Coeur d'Alene Highlights

I realized today that, since I finished my Ironman, I've totally neglected my blog. Well, here are some highlight pictures of our wonderful trip to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

Day 1:

Here we are taking a much needed break in Missoula, Montana. Two and a half hours to go! It was about 14 hours of total driving time.

I loved, loved, loved the hospitality of the people who live in Coeur d'Alene. The people come out en masse to support the athletes on that long day, and I love it!

Day 2:

Pete and I did about 30 miles of the bike loop. It was a fun ride, though it opened my eyes to how hard it was going to be.

It was easy to follow the bike route because there were arrows on the ground where we needed to turn, and these signs at the beginning of each new road. It was such a beautiful course! These pictures DO NOT do it justice!

Day 3:

I went through the registration tent and came out with a cool new bracelet that I got to wear for the next 3 days. Now I really felt like an athlete!

Day 4: Testing the waters

We went to the beach and the kids had so much fun playing in the sand and the water. Who needs a real ocean when you've got Coeur d'Alene lake?

 The water was so nice, I enjoyed my swim very much!

Day 5: The longest day of the year (literally)

Here I am blowing a kiss to my family as I leave transition, excited to get going on the bike!

Here I am finishing my first lap. Don't I look fast?!

Our friend Cassidy also took some awesome photos of the race so I've got to thank him for that. Go check them out! (I'm the one in the yellow jacket)

Then, if you want even more, and a reason to cry, go watch the official Coeur d'Alene 2009 Highlights Video. I'm not in it, but I'm somewhere in that swim start, and I rode those same hills and ran that same dark run. I couldn't help but cry as I watched it, could you?

Battle At Midway - Pictures

We are finally home! We spent all day driving yesterday, and got home at around 2 am. Luckily the kids slept until almost 10, and after breakfast I even went back to bed for a couple of hours! I feel like I'm getting sick or something. I told Pete I didn't know why I felt so tired, and he said that I'm still recovering. Man! 

My legs feel good though. Yesterday we walked all over an amusement park all day, and I was fine. I did get a little tired walking up the 100-something stairs to the huge, crazy watersides we went down - twice, but other than, I was fine. It was Pete's first experience with an amusement park other than Disneyland, and he was very pleasantly surprised how awesome real roller-coaster are. He went into it with an attitude that it would be dumb, but he ended up acting like a kid the whole day, it was so much fun! One of the coolest things about the park was that there were hardly any line! Some rides we just walked right up to and got on. It was awesome! Plus having the big water park right inside was fun too. Plus there were the roller-coasters. We went on this one called The Aftershock, and oh my gosh! Scariest thing I've ever done in my life! We went on it twice. So, if you're ever up in Northern Idaho/Washington, we would highly recommend Silverwood!

I checked my email this . . . uh, afternoon, when I got up, and saw that the pictures for BAM are up so I thought I'd post mine for you.

Here I am coming out of the water. I couldn't find a picture of me on the bike, but you already saw that anyway.

Look at the beautiful run we got to do!

Here I am coming in to the finish line with a pink lady closing in on me.

Here's where she passed me. At least it looks like she's working hard!

Watching her cross the finish line first.


I didn't care. I was so happy with being able to finish in my goal time on this hard course!

I also found out that I can go pick up my unclaimed award at Wasatch Running Center! So I might just have to make a trip down there today. An award! Can you imagine that? Wow!

(Pictures of CdA Ironman coming soon!)

I AM IRONMAN

Coeur d'Alene Ironman 2009

First of all, thank you all for your well wishes, donations and your support! It has meant so much to me! I'm so flattered at how many people followed my race, thank you for your thoughts and prayers! Thank you to Pete for being my inspiration, my biggest support, coach and fan. Thank you to all the volunteers at the race (even though I know none of you will read this), you guys are so great, I don't know how I could have done it without you!

Here's how my day went (Sorry it's so long, it was a long day and I couldn't leave anything out! I hope this answers all your questions, if not, feel free to ask.):

I woke up during the night at 2, then at 4 and about started getting ready both times. Then I would realize the time and lay back down, but my heart was already racing.

Finally 5:00 came, and I got dressed and made sure my special needs bags and water bottles were ready. Then I made some oatmeal. I always feel sick in the morning before a race, and this was definitely no exception, but I managed to eat the whole 1/4 cup. I knew I would need the fuel.

We got down to the transition area a little later than I had hoped, at about 6:25. I know this because they were closing the transition at 6:30, and as soon as I got there they said, "5 more minutes," and "everyone out." Luckily I was just dropping my water bottles off and taking the bags off my bike so I had plenty of time.

I had this brilliant idea to have Pete drop off my special needs bags while I did this, and I told him, my dad and my kids, that I would just meet them at the end of the sidewalk. I didn't take into account the 2,100 athletes that would be trying to make their way over the timing chip mat onto the beach, and how congested the sidewalk would be. I finally found Pete, but the rest of my family wasn't with him. He still hadn't dropped off the bags either so he told me to go find them and he'd meet me. Bad idea again. I couldn't find any of them so finally I just set about getting my wetsuit on, but then I still had my dry clothes bag that I needed to drop off, and it was taking forever to make my way back through to the transition area. I was seriously about to cry, thinking that I wasn't going to see Pete before I started, when he suddenly appeared. That saved me too, because I could just give him my bag and head down to the beach with the rest of the throng. The announcer said, "You will be an Ironman today!" and I just had to look back at Pete and grin. Excited would be an understatement about how I felt.

They didn't let us get into the water, so we all just stood there on the beach and waited. I spat in my goggles, hoping it would work just as well to keep them clear without being able to rinse them out. The lady next to me said that's what she always does.

Then the gun went off!
I was a little nervous about how it would be because I didn't have a chance to get used to the water or warm up first, but I was shocked by how un-shocking the water was. I just went in and started swimming with everyone else. For a while, it was hard to find water, and not body parts, to put my arms in, but soon I was swimming. The amazing thing is that I was able to stay calm the whole time. I don't remember even having a second of panic. It was just so awesome to be out there with so many people. Most of the time I just sighted off someone's head in front of me because that's about all I could see, and I would try to find feet to follow. I was probably drafting most of the way because it was almost impossible not to.

When I came out of the water after my first lap to cross the mat, I heard them say, "43 1/2 minutes" and I was almost giddy. I was shooting for 45! I re-rinsed my googles and took a second to walk along the shallow water, then I started in again. Not long after I started my second lap, I started noticing that my legs were shaking. It was weird because I didn't really feel cold, but I was still shivering. I did notice the clouds moving in, though. It seemed like there were endless yellow buoys this time before we got to the big red "turn" buoy. After I rounded that, though, I found a lady with a nice smooth steady stride, and I drafted off her for most of the way back.

