Getting There

3 different people suggested I take some Emergen-C for my lingering sickness. I don’t know if it was coincidence because it had basically run its course, or what, but after downing several packets on Friday and Saturday I was definitely feeling MUCH better. I still have a nice, phlegmy sounding cough (which means everyone gives me a wide berth at work) but I’m not having to lay down after I unload the dishwasher.

Saturday was pretty cold, but we bundled up and headed to Umstead for a run (jog). Marty did 10 miles and I just went out and back easy for a total of almost 50 min. It snowed on the way back in! Nothing stuck but it was pretty running through all the falling snowflakes. There weren’t a whole lot of people out there, but of the people I saw I knew about 75% of them (Paul, Barbara, Tom, Alicia, Katie) and it’s always nice seeing familiar faces. Tassie came with us and went with me when I turned around and Marty kept going. For the next 10 min or so, she was completely paranoid and kept turning around and wanting to go back to Marty and check on him. She’s so loyal :) But she almost made me fall on my face several times.

That night we met the IOS-Delta Triathlon club downtown at Rum Runners (loud dueling piano bar) and then to Tir Na Nog to give our ears a rest. I didn’t go to sleep until midnight which is way late for me now. It totally sucks that no matter what time I go to bed I can’t seem to sleep past 7:30. Is this because I’m getting old? I remember adults saying things like this when I was younger and I would think, “What the heck? I can sleep until late in the morning NO PROBLEM!!”

We actually saw the sun on Sunday! Still chilly, but nice and sunny for a mountain bike ride at Umstead. Then off to a superbowl party. It was a really great weekend.

Like Brian Wilson Did

This is going to be a bunch of whining, so stop reading if you don’t want to hear it. I guess I’ve been sick – something has definitely been wrong. It started Saturday night. I could tell I wasn’t totally feeling myself and then Sunday I rode the trainer easy while watching Food, Inc (and now I have no idea what the heck I’m supposed to eat, but that’s a different topic). Afterwards I was SO TIRED. Like ridiculously tired for riding easy. I went to bed early that night and planned on swimming Monday morning.

The pool was closed that morning because they shut the whole state down when it snows. Instead I went for a very slow and painful 30min run. Then I laid on the floor for 15min immediately after.

Tuesday I ran on the treadmill after work and my mph was pitiful. I hopped on the trainer when I got home but only made it 30min before I thought I was going to die. Planned on swimming on Wednesday morning.

That didn’t happen so I decided when I got home from work I would run then swim with Master’s that night. On the drive home from work I was feeling AWFUL. Stomach cramping, dizzy, achy, the whole works (I didn’t say anything on the phone with you, mom, because it just kind of hit me right then). I came home and immediately got into bed, which is where I spent the rest of the evening.

I think I may have had a fever, although we don’t have a thermometer. But I had on sweats and a hoodie, was underneath two comforters and didn’t have the fan on and I was still freezing. I ended getting 9+ hours of sleep again last night, and when Marty asked me how I felt I said, “would you believe I’m still tired?”

Today I actually feel a bit better (fingers crossed), but I did tell Marty that I wasn’t going to be able to do any triathlons this year because I’ve barely gotten any training in the past 3 weeks and I’m a bit prone to overreaction.

But yeah, I do feel like I’m starting off from square 1. Or more like square -10. I took some time after the Disney half, then screwed up my hip for a week and now this. Think they’ll let me race Novice? (see, overreacting, I know).

Marty put this picture up on his blog so I’ll end with this because I like it and it’s pretty. That’s me riding in Wyoming in the summer of 2006. On the same aluminum bike that I still ride. Figured I get in just a little bit more whining :)

Improvising

Yeah, we totally went sledding on a pizza pan.

Become a Fan!

This is a rather trivial thing to blog about, what with a lot more important things happening in the world, but the topic was sparked while I was working (read: perusing the internet). Haha! Just kidding! I would never peruse the internet at work - that's just a joke. A jokey joke. Funny Bri.

