Just a quickie

What a bummer! There were thunderstorms, so no ride with the kiddos. I was really looking forward to it, too. And no, Jenny, I think I will pass on borrowing Lauren. Don't get me wrong, she's awesome, but I don't think I'm quite ready to tangle with a teenager. I have enough trouble getting some of my age 45+ clients to do what I say. So we ended up doing nothing fitness related. This is a VERRRRY bad situation when it happens. I get really depressed, have no energy and when the depression wears off, I am possessed by Miss Cranky Pants. Not that I'm horrible, I just don't want to be bothered about anything. Especially if it has anything to do with being social. Which was exactly what I had to do yesterday afternoon. My sister-in-law and brother are adopting a little girl from China. You would think this would be a quick process because they don't much care for little girls over there, but it has taken quite awhile. Anyway, Avery Jane Xinrong Foard's (what a mouthful, eh?) birthday was a few days ago. So even though she isn't here yet, they decided that it would be nice to have a birthday party for her. My brother video taped it so they could send it over so she could see it. Very sweet. Well I made a cake and we went over about 3:30. We had a good time despite not being in the mood to be around people. It was very relaxed in fact. Fortunately there was a lot of fruit and veggies, but the other stuff was a little less than healthy which means danger for Chris and his diet. He wasn't too bad, but he still felt guilty about the little bit he did eat. Everyone has days like that, or weeks (ladies I think you know what I'm talking about). So not only was I not physically active, but I proceeded to shove good old Southern food straight down my throat. It was very ugly. I, however, more than made up for it today I believe. I went for a 28 mile hilly ride, a 6 mile run, did a chest and back workout and some core work. Life is good again!

Take it easy.

Good morning! I was just sitting here contemplating going for a 3 or 4 mile run and I'm afraid my heavy eyelids and slow pace are going to get the best of me. Inside I really, really want to, but I think I should just lay low again. So I'll just blog now and maybe go for a run later. Besides, we are going for a ride soon! This is a very unusual and special ride for us, though. All this week Chris has been talking to his sister-in-law, Kayla, about taking our neices and nephew for a bike ride. Briana and Alexandria are 7 and Caulder is 5. We don't have any kids ourselves, so we just borrow some every once and awhile! It's a great method. These are some of the sweetest, smartest and cutest kids I know. Kayla and Eric do make very pretty babies! In fact they have a new addition, Hallie-Claire (sp?) , as of this past January. All their children have looked the same as babies. Beautiful skin, dark eyes and A LOT of dark hair. Anyway, I think this will be their first bike ride outside of their neighborhood. Should be fun and very interesting! I'm going to try to remember my camera and blog about the whole experience later.

Whole lotta nothin'

Okay! Okay! I know it's been about a week. Actually I think it's been exactly a week. I just know you are sitting on the edges of your seats wondering, "What's that Rebecca been up to? Has she abandoned us? We must know what is going on in her life or we shall surely perish!" Well, work mostly along with various and sundry other life things.

This past weekend was unstructered. I'm not productive if I don't have a plan. I did manage to get in an 8 mile run and a 25 mile ride (the "Triple Bypass"). We also went to see a movie. Chris started his diet on Friday and has not cheated. However, he did say that he wanted to bury his face in my bag of popcorn at the movie. I, in respect, wanted to hook myself up to an IV with his diet soda. People look at us really weird when they see me sniffing his drink and see him sniffing what's on my plate. But hey, it works for us!

This week has gone by really fast and I barely got any training for myself in. Amy, who owns the Wellness Studio, has been out of town and I am subbing with some of her clients. I've also been pretty low energy this week, so I just had to stop being frustrated that I haven't worked out. Well, I pretty much work out everyday with clients, but unfortunately I don't feel like I've worked out. Not the way I need or want to. I'm probably feeling the effects of Kansas and I needed some downtime anyway. I'm just trying not to beat myself up over it. Don't want to over train; I wouldn't be able to do anything for awhile. I need to just be in chill mode with my friend Sarah. Just need to go with the flow...

Back to life...

