port orange triathlon- i did it!!

I DID IT!  I survived my first triathlon, it was so much fun and I can't wait to do it again!!!!!

I had no idea of course what I was getting myself into when I signed up for this.  I found out just over a week before the big day that the swim was 500 meters, not the 400 I originally thought.  Uh oh.  I'd been focusing mostly on the bike-to-run transition that the swimming had kind of gotten pushed aside.  The only time I had to go to an actual pool (read- natural spring) to attempt swimming was on my one day off and we ran into so many road blocks between weather and wedding venue visiting that I didn't really get to do any open water swimming until 6 days before the race.

The experience was less than encouraging.

I drove out to Clermont on a rainy Sunday afternoon to swim in a lake with Steph as my guide/advice giver.  The water got to around 10 feet deep and was the color of Coca Cola.  Once she convinced me it WAS actually safe to put my face in it, I couldn't see a blessed thing.  I flailed around a bit and managed to swim/side kick/doggie paddle/backstoke about 250 meters before I'd had enough.  No way I could handle twice that distance!

 The gross looking lake in Clermont

The same photo, after Instagram!  Amazing!  I wish it looked like this for real

I didn't swim at all the rest of the week.  I figured there was no point- I wasn't going to be able to magically pull off this swim in the Intercoastal waterway so I figured eh what the hell, why bother.  I biked and ran, I'm much better at that.  I just figured I'd be the last one out of the water and deal with it then.

So my parents got in to town on Friday night to help us with some wedding stuff over the week so they came up to watch me in the race.  Saturday morning we drove up to Port Orange (about a 40 minute drive) and I picked up my packet at 6am, got inked with a sharpie, and set up my gear.  

My race number was 787, like the airplane.  I thought that was pretty cool.

 Me and little pink mountain bike are ready!  Still dark out

 You can see the timing chip on my ankle here

Standard-issue yellow swim cap for ladies!  The guys had blue ones.

I had a velcro timing chip that wrapped around my ankle and fastened- this is what would activate every time I crossed the timing mat in and out of the transition area and across the final finish line.  The transition area was a parking lot at the boat ramp just prior to the VERY STEEP bridge over the river.  There was a long mat laid out going in to the water to protect us from the oyster shell beds planted there as grip for the boat trailers.  I was glad to see that!  I did what Steph told me and untied my shoes, put my GPS watch and socks inside them, turned my bike helmet upside down, and set my water bottle for washing my feet off nearby.  I turned on my bluetooth earbuds too (but that didn't do any good because they shut off automatically since I didn't have music playing).  My parents had my phone and car keys, and I laid out my towel under my bike.  The transition area was very tight- barely enough room for 2 people to get ready side by side!

The men's swim started at 7am.  After the national anthem, I started wading into the water- thank goodness it wasn't cold!  It wasn't noticeably warm; it really just felt the same as the air temperature.  Very comfortable.  The air horn went off and the men started their swim.  The ladies were due out at 7:03.  I made my way to the start area- just below chest deep.  The guy who was there posing at the start line (with his arms out, like we had to be really held back) briefed us again on where to go.  I could see the water churning up ahead with all the men headed toward the inflatable pylon buoy where they would make a u-turn and head back toward us.  The air horn went off again and I looked over and more than half the women were still wading in to the water!  I dove forward and started swimming.  

Steph was right when she told me swimming in a group is a whole different ballgame.  Good lord it was crazy.  As soon as I put my face in the water I tasted the saltiness.  Face up, spit. Face back down.  Swim.  

I mean, it was crowded but the women were actually very polite.  There were a lot of "I'm sorry"s and "Excuse me"s as we pushed forward.  After about 15 seconds I was done with regular swimming.  I started side stroking, doggie paddling, anything to just keep going forward.  It's hard to breathe as much as you have to when swimming!  About 100 meters in, I looked over at a woman who appeared to be moving through the water with quick, easy, relaxed strokes.  Then I noticed she wasn't kicking.  Then I lowered my leg and realized something.

