swim (my gym pool has been closed a week). Yeah.. what does it say when you see 3 dead fish floating in the lake and there is so much foam at the shore. The water was so murcky that with my goggles on I couldn't see in front of me. So I did not swim like I hoped to. Cody is going to be my little swimmer. He goes right into the water.. which is why we have to keep a life jacket on him at all times. He's so funny, he figured out he can float, so he goes to the shore, turns around and backs in the water while on his tummy, then flips over onto his back and floats... haha! He laughs and smiles the whole time, until he got mouths full of that nasty water! Yuck! We left after we ate our picnic.

I don't know why I am writing about my days out of order.. lol. But on Friday, I got home from the gym and see a really tall man in my house. I come in and our friend Brent is there borrowing books from Davey for school. Then I see Cody running around with a pair of my UNDERWEAR around his neck!!!!! Oh my soul. Can you say mortified??!! I snatched them (thank God they were clean undies) and threw them in my room and shut the door. When he left I was looked at Davey with a unpleasant look, and said, "Davey!! Oh my goodness!! Did you notice that?" "What your underwear? yeah." as he chuckled. "Did he notice too?" " Yeah, I told him Cody was playing in the laundry." Oh my.. MEN! They can't look for books and watch boys at the same time. :/

Acomplished my first Triathlon!

"Don't drown, don't get hurt, finish. That's the goal." That is what a triathlete told my husband at the event while they were chatting. That was my goal. Actually, my goal was, "Don't die, finish."

I have to thank God for giving me the strength. I could NOT have done it with out HIM.

The day before the tri was a bad day. Nothing went right. I was discouraged and stressed. I finally went to bed at 12:15 am when I had to get up at 2:15 am to leave by 3 am, to get there by 7 am. But somehow we managed to get out the door at 3 am and we arrived at 6:45 am. People were everywhere getting their bikes ready and bags packed. I had no idea what to do, where to go, what to bring, how to dress, etc. for the time before the race. As soon as I saw everyone with their top of the line Specialized bikes and helmets I felt very out of place. As we were sitting in the car trying to decide what to bring down to the race area, Davey pointed out every over weight person that rode by. "There's a fat lady. Oh! Another big one. There goes another one." I was giggling... He was trying to make me feel better. How sweet. ;)

We loaded down the stroller with all our food, waters, clothes, cameras, diaper bag, and the boys. We had no idea where to go. We were parked at a camp ground where most of the participants camped. We just followed the crowd. We finally approached this EXTREMELY steep dirt trail that takes you down to the race. It wasn't quit 1/4 mile, but close. I had my bike and Davey had to try to control the stroller. Horrible situation. Finally we made it down, got to registration, got my bag, and I went to mount my bike.

I had about 1 1/2 hours before my race began, so we watched the Long Course participants (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run), and the Olympic Participants (1.5k swim, 40k bike, 6 mile run). I stretched and warmed up a little, ate a banana and 1/2 a PB & J on whole wheat, and just watched in amazement at all the dedicated, serious triathletes.

When it was time for me to go down and change into my bathing suit, Cody was really crying at this point because he was tired. I was worried that he would cry the whole time I was away and felt sorry for Davey. He didn't though, he went to sleep in the stroller. Thank God.

Swim
1/4 mile: Completed in 14:15 (14 minuets, 15 seconds)
I had a strategy. Since I am better at swimming than I am at biking or running, I thought I would make my way to the front of the line for the swim, then get a good head start on my race.
They have "Waves", which is each age group goes at a different time. Once the age in front of my group went a bunch of the people got in the water and swam around a bit. I was not sure why. I just put my feet in, and thought... "Brrrr. That's cold." I figured out they were just getting wet to feel the temperature. Most people wore wet suits, and there I was in board shorts and a rash guard. Some women were just wearing a one piece, which they would soon regret.
As soon as the horn blew, people came up behind me running and not worried about pushing people out of their way. I ran in, then dove. I came up, my body in shock at the freezing temperature. I have only been emerged in cold water like that once before, and that was on our honeymoon in Shasta. Davey convinced me to jump off a waterfall with him. He had already done it and said it was fine. Well, the water came from snow from the mountain.... not fine!! When I finally popped up I couldn't breathe. The cold water takes your breathe away and your body goes in shock. That is how this was. I immediately got to the side, hoping I could stand for a second, but I couldn't touch anymore. People passing me, splashing and kicking water in my face and mouth. All I could think was, "How far away is the first life guard?" I seriously thought I wasn't going to make it. The cold water made it impossible to catch my breath. I was just fighting to stay above the water. I kept going. I took off my goggles to see better outside of the water since I could not spare one breathe when swimming with my head in the water. I was not even freestyle swimming... I was doing a side, doggy paddle thing. Then I told myself, "You can do it. Keep going. Swim freestyle, it's faster." I swam freestyle for as long as I could, alternating between that and back stroke. I made it to the orange buoy, only half more and I'm done. I cut across from the outside to the inside of the course. The next age group after us horn blew and they came swimming in, and coming up on me quick. I was passing people in my age group, then people in the age group that started before me. Several people were resting on the life guards surf boards to catch their breaths. A swam a little further and then heard a lady yell for help. She had to go in on a surf board. I kept alternating back stroke with freestyle, and swam the last half as strong and fast as I could, but I still could hardly breathe.
As I finally touched the ground, relief flooded trough me. I thought to myself, "I am way in over my head, I can't go on." My body felt weak and faint and in shock. I tried to shake it off, and I started to run up the launch area to my bike.
Once I got into transition 1, I took my time getting changed. I used my inhaler and drank my water. I dried off with my towel, got my shoes and helmet on, then proceeded to the bike start. I was feeling better than, and it helped so much to see Davey and Shane cheering for me. Shane's face was priceless when I rode by, like, "Wait, was that my Mommy?". Hilarious.