I got hit in the face about 3 or 4 times. Once I worried a little that my nose was bleeding, and once the hand knocked my goggles side-ways so I had to fix them mid-lake. I was a little worried about someone knocking my timing chip off because it felt like people kept grabbing my legs. I did have one guy apologize to me, probably because I looked at him like, "Geez buddy, calm down!" I had someone scratch me with their toenail and I thought, "How could someone leave their toenails so long and sharp?"

But I survived.

My total swim time was 1:36:42. I was shooting for 1:30 so I was a little disappointed, and I was a little surprised that my second lap was so much slower.

When I got out, I was freezing. A guy in transition stripped my wetsuit for me, then I grabbed my bike bag and headed to the tent. On the way, though, I spotted a hot tub! This was just what I needed. I got in, and it was so nice, and hot, but I didn't dare sit in there for too long so I was still shivering when I got out. I went into the changing tent and a very nice volunteer helped me get my socks and shoes on. She even rolled up my arm warmers so that they were easy to get on. It usually takes me forever to get those on! It was awesome.

I went out of the tent and some more volunteers smeared sunscrean all over me, noting how "fair" I am. Thank you ladies! Then I just couldn't wait to get going on my bike to get my legs warmed up! I saw Pete, my dad and the kids just after I mounted so I got a good send off.

The whole first lap, I kept telling myself to take it easy and not push it. I got passed by a LOT of people. I started wondering if there was anyone else still behind me, but I wouldn't let it get to me. I just kept my legs spinning easy, and my heart-rate under 150 - except on the hard hills where there was no keeping it down, then I would just rest on the down-hills until it got back down which usually didn't take too long. I stopped at mile 30 to use the bathroom and fix my speedometer because it wasn't picking up. After that I had to just add 30 miles to my total, but that's ok. Nothing wrong with keeping the brain working out there.

I finished my first lap in 3:58:26 so I lost hope of finishing in 7 hours. I thought I'd shoot for 7:30 instead, but I knew that would be hard. I was starting to feel really sore in my shoulders, neck and bottom so I was really looking forward to getting to my special needs bag at mile 67. When I got there, the volunteer who got my bag was very nice. He held my bike and my bag while I took my excedrin, refilled my hammer gel flask, traded bottles, got my jacket out and put it on. I told him I wasn't sure about the rain jacket, but he said that it had gotten noticeably colder in the last hour so he thought I should take it. After that, I was a little warm at some points, but overall, it was nice to have.

I stopped at the next aid station to get a chocolate power bar (a little mini one) and refill my water and perpetuem bottles. At around 70 miles I started passing people. It was great! I still kept the legs spinning and the heart-rate under 150 when I could, but I was feeling so great! That excedrin is great stuff! Also, at around mile 80, someone handed me some mini peanut butter power bars. Oh my gosh! Those were like heaven. So good. I have a thing for peanut butter and it really hit the spot! Why didn't I know about these things before? I took one then, and saved the other one for an hour or so later.

I told myself that I could push it a little harder after I finished the last hill so it was really fun coming into town all fast, people cheering me on the whole way, and I was still passing a lot of people! I knew that most of them would probably pass me on the run, but oh well.

My total bike was 7:48:01 so at least it was under 8!

Back into transition and another awesome volunteer helped me into the tent with my bag where she proceeded to rub my feet for me! What a lady! How many people would want to rub a sweaty athlete's foot? It sure felt good on my numb feet, though! I took another excedrin here, then we got my shoes and hat on, and I headed out.

I had thought about ditching my jacket for at least the first lap of the run, but it had started raining lightly during the last 5 miles of the bike so I decided to keep it. I was really warm for the first few miles, and I thought about at least dropping my arm warmers off somewhere, but I didn't. I'm glad I didn't because it kept raining, and got colder the whole first lap. I was glad to have the arm warmers, and I LOVED my rain jacket! I saw Pete close to our rental house as I headed out of town, and soon after that I put my hood on. It has elastic and is made for going over a helmet, but it fits over my hat brim perfectly. I did get a lot of comments about my "rain bonnet," or my "shower cap," or just "nice hat!" so I'm sure I looked kind of funny. I didn't care, though, it kept my head and ears nice and toasty warm.

I skipped the first aid station because it was just out of the transition, but I walked and tried to drink something at all the rest except for the last 2 because I was feeling full and almost done. The warm chicken broth was my favorite, and they also had pretzels that were good to munch on. I didn't dare take their cookies, that seemed too heavy. I was also carrying my hammer gel flask with me so I took that about every hour when I'd get to an aid station where there was water to drink with it.

I had my old running shoes in my special needs bag so I could change into dry shoes half-way if it rained, but I decided I'd rather risk cold feet in the new wet shoes over the risk of another stress fracture in the old dry ones. Plus, by the time I got to the special needs bags, it had stopped raining.

I was paranoid about breaking my foot the whole time. I was almost waiting for some kind of pain, but it never came. I felt great, my knees felt great, and my legs felt great. I just kept plugging along.

I met a girl at a little past the half-way mark who was running at about the same pace as me so I ran with her for most of the second lap. Her name was Laura, she was from San Fransisco and this was her first Ironman too. It was nice to have someone to run with for a while, but then I stopped for a bathroom break and lost her. Looks like she finished right before me in our age group at 15:16:57! Great job Laura!

I did the first 7.47 miles at a 12:32 min/mile pace, then I went up to 12:11 min/mile pace for the next 6.5, and down to 17:10 for the last 4.25 miles. Wow, can you tell I was getting tired? I didn't feel like I was going that slow, but it would explain why the last 2 miles seemed to last FOREVER!

My total run time was 5:40:51. I thought I'd be able to do it faster than my St. Goerge Marathon where I had to walk the last 6 miles on a broken foot, but I guess not.

It was totally dark for the last 6 miles or so, and they gave me a pink glow necklace that I hooked in my number belt. I passed a few people as I got closer to the finish line. I felt like stopping, but I kept telling myself that 2 miles was nothing, 1 mile was nothing, I could keep running! Then I got into the home stretch and people were lining the street cheering for me. I couldn't help but smile at them all, just like I'd been smiling the whole day, only bigger. I kept saying, "Thank you!" to everyone. I got closer and the roar of the crowd grew louder and the announcer said my name.

Somehow I was sprinting as fast as I could now and I felt like I was flying! I saw Pete with is hand reaching out to me so I touched his hand then ran across the finish line! I am now an Ironman!

My total time was 15:22:21 so I did end up being faster than Pete by 23 minutes! I was #61 out of 87 in my age group.