DEAR SWEET BABY JESUS I CAN TOUCH THE BOTTOM!

I made eye contact with the walk/swim lady and smiled.  She gave me a knowing smile back.  I got my feet to the sandy river bottom and was able to sort of leap-swim-stroke at a faster pace with much less effort.  Our secret was discovered by a few other women around us and there were some quiet cheers as about a half dozen of us swim/walked toward the buoy.  When we got there, no joke, we all stood up, walked around the buoy, and then resumed our routine.  It was like a weird water ballet.

The water got a bit deeper as we headed back but by then I had rested and was able to swim respectably toward the shore area.  The crowd was pretty thick as a whole herd of people tried to exit the water at once.  As soon as I got to waist deep, I stood and ripped off my cap and goggles.  I got in line and everyone filed up the mat back into the transition area.  I had survived the swim.  The rest was going to be easy!

I was a hot mess in my transitions

I'll admit it first- my transitions sucked.  I'd practiced it exactly zero times during my training.  I poured my water bottle on my feet, chugged and spat from the same bottle as my folks came over to see me from the other side of the fence.  I had some PowerAde, had to re-do my velro timing chip around my ankle because it came unwrapped, and got a little distracted fiddling with my earbuds.  I couldn't get them to turn on.  Eh, whatever.  I started up my biking app and popped it and my water bottle into my pockets, walked my bike out of the transition area and headed out.  

The morning was still pretty overcast, there was a nice breeze, so I wasn't afraid to push it a bit on the bike.  The first mile included that goddamn bridge but I made it over okay.  I coasted down the other side and passed 2 people at the bottom.  After that, it was a normal bike ride for me.  I cruised along at just over 4 minutes a mile, passing people left and right.  I was starting to get weirded out- it was like no one was even trying!  I didn't think I was going that hard- certainly not like the pros who zoom along at 20 mph!  I just decided to mind my own business and ride my bike the way I ride my bike.  Again, I kept passing tons of people!  The ride was nice though, all along a neighborhood road into Ponce Inlet and then back north along beachfront property.  I could look between the houses on the street and see ocean.  It was a nice change from my neighborhood route that I was already getting sick of, for sure.  

And then the bridge showed up again.

I tried to pedal faster to get up some momentum but as I hit that bridge it was like I was hitting a wall.  I swear it goes straight up.  I mean, the westbound side has got to definitely be steeper than the eastbound side in the beginning of the race.  I put my bike in 1st gear, stood up on the pedals, and crawled up the hill.

And then I thought to myself... This?  This is bullshit.  And a waste of energy I'm going to need in a few minutes.

So I got off my bike and ran it up the rest of the hill!

Cars were coming over the bridge but I didn't care.  There were people on bikes at the base of the bridge behind me-let them get wore out, I'm not going to play that game.  I was faster on foot so who cares?  At the top, I hopped back on and coasted down, under the bridge and back into the transition area.  My parents were there waiting for me.  I racked my bike, took some water and PowerAde again, stretched out my legs, and then headed out on the run.  4 miles to go!

The jelly legs weren't so bad this time- I actually got off to a pretty good start.  My first mile was under 9 minutes.  I did my 4 min run/30 second walk intervals and got to mile 1 as I turned down Halifax Drive.  The timer was at 1 hour 17 minutes at this point because I saw it as I ran past the finish line toward mile 2.  I could see a few freaks of nature zipping along into the finish area, and I told myself 3 more miles and I'll be there!

The run was hot.  My clothes were still wet and felt heavy.  They don't breathe as well as my regular running gear.  I still hadn't gotten my earbuds to work so I had my phone turned up louder in my pocket so I could have some sort of music to listen to.  

Too bad it was shit music.  

The thing with Pandora is that you can have a station that's really good and then it'll play a string of songs that you're sick of and you can't do anything about it because you're out of skips.

This is how i wound up listening to goddamn Blues Traveler.  I was hoping no one else could hear it as I passed people on the road.  For the love of all things holy, why isn't Gin Blossoms Radio playing any effing Gin Blossoms?