That card's little statement happens to me a lot. People send me suggestions to become a 'fan' of something, or send me a group invitation on Facebook. 75% of the time I don't even know what it is. I mean it's cool and all to suggest things, but if it's a bit obscure, could you activate my decoder ring? And if you want me to become a fan of something that sponsors you - yeah, send me some sort of freebie and THEN I'll become a fan.

Oooooh, cynical and jaded Bri has made an appearance.

And now back to your regular scheduled program...

Back to the Track - Oopsy

We almost made it back to the track last night. We had good intentions and we were in the car heading to North Raleigh – I was on the phone with my sister so wasn’t really paying attention when Marty missed the exit. Yeah, we’ve been to this track before. Like a lot. But Marty happens to be the most directionally challenged person you will probably ever meet. In the interest of full disclosure, I’m not exactly stellar either, but I’m a wee bit better than he is. Anyways, missing the exit wouldn’t be such a big problem except that the next chance we had to turn around would have put us in a snarl of rush hour traffic, which would’ve made our arrival to the track at least 30 min late. It was very quickly decided that it wasn’t worth it, and we headed to one of the entrances of Umstead for a short run in the semi-darkness. Marty ended up running home so he got a bit of a long run in, but mine was only worth about 30 min. I felt pretty good and didn’t have any hip pain, and possibly doing a track workout might not have been a good idea anyways (even though I wasn’t going to run hard).

Next week we’ll try again!

Past Weekend

I didn't run at all this past week. I did a number on my hip/glute/IT band after that long run last Sunday (I'm not really sure what was inflamed but it was in that general area). I feel like I'm pretty good at knowing my body and I have no problem backing off if the need arises (and the need had arisen!). So no running, but lots of foam rolling and ibuprofen. I did swim 3 times and rode easy on the trainer without any pain, just a little tightness. I gave it a test run Friday after work and it seemed much better - but I still gave it a rest over the weekend.

Saturday was a gorgeous day even though it started off a bit chilly. By the time we got going on our ride it was in the mid-40's but with bright sunshine. We went a little over 2 hours and although I felt fine, I am still woefully out of shape on my bike. I need to get that back in gear pronto.

The rest of the day was spent tying up loose ends for the clinic we were running in Huntersville, NC on Sunday. It's about a 2.5hr drive away so we had to leave the house earlier than you want to on a non-race weekend, but the clinic was great. It sold out and everyone seemed to get a lot out of the information we provided. Well, honestly, it was mostly information provided by Marty and Kathy Goody. I had it easy this time and just demonstrated the swim drills and answered questions when they arose. The HFFA center is super nice.

In a Rut

I don't know, I guess I have bloggers-block. Nothing seems very interesting for me to write about. So I figured posting pictures is an easy fix. From the Disney Half.

This is at Cinderella's castle - probably would've been a nice shot if it wasn't PITCH DARK! All of my pictures look like it's the middle of the night. I know we started early, but I think the later ones have more to do with the fact that it was so cloudy and rainy. I think it should've at least been dawn when I was towards the end. Anyways, the guy behind me was my wind blocker for a few miles. Obviously, this is before I ditched my last piece of clothing.



Not sure when this one was, but I sure look happy.



I was trying to sprint to the line here. Note the wheelchair behind me - I totally don't remember him at all. I hope I didn't do anything rude and cut him off on those last screwy corners.



And the finish. Commence all muscle lockup and freezing limbs in T minus 8 seconds.



Of course, this was Disney so they did some ridiculous pre-race music and speech show with the characters dancing around and waving to all of us standing at the start freezing. Mickey's voice is really creepy in general, but right before a race in the early morning, it's even creepier. I put this up here because I had an excellent spot to watch all this nonsense (similar to this picture, actually). If only I could get a spot like this to watch the Foo Fighters instead.