Stopping was not easy, but of course, there was another friendly volunteer there to hold me up as I got my medal and shirt. She asked me if I wanted a picture or food or a massage and I just told her I didn't know what I wanted. I just wanted Pete. We just stood there for minute, then he was there and she transfered me to him. I was so happy, I could have cried, but I don't know if I had any liquids left in my body.

We had to walk around for half an hour, picking up my stuff then finding the car, and it was probably good for me to cool down. Of course, I was freezing by the time we got to the car. I stretched a little while Pete put my bike on the car, then I sat down and that was not good. By the time we got home, I felt like I was going to throw up so we rushed in to the bathroom and I sat on the floor. I did not throw up, but in a few minutes, I felt better. I decided to finish stretching while I was there, and while Pete got my hot bath going. That bath felt so good. I sat there and ate left-over pizza. Pete brought me 2 pieces and I thought there was no way I could eat that much, but I did. I guess burning something like 10,000 calories in a day makes you hungry!

Pete rubbed my legs, I put my compression socks on, then got into bed. Finally, the end to a very long, but good day. I probably should have iced my knees and ankles, but I'm doing that now. They're the only things feeling really sore today. I'm going to do a bunch of sitting around and eating today. :)

Edit: There are a few photos here, and some great ones here.

Tomorrow

Today was just beautiful! I went for a little 10 minute run in the morning, then I rode my bike down 10 minutes to the transition area to drop it off. When I got done, I met my family on the beach. They brought my wetsuit and goggles for me so I put those on and got out in the water. I could tell right away that it was warmer than Deer Creek was last week. It was a tiny bit wavy, but it didn't really bother me. The water was so clear, I could see the bottom the whole time, and I just really enjoyed being out there swimming. 

Pete went out with me, but he didn't have a wet suit. It took him about twice as long as me to get used to the water, and he had a hard time breathing at first.  When we started swimming, I expected to have him shoot ahead of me and to have a hard time keeping up with him, but I ended up leaving him in the dust - er bubbles. Of course, he hasn't been swimming much at all this past year, and he recently broke his collar bone, but still it made me feel good. After about 5 minutes or so of swimming, I asked him if he was still cold and he said he wasn't. 

We just swam for 10 minutes since that's what my training plan says to do. I didn't really want to stop, and I would have stayed out much longer if I wasn't planning a 2.4 mile swim followed by a 112 mile bike ride and a 26.2 mile run tomorrow.

The kids had so much fun playing in the sand and the water. This is about as close as you can get to going to the beach without actually going to the beach. It was fun, I'm so glad the sun came out!

I REALLY hope the weather is the same as it was today, that would be perfect! It wasn't too hot since it was a little cloudy, but it wasn't too windy or cold, and it didn't rain. Even if it rains, though, it will be ok. It's all for fun. I'm going to just try to enjoy this as much as I can. Who cares how fast I do it?

This is what my training plan says about tomorrow:

RACE DAY!!
Swim: Steady and draft where possible. No pushing hard.
Bike: Execute your nutrition plan. No pushing hard. Don't push hard. And no pushing hard.
Run: Execute your nutrition plan. No pushing hard unless you're still running and fresh in the last 5k.

That is exactly what Pete keeps telling me. I know I'm going to have a hard time not pushing hard when all those fast guys go zooming past me. I will do my best, though. This is my race.

Oh, also, if you want to track me you can go to http://ironman.com/events/ironman/coeurdalene?show=tracker and put in "Lasko" or "2093." Cook bib number hu? I think Pete will be tweeting for me too so you can watch that. It should be a great day!

You can't plan everything

This morning I got up all excited, and got the kids all excited about going swimming in the lake. Well, I should have looked outside first because it was all gray, and by the time we got to the lake, it was raining. My dad took the kids to the park to play while I waited in the long line for packet pick-up with Pete. We me a guy who lives in Hong Kong, and his mom who was going to be volunteering at the finish line. He said that he had to wake up at 4 am to train because it's just too hot and humid there. That's what my sister has said about being in China too. She wanted to run while she was there, but it's practically impossible in that heat. I'm amazed that he's doing it, and that he's shooting for a 12-hour finish! I hope he reaches his goal.

When we finally reached the tent where the athletes were signing in, Pete went to go buy some Newtons (running shoes) and we said we'd meet at the playground when we were done. After he walked off, though, I realized that he had the $10 I needed to pay for my USAT membership! Dang it! I said something to the guy from Hong Kong behind me as I tried to look for Pete, but he was gone. That guy (I wish I would have gotten his name) was really nice. He showed me his $20 bill and said he could pay for me. I told him he could come with me to find Pete after we were done and I'd pay him back, but I ended up loosing him in the tent. I hope I see him again to pay him back. I told Pete to watch for the mom at the finish line and he can give her the money there.

When I got done with packet pick-up, it was totally raining, and really cold. I found the kids all huddled under a little roof in the playground with blankets and towels wrapped around them. We ate our lunch there, then decided to go home (to our "week house" as Ethan calls it, or our "borrowed house"). They were so sad that we didn't go to the beach, but tomorrow looks like it should be sunny so hopefully we can go then. We'll see. We did go to the sign making tent on the way out, though, and they made me some awesome signs! I'm excited to watch for them when I'm running.

Hopefully I won't be soaking wet when I'm running. The forecast for Sunday is now a high of 62 wish showers. It has gone done from 60% chance of rain to 40% chance of rain so that makes me a little more hopeful. I'm really trying to keep a good attitude about this race with the weather looking like this. I just can't help but thinking about how miserable the St. George Marathon was running in the pouring rain, and I think about adding 7 or 8 hours to that, and it doesn't sound fun. If it does rain, I just hope it doesn't soak me.  A little rain's ok. I'll be ok with that.

I just had some delicious flan, and Pete's ushering me off to bed. He always says that the night before the night before the race is the most important night to get a lot of sleep. Of course, this makes me nervous that I won't sleep well, so I probably won't be able to sleep, but I will be a good girl and go to bed now.

This is gonna be hard!

I took my dad on a little 20 minute, scenic bike ride today. We went 6 miles and that was enough for him. That made me feel good at least. 

When we got back, Pete and went out and rode 30 miles of the course. That's more than half of the loop that I get to do twice on Sunday. It was ridiculously (Pete's word, I like it) beautiful! Tree-filled hillsides overlooking the beautiful Coeur d'Alene Lake. The weather was perfect and it felt so good to just feel the wind on my face.  We just took it really easy and enjoyed being out on a bike ride together. We haven't been out together since we rode Antelope Island, but that was with friends. The last time we just did a ride together was in St. George back in January. 

It was fun, but it was really hilly! It was a big eye opener about how hard it's going to be. Little Red Riding Hood is easy-peasy compared to this! Pete kept telling me to just take it easy, and to not burn up all my matches, and he gave me pointers on what to do at different sections. It was really good to have him there with me, I think I'm better prepared now. I just need to focus on finishing, and not trying to be fast. I had my speed race last weekend. This one is my distance race.