So I was kind of irritated on the run.

Counting Crows?  Really, is there a worse song to try to get a good beat and run to than Long December?

Argh.

So I pushed through the run with the goal of finishing quicker so I could turn that shit off.  

It was hot, the sun was starting to beat down and I was pretty sure I was steaming.

I kicked it into higher gear as I approached the finish line.  Oh!  Let me tell you my uh, strategy, that I invented...sort of:  So we got our race numbers marked on our arms and our ages marked in Sharpie on the back of our calves.  Why?  Beats me.  But I used it to check out the ages of women I came up behind in the run.  If she wasn't in my age group, I wasn't going to waste my energy trying to pass her.  Heh.

I saw my parents at the finish line and I crossed in under 2 hours, which was my unspoken goal (the goal I gave to people who asked was to just finish alive).  I got my medal and a bottle of water and met my folks as they walked into the finish area.  This was the same finish line and post race area from the 10K back in June so I was familiar with it (and the parking area and all that).  The reason I chose this particular race was that they advertised breakfast would be served afterwards so as soon as I got my breath and cooled off a minute, I helped myself to grits and sausage and apple cobbler.  Yum.

 Selfie with mom

The race results were posted- I'd come in 4th in my age group!  Awesome!  Then I found out they were doing awards for the top 3 in each age group and that bummed me out hard.  So close!  Then I looked again at the time and I was like 6 minutes behind the girl in 3rd place so I didn't feel too bad after that.  I guess I wasn't close after all.  Anyway, I loved it all and I'd do it again in a heartbeat!

Here's my stats:

4th place in age group

61st overall

Swim 500m: 9:23

T1: 3:32 (need to work on this part!)

Bike 12 mi: 50:57

T2: 2:12

Run 4 mi: 37:02

Finish: 1:43:08

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!

a race and a ring: the best day of my life

***BREAKING NEWS***

I have soooo much to tell you it could fill up a book so I'll try to get in the highlights of the craziness of the past week!

1) I ran a 10K race last Sunday morning up in Port Orange.  It was at the same location as the upcoming triathlon and looking out onto that river did nothing to excite me about it.  The sunrise was pretty, though.  It was easily close to 80 degrees at the start, humid, with no breeze.  Awful!

Rick and Emily were there- it was his first ever 10K race so of course we were all excited!  I started near the front- nothing was super-organized and the group was kind of small, 300 or so runners sooooo....whatever.  The gun went off and the race began.  

Dear sweet baby Jesus it was hot!  Like running in a steam room!  I just wanted it to be over with.  I was coming off that sickness crud so no PR hopes for me, especially with the temps.  The scenery was pretty along the waterfront, and the course took us through some neighborhoods.  There were plenty of water stops, and the road was mostly out-and-back.  Not the most interesting race by a long shot, but nice.  Rick is going to be floored the first time he runs Disney!

The last mile or so, I started taking my walk intervals.  It was just too hot!  I finished in a respectable 55:16 and promptly found the ice water bin that was holding the bottles and shoved a handful of ice down my sports bra.  I sweated more standing around with Emily waiting on Rick that I did running the race.  

So. Gross.

My customer I'd originally planned to fly with at work had called in sick so I was able to stick around and try to enjoy the after-party.  It was just so hot and humid though!  Rick came in 2 minutes under his time goal and we grabbed some paper fans and tried to find some shade to celebrate with some nibbles and sports drink samples from the vendors.  At some point that morning, the awards ceremony started but the 3 of us were hanging out in the back so we missed most of it.

Until I heard my name.

They called it again.  

WHAAAT?  Hot damn, I won 2nd place in my age group!  Yay!  I was so thrown off that I just stumbled up to the front of the crowd laughing.  They gave me a medal!  It almost felt ridiculous because I've some nowhere near placing with much better times than this one but WHO CARES?  What a great way to start the day!!!!