We got back into town about 7:30 on Tuesday evening and we're both glad to be home. We missed our kitties and our own pillows. It usually takes a day before I really feel like working again. Then I remember that I love my clients and they remind me with all their different personalities how much I love what I do for a living. Sure beats sitting behind a desk! I never really considered myself much of a people person until I got the Luv-Bug. A fast acting virus I've had since July 4th of 2005 that gently nudges me outside my comfort zone on a regular basis. I mean look at me now, I've got lots of friends, I'm blogging and doing crazy things like 1/2 Ironmen. I never thought I'd be doing what I'm doing. I have to say that a large amount of credit goes to him for giving me confidence, unearthing dormant potential and helping me see that I'm worthy.

The next venture is to attempt the 1/2 Ironman in Arkadelphia. I promised myself and Chris that I would do that one if I didn't finish or get to finish the one in Kansas. So training starts for that next week. I feel like I know what I need to do to be ready for it this time. But different course + different weather conditions = huge difference. I've already ridden the bike course for it. All chip and seal and pot holes. Quite frankly, it scares the hell outta me, but I'm going to do it and I'm going to finish!

So here we are, back to life in real time. How fortunate I am that it's a good life! I have a wonderful husband, great family and circle of friends, precious little furballs, I'm healthy, want for nothing and I love what I do for a living...Life Is Good!

What a time we had!

We were eager and all set to go. We had planned and made all the arrangements for our vacation/event and packed the truck (well, Chris did). So out we set on our great adventure to Kansas with hopes of putting our great 70.3 stickers on our trucks. Was it in the stars? Who can ever really tell? You train and train and train some more to prepare for the big event and sometimes it happens and sometimes it don't! Read further if you want to know, which most of Fast Girls Slow Guys (our cycling buddies) already have the scoop. They just may want to read about the journey, which is the important part, after all.

I sort of wrote about the drive here a couple of days ago, so I'll skip that part. It was pretty boring anyway. We like the hotel we are staying in, it's not like any place we've ever stayed. It's small and stinks with atmosphere. The walls are sort of stucco and they have those bronze looking statues everywhere. The staff is really relaxed and laid back, but extremely helpful. I recommend this place (Senate Luxury Suites) if you end up in Topeka, Kansas.

Anyway, Friday we get up late and take our time getting ready. I just thought, "I could get used to this!". I guess that's why they call it a vacation, right? We decide to go to the local spots for breakfast and coffee just to get the whole experience. The Pancake House, I have four words....70's truck stop diner. First of all, the sign on the door is pretty much an indication of how progressive Topeka is in their healthy lifestyle campagne. It read something like "Smoking permitted in designated area Mon. thru Fri. No smoking on Sat. and Sun." As a matter of fact, every other person on the street had a cigarette in their hands. Not the most health conscious town. Back to the restaurant. I don't even know what to say about the wall paper on this one wall, but I think my grandparents had some on their kitchen wall when I was a kid. The seats were, I believe covered in the original vinyl. I think the only thing that would have completed the ensemble would have been if the waitresses would have been dressed in the uniforms off of the series "Alice". I think the size of the breakfast could have fed about two truckers who hadn't eaten in a couple of days. When we were leaving we noticed a hall way with a newspaper article. come to find out, the place opened in 1969 and probably had all the original decor. You don't find this kind of place just anywhere and it was awesome. We left there and went down the street to a local espresso place for my fix. All ready to head down to the race site and check things out while we waited for Jo and Lisa to arrive.

The first turn off led us down a gravel road and we started to worry. However, we were relieved to find out this wasn't part of the course. We started to enter the race site and the official sign of the Kansas 70.3 Ironman was up. My heart had started racing way before I was supposed to. We got out and took a gander at the impressive transition area that would soon hold 1300 bikes. The spots were numbered so we had an assigned spot, which made me very happy. I am a Libra and one less decision I have to make is one less stress for me. I've never done anything like this before and I have no idea what the best position for me to be in is. We went down to the beach to take a gander at the water. The buoys didn't look so far out...yet. When we started driving the bike course we quickly realized that Kansas is anything but flat! Jo and Lisa said it reminded them of the M and M course that they train on with D'Wonn. I gotta start training on that loop! We headed down to the expo and got checked in. After check in we got some lunch at a pretty groovy little place called the Global Cafe.