A Day of Driving

After pretty much the whole day of driving, we are now in Coeur d'Alene!

My dad woke us up this morning by knocking on our bedroom door at 5 am. I woke up thinking, "that was a weird knock for Elle to be making."

I thought we had decided on meeting at 6, but I guess there was a little miscommunication there. I guess we also left our front door unlocked during the night and I totally slept through someone walking around in my house. That's comforting. I mean, I'm glad my dad didn't have to wait outside in the rain while we slept, but still.

Anyway, we got underway by 7, but had to make a stop in Bountiful to buy a tarp and tie downs to tie our luggage onto the top of the Jeep better. We got it rigged pretty good. Who needs a fancy $500 storage thingy anyway?

Twice on the journey, we had to turn around because we realized that we just missed the last exit for at least 25 miles, and we were out of gas. Luckily we made it both times so there was no hitchhiking with a gas can needed!

When we got to Missoula, we stopped at this really cool park and let the kids play for about an hour. It was so much fun, and they very much deserved it. You would not believe how good those kids were being cooped up in the car all day!

We went to dinner at a really good Mexican Restaurant with my Mom's cousin and his wife. It was really fun to see them again, it's been at least 5 or 6 years! My how time flies!

Then we struck out again for the final 2.5 - 3 hours, which seemed like an eternity, and we finally reached Coeur d'Alene at around 9:30 (8:30 their time). 

What a day of driving. I think it went really well, though! I'm so happy to be here. This house is really nice, but it's not too nice for having kids here. The girls even get their own room with flowery beds. My dad and Ethan are sharing the room with the blue beds and the pandas on the walls, and Pete and I get a nice master bedroom. There's even one more bedroom in the basement for our friend, Cassidy who will be joining us on Friday. I'm so excited! I love it here!

Packing it up

I got 4 donations today for Against Malaria! Yeah! Thank you, thank you, thank you to Shane and Heather, April, Shane and Molly and Justin! You guys are all so wonderful! Also, thank you facebook for helping out with getting these donations!

If you want to donate, and haven't had the chance, don't worry, you still can! :) Here's the link: http://againstmalaria.com/colleensironman Tell your friends!

This morning my training plan said to do the following:

S: warm up 5 minutes, 6 x 50 fast!, cool down 5 minutes
B: warm up 5 minutes, 5 x 2 minute fast!, cool down 5 minutes
R: warm up 5 minutes, 5 x 1 minute fast!, cool down 5 minutes 

My feet were still hurting a little so I didn't want to run, and I didn't really want to get my bike out just to ride for 20 minutes so I just did the swim.

I dropped all three kids off at the daycare and did my quick little swim. I did 6 laps to warm up, then I did my 50s between 45 and 50 seconds each, and did 6 more laps to cool down. It was fun and easy which was good since I'm still recovering from Saturday. I was also glad to not leave the kids in the daycare for longer than an hour because with all three of them in there, it sure racks up the money.

I spent the rest of the day cleaning the house, packing and basically trying to get everything ready for Coeur d'Alene. The kids kept asking if it was time to leave yet. They are so excited for our trip! We leave at 6 am tomorrow. Hopefully the kids will sleep for a couple hours before we have to stop for breakfast. It's almost a 10 hour drive so we'll see how that goes.

I've checked the weather up there several times today, and it looks like it will be perfect, high 70s - low 80s, except for the 30% chance of rain and "Isolated T-storms" on race day! That was the report for BAM too, and it turned out perfectly so I'm keeping my hopes up. I will be packing my rain jacket though.

Battle At Midway - Race Report

Pre-race

Here is a good way to make sure you're not forgetting anything when packing for a triathlon. Lay everything out on your bed, then go over the race in your mind, thinking about what you need before you pack anything.

I thought I had everything in the first photo, but you can see I ended up adding a bunch of things. We could play a game of "Find What's Different In These Two Photos."

For more tips on how to prepare for race day, check out this article by my twitter friend, Danica Kooiman.

We got to Heber Friday night, and hung out at my dad's house until it stopped raining. Then I headed up to Soldier Hollow for packet pick-up. There were only like 3 people there so I was a little worried I was too late or at the wrong place, but I wasn't. I got my packet, my too big race shirt and my timing chip. They also gave me this flashy bracelet that identified me as a racer, therefor letting me into the transition areas and all that fun stuff.


I had to go to T1 to drop off my bike which was at a different place because Soldier Hollow is not on the lake. As I was walking to my car, though, I was very happy to see that there were 4 port-a-potties inside T2, just before you exit for the run. I LOVE this setup!

Pete came with me to drop my bike off, but they wouldn't let him into the transition area anyway (no bracelet on him) so he was a little annoyed that he couldn't even help me get set up. I picked a spot in my section for my bike and put garbage bags over the seat and headset because it was obviously going to rain. In fact, it started raining just as I was finishing up.

It's Race Time!

In the morning, I got up bright and early, even before my alarm went off which was nice! I had plenty of time to eat some oatmeal (though I couldn't finish the whole bowl because of my nerves), and get all ready. I drove myself up there in my dad's car so that Pete could have the Jeep in case he wanted to go somewhere with the kids. This is the first time I've driven myself to a race. It was a little different.

I got to pick a spot wherever I wanted in T2 to drop off my running gear, how cool is that? I picked a spot pretty close to where you come in on the bike. I didn't want to walk my bike any farther than necessary.

After setting up my stuff, I hoped on one of the busses going over to the lake. The lady who sat next to me told me that last year it was so cold, her feet didn't get warmed up until half-way into the run. I was a little worried I hadn't brought warm enough stuff, but once I got to the transition area, people were talking about how it was much warmer than last year. Whew.

I got my swim cap there, which was a little weird, but whatever, and it was green. As I was standing there waiting for my turn to get into the water (all full distance women and full distance men over 40 started on the second wave), I noticed that our swim caps were almost the exact shade of green as the lake. That made me feel so secure and visible. Not. I wasn't really worried, but I did think it was a weird choice of color for a swim cap they make you wear for safety.

Swim - 1500 m

All of a sudden, it was time to get into the water, and it was so cold. I was thinking, like I always think at the beginning of these things, "Why am I doing this? I hate this!" I didn't want to put my face in the water, and we only had a few minutes to get used to it before the cannon went off. I just focused on staying calm and getting into a rhythm.