Congrats to Rick on his 1st 10K race!

Ok, moving on...

2) This one is short- after Scot got back from visiting his family up in PA around 1, I ran off to meet a friend for lunch.  She is one of those that I haven't seen in probably a year because we all get so busy and then LIFE happens and then one day one little thing makes you think of that person and you can't remember the last time you spoke.  But you meet up and it's like you're old friends again, and it's fun to catch up over brunch and mimosas and relax together for a while.  Because of my work schedule and every other commitment I have myself wrapped up in, I forget to just hang out with people sometimes.  Girl time was much needed, but I had to get back to the house eventually because Scot and I were going to Epcot to see the U2 coverband, 2U (Is that clear at all?  I can't make this up, promise).  It's part of a summer concert series of cover bands at Epcot.  We saw them last year so I guess we're fans now?

And now....

3)  Scot was ready to get going when I got home.  He was wearing a short sleeve button-down shirt, which was odd for him.  I had worn a dress to brunch so I offered to change if he would feel better in a t-shirt but he admitted that he actually hadn't done laundry so... 

We rolled into Epcot a little after 5pm.  We went backwards this time, starting at Canada.  I didn't care, I was enjoying myself- I was on a mission to get some gelato from Italy.  Epcot is my favorite park!  Scot made himself a new friend- a marginally intoxicated man who heard his text message alert (the beginning bars of the Jetsons theme song) and thought that was the greatest thing ever.  As we approached the UK pavilion, the line to meet Alice in Wonderland stretched out into the path so we cut around to go through the little garden behind the tea shop.  As we wandered around the back, this happened:

"Will you be my princess?"

Holy shit.

You could have knocked me over.  I was floored!  I may have blurted out some colorful language in shock.  5 years together, and he can still knock my socks off!

I looked over and Alice had broken away from her photo line to wave at us and congratulate us

So who took the pictures?  Out of the corner of my eye when he knelt down, I saw some people bring their phones up to their faces on the other side of the bushes.  It took me a couple minutes to get my breathing under control, shakily try on my gorgeous new ring, and make out with my man for a quick second.  He led me over, weak-kneed, toward the shop.  All of a sudden, 5 of our friends walked up and I swear to you, it did not even register that it wasn't a coincidence that they were there.  

He planned the whole thing.  

It took a month and a half to orchestrate the where and the who among our friends would be able to make it.

He wore that shirt on purpose.  

He guided me toward Canada first so we'd pass this way.

Those texts, pinging Jetsons on his phone?  Updates from our friends on where they were hiding.

He lucked out on Alice's line blocking the way and on me wearing a decent dress.  

Our friends had kept this secret for a month and a half!

And the kicker?  He'd asked my parents for their permission IN JANUARY!
I couldn't stop the giggles.  I tell you, June 14, 2015 was shaping up to be the absolute best day of my life.  Our friends were congratulating us and I could barely hold myself up.  Scot asked me if I'd like to go get some champagne in France- HELL YES- so off we went.

celebrating with our wonderful group!

we even got buttons!

I remembered that because I have a Disney Visa card, I get a free photo at a special shoot in the Innoventions building.  We all went back to Future World and took a group picture with Minnie Mouse and Pluto.  I was showing Minnie my ring and she was acting super jealous of it!  There were hugs all around and, as we were getting ready to leave, the cast member attendant called us back over.  "There's someone else who wants to see you!"

 OMG it's Mickey Mouse!!!

 He does not make regular appearance in the Visa card photos so we felt honored!

 He did shake his finger at Scot for getting him in trouble with Minnie though!

We did eventually make it over to see 2U and they were pretty good.  We didn't really ride anything, but went to Italy for some tapas for dinner.  We ordered a bottle of wine for the table and told the waiter we were celebrating and to bring us whatever was good.  We got some amazing meat and cheese boards and everything was delicious!  I'd wanted to try out this little restaurant for a while but Scot had always resisted.  Turns out, he loved it.  And even though he doesn't like wine, he admitted to really enjoying the one we had.  It was a perfect evening!

 balloons and cookies from our run club the next afternoon!

awesome mug from my aunt and cousin!