Jo called after she'd found a parking space and we met up with her and Lisa and went back to the expo for them to register and look around. We decided to go to dinner at a place called Old Chicago. They offer about 3 billion different beers. They have pretty good pizza, too. I think Jo may quit her job and buy an Old Chicago franchise. Saturday was another slow to rise day. This time we opted for IHOP and Starbucks. By the time we made it to eat breakfast, it was lunch time. So Chris had his last pre-race cheeseburger. You will understand if you are following his blog. If you haven't read it, you really should check it out and give him your support! Go to the Luvbug link under my Other Blogheads. On with the story. I needed my daily dose, so down the street for some Starbucks! I should just hook up an IV. It would be cheaper! We headed down to the race site again to rack our bikes. We rode a little bit of the course with Jo, Lisa and Kevin. I quickly discovered that I need to ride my bike more. I will have to just quit my job and train 40 hours a week! Chris is working on winning the lottery. We got our chips and racked our bikes. There was no turning back now! We came back to the hotel and napped a bit. Then went to eat some dinner. The time was drawing nearer and I was officially starting to get nervous. We made it to bed at a little after 8 with our alarms set for 2:30 a.m.

After a night of relatively good sleep, the alarm tells us it's almost showtime! I roll over and tell Chris to have fun today, half kidding. We pull into the race site at about 4:30. It really started to hit me in the truck on the way over that I was going to be doing the most epic thing for me to date. My stomach was in knots and I was having trouble breathing. Not really a good sign when you're getting ready to jump in the water in a couple of hours because for me the feeling only intensifies. Just once I would like to experience something like this without the side effects! We set up our transition areas and check them about 3,000 times. We see Jo and it's a little before 6 and she seems rushed. As she's airing up her back tire, we hear that familiar sound of "POP! shphzzzzzz". Damn what a time to get a flat. At least it was before the race and not at the beginning of the ride. Chris came over and helped changed the flat. She only had one tube so I gave her one of mine. What are friends for? Chris and I decide to go for a 5 minute run then put our wetsuits on. Oh gawd! I don't know if I can do this!!!!! Well we start the swim and as usual it takes about 600 yards to get into a rhythm for me. Just enough time to get run over by the wave that started 3 minutes later. And the one after that and the one after that. I was swimming beside another woman and she was very angry that the men went off after we did. I had to agree with her. I got kicked in the ribs, elbowed in the side of the head, pulled under by the ankle and got my head pushed under water by a hand. All by men. After being almost drown twice I had to stop and collect myself while coughing up yummy lake water. Well, just suffice it to say that I didn't have to hydrate too much on the bike. I finally drug myself out of the water and when I got my my wetsuit off I noticed my timing chip was not on my ankle! AARRRRGH! You've got to be friggin' kiddin' me! I rushed to tell one of the volunteers that I had lost my chip and she told me to get ready for the bike and sent someone running. As I started to put my shoes on I saw my chip lying on the ground. Thank ya Jesus! Chris said he heard them call my name as I was leaving the transition on my bike. Away I went. It started out great! I felt good and I wasn't doing too badly. I just tried to remember that when I started to feel like I was putting out too much effort, I needed to back off. The last leg of the bike was brutal. The head wind had to be in between 20 to 25 mph with some viscious climbing. On the way back though, it was blazing saddles! Finally pulled into the transition area for the run! Home stretch baby! This was it! Just a mere half marathon. It was pretty difficult, but at least it was not hot. I noticed that dark clouds started to roll in and the wind kicked up. We knew there was a chance of rain later. I had run through a couple of water hose sprays and they were handing out ice cold sponges on the course which I needed at the time. Only now my shoes were squishy and I was starting to get cold. As I was thinking, "surely I'm not dehydrated" some guy announced that the temp had dipped into the 60's. Brrrrrrrr! Squishy shoes, wet and cold I was going to finish this race! I was so excited even though my run time was getting slower and slower with each painful step, I still had plenty of time to make it to the finish line. I no longer cared what my time was going to be. Then it happened...they called the race! I had come about 6 1/2 miles and they were shutting it down because a possibility of tornados. I almost made it! I was sooooo close and I would have finished, but alas it was not to be. There was one poor girl who was absolutely crushed. She was bawling and my heart went out to her. I, surprisingly, was not very upset.