After not too long, I didn't have a problem putting my face in any more and I was feeling fine. The water was so calm, it was almost like swimming in a pool! I kept thinking I was swimming off course because there was no one around me, but I'd look and see the red buoy right in front of me. Every once and a while I'd find some bubbles and try to draft, but I'd keep loosing them or passing them. I really wanted to practice drafting because I know it will help me a lot in the Ironman, but I was really just happy to be swimming by myself and I felt good! We had to go around the loop of buoys twice, but it wasn't bad, it was just like, "Ok, next buoy" until I got to the last one. Then I got to focus on the blue arch where we'd get out of the water, and I started to really push it.

I looked at my watch as I got out of the water and I just couldn't help but grin when I saw 31 something minutes! My best swim time ever! Yeah!

I got to my spot in T1 and was just gushing to the guys next to me about how awesome the swim was! Funny how I go from hating it to loving it in just 31 minutes. They all seemed so serious and just agreed and went on with their business. I took a lot of time in T1 because I wanted to make sure my feet were dry so they wouldn't be cold like that lady was saying. I also put arm warmers and my jacket on.

Bike - 22 miles

I was very glad to have my jacket and arm warmers when I got going on the bike. It was still pretty cold. It even rained on us, but just for a few minutes so it too wasn't bad. I loved the bike. I decided I was going to push it as hard as I could, especially because I knew this route so well. I passed a lot of people, but it was hard to tell who was doing the full distance, and who was doing "lite" (half the swim and half the run, but the same bike) because they didn't do any body marking. I hated not having that to look at when I passed someone. It still felt good to be passing a lot of people, though.

It was really fun to ride around Midway because I saw people I knew. One of my old running partners was out walking with her mom, I knew one of the policemen who was direct traffic (though he was too busy doing his job to notice me, but I'm fine with that, I really appreciate all those people who helped out!), and when I passed one of my friend's houses they were all out there on their porch cheering. It about made me cry for a minute, then I focused on going as fast as I could again.

When I got to the slightly downhill street that we used to think was so fun as kids, I got going 27 mph, and it was really fun! Usually I'm at the end of my ride by the time I get to this road so I don't really push it too hard, but this time I just went as fast as I could. I passed my house and my family was all out there watching for me. It was so fun to be able to ride past and wave at my kids as they were out playing in the yard. Some of my old neighbors were out watching too.

Here I am waving to my baby as I rode past. She was so cute, running over to see me. I was feeling so good and so happy because I knew I could get up to Soldier Hollow before I hit 2 hours, which was my goal.



Of course, they didn't have us go right to Soldier Hollow like I'm used to doing, they had us go almost all the way back into Midway, so it took a little longer than I was thinking. I still made it in under 2 hours, though! In fact, I think I pulled into the transition area at around 1:55.

Run - 5.92 Miles (dang, I thought it was a full 10k!)

My goal was to get done in under 3 hours, and I had about an hour left. I knew I could do a 10k in an hour, but that it would be hard so I didn't mess around in T2. I took my helmet, shoes, and jacket off, threw my hat on and just grabbed my shoes. My feet were totally numb! Despite my efforts to dry my feet off in T1, my socks were soaking wet. Oh well, I hobbled over to those lovely port-o-potties and took a minute to rub my feet while I was in there. This way I wasn't wasting much time, and I had a nice seat for putting my shoes on. They also had gel, water and heed as you're leaving the transition area, which I thought was an awesome idea, but I didn't take any since I had just had some on my bike.

I did get some heed at the first 2 aid stations, which they had every mile, but skipped the next 2 because I was taking a little longer than 10 minutes a mile so I didn't really have time to stop. There were several really steep hills to go up, but we also got to go down. I was so glad I had practiced this! I ran down those hills as fast as I dared go, and I passed a lot of people doing this.

My heart-rate was in the 170s for most of the run, which is really high. I figured I could push myself for an hour. I got to mile 4 at like 2:38, but it was really catching up with me. I drank some heed and ran a little slower for a little while, and just had to focus on keeping my legs going for the next mile. They had us run past the finish line then loop way around before we got to finish, and this just about killed me. I was like, "Where are they sending us?"

It was at this point that I noticed a lady in pink behind me for the first time, but she was a good 50 yards behind me and I felt like I was running really fast into the finish line. But then all of a sudden she was gaining on me. I tried to pick my speed up, but I was already sprinting, and she was going really fast! She passed me just before the finish line and I was just screaming, I couldn't go any faster! She got across one second before me! My finish time was 2:58:43! I was just happy that I finished within my goal, though, and told her good job. I about started crying again after I recovered a little and had my bagel and water.

I didn't stick around for the awards because it wasn't like I was going to win anything. I just went up to T2 to pack up my stuff, and I took some time to stretch and drink my recoverite. Then I had to call Pete to come get my bike because I had driven my Dads little car up there without thinking about how I would get my bike home. I was so happy the rest of the day because I did it in under 3 hours!

Now that I'm home, and things have settled down a bit, I've had a chance to look at the race results. Turns out, I WON my age group! I can't even believe it, I was ecstatic when I saw that this morning! Ok, so there was only one other woman in my age group, and she was the last one to Finish, but still! I won! Too bad I didn't stick around for the awards. I was actually #24 out of the 48 Intermediate women who finished, the winner finishing almost an hour before me. Not great, but I'm still happy!

It was just a great race, I'm glad I did it. It was very well put together, in such a beautiful place, and just a lot of fun. I just hope I recover from it by next week. My legs and feet are still sore.I really hope it's not another stress fracture creeping up.

This is a picture taken from the car on the way home. It is so green right now with all the rain we've been having, I love it!

One Week to Ironman!

My training is mostly done, and now I'm to the waiting part. I've done what I can, and now I just need to wait for the day to arrive. I have very mixed emotions about the whole thing. I'm excited and nervous about the race, and I'm happy and sad it will all be over. I'm also very relieved that I'm still healthy and uninjured up to this point. Lets pray I can stay that way for another week!

Pete and I had a discussion yesterday about what we will do next. What we've decided is to pick one Olympic distance tri to do a year, then only spend 3 months training for it so that we can spend the rest of the year enjoying other things like rock climbing, mountain biking and trail running or whatever we want to do. I'm excited for this, and think it is a great plan! We're also thinking about squeezing a baby in there somewhere. We'll see how I feel in a few weeks!

Since there is just one more week left before I go through what I'm sure will be the longest day of my life, I'd like to take this chance to beg and plead with you, again, for Against Malaria.

If you've thought about donating, and just haven't had time, I would LOVE it if you could do it this week! Help me get 140 nets! If you have $5 to spare, please buy a net with it - it could save someone's life! Do it right now, before you get doing something else and forget about it (I know that's what I would do). Please. http://againstmalaria.com/colleensironman Just click on the "Sponsor Now" button. 

I had an awesome race yesterday, and don't worry, I'll tell you all about it! Tomorrow. Right now it's almost 10:30 and I'm heading to bed.