So what's next?  I have no idea!  We'll pin down a date and details and stuff sometime soon.  I promise this won't morph into a wedding blog- there will be a triathlon training update next time!

down but not out

Triathlon training got slightly off track this past weekend.  On Thursday afternoon, my throat started hurting and by Friday morning I'd completely lost my voice.  After one flight with a student who could fortunately handle my communicating with him via pen & notepad, I spent the rest of the afternoon at the Centra Care and walked away with some antibiotics.  I haven't slept well since Thursday night, my sinuses are killing me, and my Sunday customer (with whom I'd flown on the previous Wednesday as well) cancelled because he was sick.  AH HA!  THAT'S where I caught it from!

So, I haven't felt like doing much is what I'm saying!  After opening up my nasal passages with some spicy crawfish on Sunday, I decided that on Monday I'd go to DeLeon Springs State Park where they have a big ol' swimmin' hole in the fresh spring and do some swimming.  I'd drag Scot along and bring the bikes with the intention of hopping on and getting some mileage after the swim.  I also wanted to try out my new triathlon outfit!

I did purchase road tires for my bike but didn't manage to get them on before we drove up to the spring.  I paid for that mistake later!

DeLeon Springs has a big natural pool that's about 60 yards across.  It ranges from 3-30' feet deep in the middle where the spring bubbles up.  The water is 72 degrees year round!  It felt wonderful!

And dayum, 500 meters is a long-ass way to swim!

I did 6 laps back and forth across the pool for a total of about 360 yards/meters/same damn thing.  I was whupped!  I took a break between each trip back to the entry steps, and was breathing pretty hard by the time I finished.  I gulped down my Nuun and parked it on the edge of the pool for a while.  Good god, swimming is hard!  A lot harder in real water than in my pool at the house!  I did like swimming in the spring, though.  The water felt amazing and I wasn't grossed out too badly when my toe hit the sandy, algae-y bottom.  I could see easily in the crystal-clear waters.  I'll definitely need more work with this part, I think we're going to try Blue Spring, which is closer to our house, next.  

The biking thing?  Turns out, there was no where to ride a bike here!  We had to pack back up and drive to the Lake Beresford trail to ride, which meant my "transition time" was almost 30 minutes.  Yeah, gotta work on that.  I did 7 miles on the bike before I felt too exhausted to do anything more.  I had full intent to go to Abbey Run Club that night but after being sick for so many days my body told me I'd done enough.  Scot went to run later, I stayed home and watched a rerun of Say Yes To The Dress with a pile of snotty tissues.  

It's pouring down rain right now (typical Florida, yeah?) so I'm kind of glad I can't get out and do anything.  I'm planning to run tomorrow morning because I have a 10K race on Sunday- the Remarkable River Race up in Port Orange.  It's actually at the same place the triathlon is going to be so I'll be able to go check it out!

time to tri something new

My knee has been on and off bothering me since we got back from New York.  I took a week off of running, then did 2 3-mile runs before doing a 10K last weekend.  I was getting this pain shooting up the side of my leg and into my knee that limited my distance.  I was a little nervous about the 10K- I told Scot to run on ahead if I crashed because he was trying to get a new POT for Wine & Dine.  We ran the Operation Giveback Run Walk Roll 10K at UCF, and overall I felt pretty good.  He did well too and managed to keep pace with me for the first 3 miles but slowed down after that.  He wasn't in pain, just out of breath and not used to the faster pace yet.  He still managed to come in at 53:55, 12 places behind me and my 52:42.  What didn't help my sore knees and legs was going in to work, then spending 3 days tromping around Disney World with his family.  They'd come in to town on Thursday and we spend Saturday evening bouncing back and forthe between their room at Art Of Animation and our room at Pop Century, all day Sunday at the Magic Kingdom, and all day Monday at Epcot.  I traded fashion for function and wore my hot pink Oofos with my cute sundresses all weekend. 