It started raining about 20 minutes after I was pulled from the course. Oh well, I was already soaked and freezing my patootie off. What difference was a little rain going to make? I see Chris coming through the finish and we talked for a few minutes, got our bags and headed down to gather our stuff and get our bikes out of the transition area. By the time we got back to the truck it had all but stopped raining. Traffic was insane so we decided to go get some pizza that was meant for the athletes after the event. Needless to say there was a ton of it. They had turkey sandwiches that were pretty tasty. By the time we decided it was safe to go, the sun was shining and not a cloud in site. I called my dad to wish him a Happy Father's Day on the way back. We thought about stopping at the Fantasy Gentlemen's Club for a lap dance or two, but they don't open on Sundays. Dang! We got back to the hotel all soggy and tired. We took a shower and about a 2 hour nap. Got up and walked over to Walgreens and bought some not so good for you food. Let me tell you, I decided about 8 or 9 months ago to give up cola of any kind inspired by OD'Wonn. Chris said that I should reward myself with one after the 70.3. I did and it was good, but surprisingly it was not as good as I thought it would be. Which was good news; means I'm not missing anything! It was still a nice treat, though. I'm feeling pretty good considering what I just put my body through. Now it's time to hit it hard again! Yeah, baby!
I may not get to put that 70.3 sticker on my back windshield right now, but I hope to by the end of the year. I will however wear the finisher's shirt and my hat I bought.
That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

...and closer

Okay, here we are in Kansas, Toto! It was a purdy uneventful deerive. Not a whole lot of scenery. We finally got here about 10:30 last night. We ran into a little rain...okay, maybe more than a little. So we pull up to the hotel and from the outside it looks sort of run down, but quaint. We walk in and it has sort of a spooky feel to it. If you've ever been to Eureka Springs, AR you know what I'm talking about. Like a ghostly, haunted feeling. I had asked the woman at the front desk if it was haunted. She said that there have been reports of hauntings, but she works nights and she'd never seen anything. Maybe they're daytime ghosts. I absolutely love paranormal stuff, so of course I'm just looking for something! I think Chris is hoping for just the opposite. I will download some pics maybe tomorrow morning and report on the race course, too. I just wanted to give a quick report.

Getting closer!

Okay! I can't believe I'm going to put this out there. Chris had informed me that an athlete could be tracked in our 1/2 Ironman. So you will be able to see where we are on the course and what our times are. I just looked and ours isn't listed as one that will have this feature. However, they may add it to the list closer to the day. We got to watch our friend David (his blog is listed under my links) come across the finish line at the Ironman Louisville last year via the web. It was really cool! Not quite like being there and cheering for him, but it was still exciting! So I may regret this but here is the website: http://www.ironman.com/ When you get to the homepage go to EVENTS. Click on Ironman 70.3 Series. Click on Ironman 70.3 Kansas. Scroll down until you see Spectators in the lower left corner. Click on Athlete Tracking. So if you want to see how we're doing (or maybe not doing) just follow those easy steps. You can also read about it in our blogs if they don't end up giving you the option of using that feature.

What a rush!

Wow! Can you believe how fast this month is moving, not to mention the entire year. Right now my head is so convoluted with "stuff". I'm currently trying to stay focused on the Kansas 1/2 Ironman, but trying to get everything done and packed before Thurs. is making me sort of cranky. Just ask my peach of a husband! I just don't want to forget anything, but if I do my Luvbug has an extra, I guarantee it. So, seriously I don't know why I'm stressing! Getting ready to hit the hay. Just wanted to get in a "quick hit" (as my friend Geo puts it). I think after this weekend, I can really kind of settle into this blog and be productive with it.

To blog or not to blog

Weeelll, let me just tell you how difficult it was to get this show on the road. I created my blog homepage and I've been so busy that I had to put off my first entry for a few days. I just wanted it to be good! I finally settled in Saturday night to blog about my class I took to renew my massage license and up popped the message that my blog was under investigation for a possible Terms of Use violation. I'm not a rebel and I would be the WORST 'bad girl' you have ever seen. I mean, when I was in 5th grade, I had heard a dirty joke from one of my older brother's friends and the teacher caught me telling it. I felt nothing but a rush of heat and was totally embarassed. Not from knowing what the joke truly meant, but because I was being punished in front of everyone. Anyway, my point being that violating anything is well beyond my nature. I found out that the 'robot' thought it may be a spam blog. I put in a request for a review and here I am! So it's way past my bedtime, but I was so excited that I had to write. Yeah, I think this is going to be really good for me. Not that my life is sooooo exciting that I thought you may want to read about it, but I feel like it's just something that I've got to do to help maintain my sanity. Thanks for reading!