Packing for BAM

Today is a rest day for me, and I don't really feel like resting. But don't worry, I have been resting. Well, kind of. I did mow the lawn. And I did the dishes. And I did help Pete clean out the garage, where he practically cut his head open hitting it on some rusty nails. Good thing he's up-to-date on his tetanus shot! It looked like it hurt, though!

Now I just need to get all packed up to head to Heber tonight for Battle at Midway tomorrow. We have until 9:00 to pick up my packet so we probably won't leave until it's time for the kids to fall asleep in the car. Packet pickup is just 3.5 miles from my dad's house, but we will still have to go to the swim/bike transition area to drop off my  bike. Then we can just go back and get caught up on Big Bang Theory on my dad's DVR before bed.

In the morning, I just need to be at Soldier Hollow by like 7, so I can probably sleep until 6:30. How nice to be staying somewhere so close to the race! Of course, if things go as they usually do on race morning, I'll be sleeping in and rushing over there anyway. Let's hope not. :)

I'm trying not to be too nervous about this race. It's mostly just to get in an open water swim, and I know the bike ride like the back of my hand (but they're making us go up the hard hill heading up to The Homestead, and we don't even get to come down it!), and the run looks like it's going to be crazy fun. Or maybe just crazy, we'll see!

Wish me luck and stay tuned for the report on Sunday or Monday! (we won't have internet while we're up there)

Can You Eat Pizza?

I feel like I've gotten out of the blogging grove. It feels like I haven't been writing on my blog in forever, but I have been. Why is that? It's weird.

This morning, I was not so into the sleeping in anymore. That is so yesterday! My alarm went off at 7, and I would have gotten right up, but Elle was sleeping on my arm. She is just the sweetest thing when she's sleeping on my arm in the  morning. Of course, then I don't dare move more than I have to to hit snooze.

I did manage to extricate myself from the little monster, though, and I was out the door for my super long run by probably 7:30:

R: 40 minutes at RPE 3 with strides

Ok, it was not super long. It was 40 minutes. I had a hard time even taking that little 40 minutes seriously. I didn't even put on my running clothes, I just wore the t-shirt and sweats I wore to bed. Slacker hu? I started out running nice and easy, and was surprised how hard I was breathing! Maybe my music usually covers up the sound of my breathing so I don't notice it as much. I don't know. After 5 minutes I was ok with starting on my strides, though. I did them every 5 minutes which always makes my run go really fast, especially if it's only 40 minutes anyway. I really like that I can really recover while running now. I think this will be very helpful come Ironman. Of course, the whole 26.2 might have to be a recovery run. Ha.

Anyway, I did a 3.2 mile loop in 35:17. Dang, I was hoping it was further than 3.2! Oh well, that's what I did. Then I just ran another half mile or so to finish out the 40 minutes. 

Maybe I should have taken that workout a little more seriously, but it did say RPE 3 and that's pretty easy. I need to remember that I'm in my taper right now and not try to kill myself on every workout. I need to be resting up for the big day.

I spent the rest of the day trying to get the kids to clean up, which is futile because it's already messy again. How frustrating! We also watched Bolt while I folded laundry. It was really good.

Then I went to Costco to spend $200 because, seriously, I can not go there without spending that much! But I got a lot of good stuff, including a pizza for dinner.

When I got home, one of Pete's band members was over playing rock band so they helped us unload, then we had pizza. We were just getting back into playing rock band, and I was trying to sing Spider Webs by No Doubt (we bought the No Doubt pack, it's pretty awesome) when the other band member arrived. We told him there was pizza upstairs if he wanted some. He said, "Can you eat pizza?"

I had to look around because I thought he was talking to Elle or something. Can you eat pizza? What kind of question is that? Then he clarified, "Because your training right?" I just kind of made a face and kept on singing. I guess I never did answer his question. 

Can I eat pizza? Well, technically, I can. Obviously. 

Should I be eating pizza? Now, that's a better question. Maybe it's not the best thing for me to be eating, but it's not like I eat it every night. Plus, I only had one and a half pieces, not three. 

I haven't been very good about my diet have I? I was being really careful there for a while, but then I fell off the wagon. I still try to avoid too much processed stuff and too much sugar, but I'm definitely not avoiding it altogether. Will this make me totally die on Ironman day? I don't know. Maybe I should be more careful. It's not like anyone's forcing me to eat bad stuff. I can always say, "Oh, I can't have that, I'm in training." I just love saying that, I should be using it more!

Now I'm going to go have some cookies. No wait. I can't, I'm in training. I'm going to go have some almonds!

Working Out from Home

Ah, another day, another workout. Are you getting sick of hearing about all my workouts? I guess, if you have, you wouldn't be here now. Maybe I'm talking to myself here. . . 

Well, this morning, I was going to go out and ride before Pete went to work, but it was the kids first day of summer break so it was just too nice to sleep in and have a leisurely morning with pancakes and everything. By the time I was ready to go ride, I didn't have time before Pete had to be in for a meeting. I guess this was probably a good thing because it was a very structured intensity based workout and it was probably better to do it on the trainer anyway:

B: 90 minutes, ladder
10:00 RPE 3
15:00 RPE 5
40:00 RPE 7
15:00 RPE 5
10:00 RPE 3

It also rained off an on all day, probably not enough to keep me from riding, but enough to not feel too bad about riding on the trainer. It is such a workout to ride on the trainer too. I wanted to get my heart-rate up to the 160s for RPE 7, but I couldn't get it up any higher than 150, and even then I could only keep it there for the last 15 minutes or so of the 40.  It's weird too, because this was after my ipod quit working on me. After all this time, it turns out the music was holding me back! It could have just been a coincidence, though. 

Despite the lower heart-rate than I had planned, It was hard, and by the end I was soaking wet with sweat. That always makes you feel like you've worked hard, doesn't it? 

I stretched really good, then had to make lunch for the kids who had all played very well, without much complaining, while I rode. It was very nice. Then I wanted to get Elle down for her nap before I got into the shower, and this took longer than I would have liked. By the time I got around to the shower, I was pretty cold, being all wet still. The hot shower was so nice!

Once I was all clean, I went down and cleaned my bike off. It was looking pretty dingy, and I want it nice and shiny for my next race! 

Next time I ride my bike it will be in The Battle at Midway Triathlon in Midway, Utah on Saturday. I am so excited for this one! When we were living with my dad in Heber a few years ago, I saw a bunch of triathletes ride by my house on the way to church one Sunday. I was like, "What!?" I had to find out what this race was as soon as possible. 