 "Behind the Seeds" tour at the Land Pavillion at Epcot- always wanted to do this one!

 Been to the MK a hundred times and yet I always take a photo of the castle!

BTMR.  This should be posted on everything everywhere in the world

I hit up the interwebs after our little stay-cation to find a source of my knee/leg pain and was debating joining a gym.  I don't want to join a gym.  I do not have the time or motivation to get up and go like I did years ago when I worked in Sanford.  Since I've traded that 7 minute commute for a 50 minute, I'm less inclined to want to do anything after I get off work and sit in traffic.  It really sucks a lot of time out of the day, you know?  

Hm, how can I do leg and hip strengthening exercises?  I can swim, that's low-impact.  I can ride my bike...  

I KNOW!  I'M GOING TO DO A TRIATHLON!

After talking to Steph and doing some research, I dove headfirst, as it were, into training for my first Tri.  She's done several and has been able to answer my dumbest of questions as were some of my triathlon-doing Facebook friends.  

Can I wear water shoes?  (btw, NO)
Is the swimming part yucky? (probably)
Will I get an amoeba?  (it shouldn't be that warm)
How far is 500 yards swimming, really? (6-12 minutes)
Can I bike in my running shoes? (sure!)
Can I use my pink mountain bike I got from WalMart? (technically, yes...but you will want a road bike for any future races that are longer)
When/how do I set up all my stuff for transition?  Is there one location or 2? (still waiting on an answer for this one)

Soooo I signed up for the YMCA Aunt Catfish Triathlon in Port Orange, FL on August 8th.  Major deciding factor?  They serve free breakfast afterwards.  I haven't yet figured out how I'm going to get my bicycle into my car and up there on race day yet.  I bet I can convince Scot and his SUV I need him there... 

So I've bought a couple things to start- Dick's had BOGO swim goggles so I picked up a tinted and clear pair along with a hot pink swim cap.  My first attempt at swimming in the pool a few days earlier had resulted in water in my eyes and ears and I was pretty sure I was going to drown so I was hoping some headgear would help.  It took Scot and I together almost a half hour to open and adjust the swim goggles for me.  It took me no less than a half-dozen tries to get the stupid swim cap on correctly.  

I have a TON of hair.  Like, no joke, that shit was up in a ponytail and I looked like a Conehead with it all stuffed up in that cap.

I really, really like the swimming!  My knees don't lock up during the day on mornings that I do my laps in the pool and it makes me feel so much better and energetic throughout the work day.  Granted, our pool isn't long enough for me to do a significant stretch of work without stopping to turn around, but I'm able to get enough in for now.  Steph is going to take me to a lake for some open-water practice when race day gets closer.  

The last thing I need to buy is something to wear.  I'm not sure yet that I want a tri suit, I may just do the bottoms and swim in a sports bra.  We'll see.  

I've been trying to get back to using the 2 5-lb hand weights I've had for years, as well as a 10 minute ab app I downloaded on my Kindle (did it once last week and it nearly killed me).  I think finally making time to do a little strength training and scaling back on the long distance runs during the heat of the summer might help poor lil' Left Knee out a bit.

For now, it's Memorial Day and we're planning on a bike ride later in the evening.  The steaks that are sitting the the fridge should be a nice reward afterwards!

the road home

Yikes!  Sorry for the delay on the blog here!  Things got crazy with Scot's family coming in to town, we spent the weekend down at Disney and I haven't had a minute to sit and relax yet.

But back to New York- I was so relieved to finish that marathon!  After some rest, Dave, Steph, and I flew over to Teterboro, by way of the Hudson River Skyline tour.  It's a pretty amazing thing if you ever get a chance to do it- just follow the instructions on the terminal chart, use the proper frequencies and communicate when/where it tells you to.  We flew it at 1,100' (the Bravo airspace starts at 1,300' in the area) and that worked out well.  We were still below the tops of some of the buildings!  Take a look!