Bike
10 miles: Completed in 1:22:33
At first the biking was great. It was nice to change it up. I felt comfortable and safe, in control.... until the first hill. Which was very soon after I started. I managed to get up it on the bike since it was short, but the next ones were tougher. I got off and walked my bike up a couple of the several dirt trail hills in the first mile or so. After that came easier areas for about a mile. Then I reached it. The very long, steep hill road. It was probably 3/4 a mile long, or more up hill. I tried to gain as much speed as possible to go up, but I just couldn't even push the pedals. Several people were walking their bikes up it, so I did as well. Walking up hill, for 3/4 of a mile, while pushing a bike, is NOT easy. My legs and butt burned. The sun was hot. I stopped a few times for maybe 30 seconds for water. I got on a couple of times and rode up as far as I could, but I had to get off again after about 1 minuet or riding. Finally when I reached the top, I got on. Come to find out that was not the top. It was just a very short flat part, then more hill. About 1/2 mile or so. I rode up as far as I could, then walked. I reached the top, made it downhill back to dirt area. Volunteers where at an aid station giving out water and Gatorade. There were signs saying, "1 loop Right" & "second loop Left". Oh crud. I had to do it again. I thought about quitting, and I thought about cheating. But instead I chugged a Gatorade (which helps so much!!) and went on to do it again. After that I was alone for a lot of it. I figured I was last. I didn't care though, I just wanted to finish! Then I heard people behind me. A couple of big people. I was glad I was not alone. I managed to ride/walk up the hill again. Went by the same people, they marked me to show I did it twice, then I went to the Left. Was pretty down hill and flat from there. Minor hills here and there. I got Gatorade from another aid station, then came to a huge hill, this time I had to go down. It was a paved road. Cyclist from the Long Course were passing me as I squeezed my breaks to the max. I was scared! Finally I heard cheering and people taking over a PA system. Yess!! Finally done with the bike!! As I raced through the finish line for the bike course I saw Davey and the boys waving at me and cheering me on. I got to my station, drank some water, went pee in a porter potty, then started the run.

Run
2 miles: Completed in 3o:00
I was thinking, "how am I going to run, especially if it is up hill?" Then I said to myself, "Almost done!! JUST DO IT!!!!!" and I did. The run was the easiest part. I walked some of the hills, but ran when I could. I made a friend named Tammy on the run. We chatted, and it flew by. Soon we were running down the last stretch of the course, people cheering us on. I started to sprint and left Tammy. I was searching for Davey, hoping he would get a picture of me crossing the finish line, but I didn't see him. Some how we missed each other as he went to watch me come around a certain corner (which I just did). Oh well. I sprinted the last 100 yards and crossed the finish line!!!!!! I was so happy!! They put a wet towel on me, gave me my medal and took off my time sensor anklet. Gave me two Power Bars to recover, and I was done. YYYYEEEESSSS!!!!!!!
My finishing total time was 2:23:52, that is including transition times. I came in 90th place out of 96 people in my age group, and 954th out of a total of 1,000 people! Wow that's not so good. Time was not important though. FINISHING was. And I came in front of about 50 people! =) Yay.
I will work on time maybe next one. There was a lot of areas I took my time on. Transitions, drinking at aid stations instead of while riding.. etc.

I finally found Davey and the boys. He was sooo bummed he missed me crossing the finish line, but it was OK. I was just so glad I finished, and I didn't get hurt. I can't wait for the next one. I am looking for one closer to home this time.

Things I will remember and I would recommend:
1. Wet Suit
2. Train harder and more often, when I think I am ready, I am NOT.
3. Find one with an easier bike course (not mountain bike).
4. When you can go fast on the bike, (i.e. flat and down hill, do so, will help time.)
5. Do the course or at least part of it before hand.

Santa Monica 5k May 16, and I am pretty confident it will be much easier. Bring it on.

The first women to finish the swim for the Long Course. (above)
Below is lady finishing the Long Course.