The run and the finish line for this race are at Soldier Hollow which is on the hill behind my dad's house (maybe 2-3 miles away), and it's where they did the cross country skiing in the 2002 Olympics. It's a great place to ride, and I've ridden the route countless times when I lived there, and even since we've moved I've gone back up there to ride. It's one of the things I miss most about the Heber Valley.

Last year I had one of the ladies in my Masters Swim team tell me it was her favorite tri so I wanted to do it even more. 

Every year they've done this race on a Sunday so I haven't done it despite how fun I knew it must be. Until this year! I guess they finally realized that a lot of people in Utah don't like to race on Sundays. Yeah! 

I wasn't even going to do BAM this year, even though it's now on Saturday, because it's only a week before Coeur d'Alene, and what am I crazy? 

Apparently, yes, I am. 

After the swim got canceled at St. George, I really felt like I should still try to get a practice swim in. I have an open water swim and a bike scheduled for this Saturday, and this race was still open so . . .

Yeah, I've got another race on Saturday, and it should be a lot of fun!  I'm excited to see how I do. I really hope being on my home turf will give me a tiny bit of an advantage. Not an advantage over most of the people at the race who would leave me in the dust no matter what, but an advantage over myself or people close to me speed-wise. We'll see.

81 laps

After having another rest day yesterday, I was totally ready to get moving again today. Pete was thinking about riding his bike in the morning, but then, as we were going to bed, he said he wasn't going to go so I could do my run. Well, I guess this wasn't enough notice for me because when my alarm went off at 5:30, I just wanted to cry so I went back to sleep. 

Today was Mindy's last day of school! After I dropped her and Pete off, I took Ethan and Elle up to the daycare at the gym and ran on the little 1/9 mile indoor track for an hour and a half. This was my punishment for sleeping in and wasting my outside running time. I counted my laps for a few miles, and I was doing about 10-minute miles so I just started watching my time instead of counting. I'm pretty sure I got 9 miles in. If not, it was pretty dang close! 

Pete had loaded some songs onto my ipod for me, but something went wrong, and only the first ones he put on worked so I only had Air, Aquabats, Barenaked Ladies, and Bjork. All of those were really fun to run to, and I'm pretty sure they helped me run harder than I should have, there was just less variety than I'm used to.

After an hour, I went downstairs to get a drink, but I forgot to bring any Hammer Gel which I would have like to take about then. I was fine for the rest of the run, but I was supposed to do a swim also. When I stopped running, and started stretching, I was a little shaky so I decided to just go home and get some food instead. It was already 11:00 anyway, and I wanted to have a chance to eat and shower before picking Mindy up.

So, 9 miles doesn't sound like that much, but my legs are really feeling it! I was supposed to run at RPE 3, but it was probably more like 5 or 6. I knew I was pushing it harder than I should have, but it was just so much fun! I haven't been running for so long! That might also be why I'm feeling so sore. Anyway, I really need to get to bed. I've got my compression socks on so hopefully I'll be all ready for whatever tomorrow has in store for me!

I'm starting to get nervous about the run because I've been told that I should get in 3 or 4 15 milers before a marathon, and I've only gotten  one 17-miler in. I hope my training plan isn't leading me astray, or that it wasn't counting on me doing 20 miles in that 3 hour run. I guess we'll find out. I just really don't want to end up with another stress fracture!

2 Weeks to Ironman!

I know I just posted, but I had to do a "2 Weeks to Ironman" post because it's in 2 weeks!! Can you believe it? It's crazy! The craziest thing is that I'm excited and really feel like I'm ready. I mean, I know I'm not going to win, but I don't think it's going to kill me. We shall see, though. :)

I feel good today after my 103 mile ride. My eyes and allergies were really bothering me during the night, and I had to get up and take more benadryl, but during church my eyes totally cleared up and I'm feeling much better. My legs are just a little bit stiff, not even very noticeable though. Isn't that amazing? It's incredible what we can train our bodies to do!

Also, just a reminder, I only have 2 weeks left to try and reach my goal of 140.6 nets. I mean, I guess you can still donate afterwards, but I'm really hoping to get there before I do the miles. If you've thought about donating and don't want to do it online, you can just send in a check to: (This is for if you're in the US, if you're not, go here to find out what to do)

Against Malaria Foundation
Citibank NA
PO Box 7247-6370
Philadelphia
PA 19170-6370

Payable to : 'Against Malaria Foundation'
Please add reference AM 5199 so that the money can be assigned to Swim, Bike, Run Against Malaria

Here's the donation page if you do want to do it online (just click "sponsor now"):  http://www.AgainstMalaria.com/colleensironman 

And if you want to find out more about Against Malaria, don't just take my word for it, go to AgainstMalaria.com

Thanks you guys!

Little Red Riding Hood Century

Friday afternoon, my aunt, Heather, picked me up and we added my bike to the 3 that were already on bike rack. She had two friends with her, Amber and Cory. We headed up to Logan, which was about an hour and a half away. It was a fun ride up getting to know everyone.

We went straight to the park where the start and finish of the Little Red Ridding Hood ride would be, and where we picked up our packets and had dinner. It was a luau because of their hawaiian theme, but I hadn't paid for it when I signed up. I thought I could just buy a ticket once I got there, but they were all sold out. The ladies I was with, very generously, each gave me some of their dinner. However, the dinner was scant, to say the least, and when we finished everything down to the little sliver of cake, we wanted something else. We drove into town and had a real dinner at Cafe Rio. My sister in China will be so jealous when she hears that! Three more weeks, and you can have some too, Katie! (too bad China has blocked blogger so she won't be reading this anyway. . .)

Next we stopped at walmart for a few forgotten items, then headed to Amber's grandma's house. Her mom was also there because her grandpa was not doing well. Her grandma reminded me so much of my own grandma, I couldn't believe it. She's maybe 82 or 83, and she's skinny and cute and energetic and so much fun! She also runs marathons, and wins them for her age group. It made me wish my grandma lived closer so we could just stop by for the night to hang out. We had a great time chatting, eating pie and watching the Audrey Hepburn version of Sabrina. It was fun to see how much it is exactly like the new one, but also how different.

When we woke up at 6:00 Saturday morning, it was raining. After much debate, I decided to wear my tri shorts instead of my pants because I remembered how soaking wet my pants got at St. George Marathon and on that one ride I did in the rain. Soaking wet pants don't really help you stay warm, so I opted for the quick-dry tri shorts. I wore arm covers, a light jacket and my florescent green rain jacket. I also put gloves and an extra pair of socks in my jacket pocket. It had stopped raining by the time we actually left for the park, though, so we were hopeful.

Heather and I were doing the 100-mile distance so we started at 7:30, and Amber and Cory were doing the 67-mile distance so they didn't start until 8:30. Here we all are, ready to go.

