suck it up buttercup 10k, etc

If you asked me what day it is, I honestly wouldn't be able to begin to hazard a guess.

Running has been keeping me from completely losing my ever-lovin' mind these past few weeks.  I've finally got a massage scheduled for this evening after work- between the triathlon training and now- oh joy!- wedding planning, I'm the textbook definition of wrung out and stressed.  

I ran the Suck It Up Buttercup 10K on Sunday.  I didn't really do any additional training towards it.  It's been so damn HOT here that I haven't been running more than like 4 miles at a time.  Rick and Emily were there (Emily of course taking the job of photographer for us!), and Meagan and her other friend Lindsey made it as well.  Meagan and I actually managed to stick together and finish about 10 seconds apart- it was good to have someone to push through those hills with!  Who knew Florida was so hilly?!?  The race started down at Gemini springs in a field near the parking lot.  It was a super-unofficial looking start line.  We were just behind a mass of people that started oozing forward when the air horn went off, somewhere on the ground was a timing mat, and people fumbled along next to ditches and up on to sidewalks for the first mile or so until the crowd thinned out.  It was the longest 10K of my life!  Thank goodness they had Gatorade at the halfway point, I don't think we would have made it.  We ran mostly, with some longer walk breaks towards the back half.  At one hill we just said "Ef this nonsense, we do not have to waste our precious little energy on a Florida mountain." I finally finished it in 55:32, 7th in my age group and 53rd overall.  There were 378 runners in the 10K so I think that's pretty good.  I felt so gross afterwards though!  The humidity was a killer!  We had to wait a half hour before taking pictures so we could dry off and look halfway presentable.

 Not my worst race photo ever!

Cute little medal!

I spent the rest of the day lounging in the pool before the afternoon thunderstorms kicked up.  I've done some more triathlon work- the hardest part for me now is the transition from biking to running.  Jell-o legs still persist but I'm better at adjusting to it.  Doesn't mean I'm used to it or that I have to like it!  I've been stuck swimming in the backyard pool for the past few weeks, we haven't had time to get back out to the springs.  I've got a date with a lake out in Clermont with Stephanie a week before the race though.  Pushing it much?  As long as I don't drown, I'm good!  My goal is to just finish!  I think my weight training is helping a bit.  I'm not doing anything heavy, just some 5 lb hand weights with old Les Mills BodyPump-type routines.  It's better than nothing!  My main thing is to work on hip strength so that my knees don't give out on my longer distance runs.  Lefty hasn't been bothering me as much lately so I'm crossing my fingers that it's working!

*Stop here if you don't give a rat's patootie about wedding stuff.

Otherwise...carry on.

Scot and I spent another day off touring more venues.  We saw 2 last Monday and 3 this week.  I think we're (I'm) finally getting a vision on what we want.  Elegant.  Brunch.  Disney-ish.  Affordable.  We've narrowed it down to 2, we'll have a decision after my parents come in to visit.

And we FINALLY got to go to Trader Sam's Grog Grotto at the Polynesian!  I'd heard so much about it but had no idea what we were getting in to.  We arrived 5 minutes before it opened to a line down the hallway!  We had to get a buzzer and were paged in shortly after they opened the doors.  The bar is small, dark, and has a kooky tiki theme.  Like a combination of the Enchanted Tiki Room and the Rainforest Cafe without the animatronic critters.  Except for that octopus thing that totally freaked my out.  The servers have a lot of fun- they get the patrons all involved in the craziness and interacting with one another.  We shared a table with 2 girls from NM on their honeymoon.  We drank.  We did shots.  We ordered a drink that came to the table ON FIRE.  We spent waaaay more money than we'd planned, and then we went to the Magic Kingdom completely hammered.  Walk normal, try to be cool.  Smile at the purse-checking guy.  Hi, how are you?  We had managed to get a FP+ for the 7 Dwarfs Mine Train, which is also fun to ride when you're inebriated.  

I'd been so stressed over the idea of having to plan the perfect wedding even/vacation for our guests that I finally just decided to say "Screw it all" and not think about it anymore.  I can look at bridal magazines and know that I don't have to have or do any of that shit they've got in there.  Let's have some cake, let me wear what I want (and it ain't no thousand-dollar dress!), and I'll be able to relax.  

That 6pm massage can't come soon enough.

  

Tri- minus 5 weeks

The countdown is on to August 8th!

We went back to Blue Spring Monday for me to get some swimming and biking in.  Like last time, I had to swim upstream for, oh, forever, then turned around to come back.  

I'm really hoping the swim in the river is downstream!

After the swim, I did 12 miles on my bike in just under an hour.  There's so many hills out there!  We ride out of the park and onto the Beresford Trail- out and around and back is just enough distance.  On a whim, I decided to try running after I finished the bike ride.

Oh.  No.

A typical Florida thunderstorm hit just as we finished riding so I ran around the parking lot in the rain.  100 yards.  And I felt like I was about to die!  That run was harder than a 4 1/2 hour marathon!  WTF was going on?  My legs felt like jell-o and I felt like I was moving in slow motion.  I lumbered around the parking lot before collapsing back into the car, dazed and confused.

What was going on with me?  Am I broken?

So, I did what any concerned athlete would do- I asked the Internets.  More specifically, the Run Disney Facebook group people.  Why are my legs not working?  Several people told me that it was perfectly normal, that I'd have to "run it out" and my body would adjust after a mile or so.  But I wanted to know WHY, so I did a bike ride followed by a run (these are called "bricks," back-to-back training events...I learned that in my triathlon packet I printed off the Internets).  I did a 7 mile ride, then stretched for a minute while my GPS watch looked for a signal, then attempted to run a 5k.  Again, I felt like I was moving in slow motion and I realized that- uh, yeah I was!  Technically.  I mean, I'd just got done doing 12 MPH on a bicycle, and now my legs are doing pretty much the same movement at half that speed!

Ohhhhh.....

It was totally all in my head because my pace wasn't any slower than normal (considering a hot and humid Florida morning!), I just felt like I was crawling compared to the bike speed!

Whew.

I ran my miles, did my intervals, and felt perfectly normal after about 10 minutes.  Nice.  I think I'll get back in the pool this week- with all the rain and the heat we've been having, it turned a lovely shade of nuclear-green this week so we've put so much chemicals in there the whole backyard smells like the indoor pool at the Y.  I'm afraid to get in it at the moment.  My hair might fall out.

Oh!  Once more piece of good news/obligatory wedding info: My mom is coming in August to look at our venue (once we pick it) and to talk to caterers and planners.  Which means... she'll be here for my triathlon!  Scot has to work that day so I was gonna be up there on my own originally, but this will be better!