We didn't actually start at the starting line because we were heading over, and we saw that they had already started so we just turned and joined them a few yards from where they started. This didn't really matter since it's such a casual ride, not a race, and it's not like we had timing chips or anything.

The most uncomfortable part of the whole ride, for me, was probably the first 20 miles. My legs were hurting and my food was hurting for some reason. But, once we got warmed up, I felt fine. We got to the first big aid station at mile 20 after about an hour, and boy is it an aid station! They had a whole line of porta-potties, and tables just overflowing with peanut butter sandwiches, oreos, crackers, pretzels, granola bars and even fruit snacks! Too bad I'm not used to even eating on my rides so I just took an oreo and waited for Heather to get her drink. She had a water bottle cage that goes on the back of the seat, like mine, but we couldn't get it on so she ended up not having any water bottles for the whole ride! I don' t know how she did it. I shared with her whenever she would take it, but most of the time she was like, "I'm fine."

I had taken my sun glasses off and hooked them in my jacket when I went to the bathroom at this aid station, and I forgot to put them on until we started riding again. When I realized this, I thought, "Oh my sun glasses, and grabbed them a little harder than necessary." My sunglasses, already having a loose screw, just couldn't take this and fell apart. I dropped them on the ground at the same time, and I didn't want to look for the little screw and try to fix them so I just picket them up and dropped them in the dumpster that was right there. "Oh well," I though, "I needed new sunglasses anyway." We started riding again, and Heather couldn't believe I just threw them away so I started having doubts about my decision. Oh well, the ride must go on!

There were aid stations every 10 miles, but only every other one was as fancy as the first one, some just had water.

At mile 60, though, it was the lunch stop. They had everything that the fancy aid stations had, but they also had subway sandwiches, cookies and chips. Ok, something else I'm not used to on my rides, but it was nice. Here's one of the food tables.

There were ladies all over, sitting in the grass, enjoying the break. You can also see the blue sky is starting to show through!



Here's Aunt Heather:



And here I am:

We took our jackets off and rolled them up into nice neat little bundles to tie around our waists, then we started off again. The weather ended up being pretty much perfect, and we never did get rained on! Even though this was the 60-mile mark, it was really only half-way because the rest of the way was much harder with a relentless headwind (the only un-perfect part of the weather) to push against most of the way.

Heather and I refused to draft the whole race. We would let people get behind us, of course, but we passed anyone we got too close to. I didn't want to draft, because I didn't trust that these girls wouldn't just put their breaks on or do something crazy in front of me, but I also wanted to do it the way I'm going to be doing it in the Ironman. Drafting is usually not allowed in triathlons, at least not any that I've ever done, although, they do allow it in the Olympics.  

I felt good and strong most of the time, and Heather was a good match for me to ride with. She goes fast enough that it pushes me a little, but not too fast that I loose her. Sometimes she would get ahead a little, and sometimes I would (usually on the downhills), but for most of the ride we were side-by-side and it was really fun. It went by so fast to have her there. She was also a comfort because I knew if something happened, she would be there. It was also just nice to have someone to talk to.

I forgot to bring allergy medicine, which I realized half-way through when my throat started to feel like it was closing. Heather joked about having to save my life, but it never got very bad, and eventually felt almost better. I was really lucky that my eyes didn't bother me during the ride much, even when we rode through a rain of pollen that I thought for sure would get to me. I was really surprised how good my eyes felt. Luckily it was cloudy most of the time too so I wasn't squinting too much.

I never stopped my timer, and Heather always did whenever we stopped so we got to see the total time and the total riding time when we finished. The total time was about 7:23, but when you cut out all the stops, it was just over 6 hours! I was really happy with that! Oh, and we didn't just go 100, it was 103! So, I just need to add 9 miles to that and I've got my Ironman distance!

The best news of all was that I felt great at the end! I couldn't wait to just get to Heather's car, get my shoes and start running! Of course, I was so excited to start running that I forgot to use the bathroom first, so I ended up run/walking until I got back to the porta-potties. Then I ran around the block until my 20 minutes were up. I could have kept running too, I felt great! I just wanted to get back to my friends and the good food they had there! There were more subway sandwiches and oreos and all the stuff from the aid stations, but there was also creamies and chocolate fountains! Yum! They also had these "big bad wolves" laying on the tables covered in brown sugar that looked like sand. It was pretty cute.



We got lays at the finish line to go along with their Hawaiian theme. They're pink to go with their cause fighting breast cancer. All the cancer survivors also got different colored lays at the beginning to wear.



Here are Heather, Corey, and Amber in their cute matching outfits from last year. I felt a little left out and a little skimpy next to them, but it's all good.



We all ate until we were content then headed back to get our stuff.

The sad news of the day was that, while we were riding, Amber got a phone call from her mom telling her that her grandpa passed away. We all felt so terrible when we found this out, and wanted to do something for her grandma so we stopped at Hallmark on the way back to get her a few things. Her grandma seemed to be doing amazingly well, when we got back, talking about what had happened and when the funeral would be and stuff, but it was still very emotional, and I was kind of glad to leave them in peace. Her grandma was wonderful and kind too us, and I'll always be glad I met her. Who knows, maybe I'll see her again next year.

We hurried back so I would be able to see Pete a little bit on his birthday, but I didn't get home until around 6, and he was already at our friend's house with the kids having dinner. I was feeling pretty terrible by the time I got home, my nose running and my eyes itching and stinging, so I took some allergy pills and a shower before having Pete come pick me up. The dinner was wonderful, and we had a good time, but after a couple hours, the meds were really kicking in and I was about to fall asleep on their sofa so we went home and went to bed. Not a very fun birthday for Pete, but he was very understanding. He said it turned out exactly like he knew it would, and he was glad I had a good time at my ride. What a wonderful husband I have!

Girls Night Out

This morning I was just itching to get out and run, so I did. I figured that if I want to go run, I'm recovered enough right? I did an easy run, though. I just went for 40 minutes, and it was really good to be out running again! It felt like it had been forever! I did a 3.5 mile loop so I was running pretty easy. When I got home, my legs felt much better and I felt much happier.  I took a good 25 minutes to stretch. My legs still do feel a little tight, but I hope they're feeling better tomorrow for my first century.

Today I'm packing up and getting ready to drive up to Logan for the Little Red Riding Hood with Heather and some of her friends in a few hours. We'll go check out all the bike stuff they have for sale up there and enjoy a (hopefully good) carb loading dinner, then sleep at someone's uncles house or something. It should be fun, I haven't had a girls night for I don't know how long!

It's supposed to rain in the late morning. I'll bring my rain jacket and warm pants just in case, but I really hope I don't have to use them! 

I'm also baking a cake so it will be ready to decorate for Pete's birthday when I get back tomorrow.

I'll let you all know how it goes on Sunday!