 Coney Island!

 Teppan Zee (?) bridge, on the north end of the tour area

 Headed south- check out the cliffs!  There's a fire there, too- a helicopter was scooping water into buckets and fighting it

 Reporting point- George Washington Bridge!

 Manhattan!

 Reporting point- the Colgate Clock

 Reporting point- "The Lady"

 Check out the World Trade Center!  It's huge!

(Right around this point, Dave's TIS system in the plane started to lose its shit... "OBSTACLE OBSTACLE PULL UP PULL UP!!!!!!!!")  Yep, got it.

 Empire state of mind?

 Look- Central Park!

So that was pretty much the most amazing thing ever.

Steph and I limped out of the plane when we got to TEB- we were totally out of our element there.  

Word of wisdom?  Don't fly a single engine piston airplane into Teterboro.

They didn't have chocks small enough for our 182, and of course no tie-down ropes.  Everything there was big private jets and we sooooo did not belong.  But there we were, so we made it work.  We were standing in the lobby of Atlantic Aviation with our bags, leaning painfully up against the luggage cart waiting on our hired car.  We looked disheveled, tired, and painfully ouf of place among the other finely dressed and coiffed clientele.  

And then, guess who showed up?  Breezed through the door fresh and dewey off a flight in their private jet from Las Vegas?

Beyonce and Jay-Z.  And their weird-named baby.

Me and Queen Bey?  Yeah, we made eye contact.

At least that's how I'm telling it.  

She probably just glanced over at us, the Great Unwashed, and hurried on into her awating Escalade. She was carrying baby whatsit, and her hair still managed to blow lightly in some unseen, off-stage fan.  Her makeup was impeccable.  And she was a lot shorter than I would have thought.

Anyway, that was our only brush with fame.  We headed over into Manhattan, and arrived at the Yotel, just on the other side of the Lincoln Tunnel.  Burgers for dinner, then we all hit the sheets hard.  (Srsly, google "Yotel."  It's the weirdest place I've ever stayed.)

Monday morning we went over to the 9/11 Museum.  Took the subway, it reminded me of the episode of How I Met Your Mother where Barney runs the New York Marathon, then cramps up and gets stuck on the subway.  I was praying that wouldn't happen to us, because...gross.

 

The 9/11 Museum and Memorial was very well put together and at the same time really damn depressing.  I took some photos but the bulk of the exhibits and artifacts were in a no-photo area.  It was amazing the amount of stuff they had on display- even actual footage of the planes hitting the buildings...stuff you can't see on the news anymore.  You have to really distance yourself from it all if you want to make it through the whole thing without crying.  Btw, every display room had boxes of kleenex out for the taking.  I took some photos of the main gallery area, some of which are pretty disturbing so scroll at your own risk:

 One of 2 pools where the original towers stood.  All victims' names are carved along the sides

Sorry for the sideways photos- I rotated them but they won't stay.  

So after the WTC, we really wanted to cheer up so we got some real New York Pizza somewhere in the financial district, then got a cab to Tavern On The Green where were got absolutely shitfaced the rest of the afternoon.  For real, Dave and Steph went through 3 bottles of wine, I had a sangria and 3 $30 glasses of champagne (which, btw, was delicious).  We ate some overpriced fancy food, ordering with abandon because we were all absolutely hammered.  The waitress bought us a round of iced coffee and poured us into a cab where we made it back to the Yotel and spent another 2 hours at the bar.  We needed that.  Between being sore, Steph having a few more breakdowns over missing her Boston time and the depression from earlier in the day, plus the craziness of the flying in the days leading up to it all, we needed to relax.  It was a glorious night.

Soooo.... the next morning... Steph was hungover as hell, Dave was tired, I was a little tired but otherwise alright.  We headed back to Teterboro, flight plan to First Flight, NC loaded up and ready to go.  It was going to be close to a 3 hour flight so we filed for 10,000' and used the oxygen canulas- a little more O2 couldn't hurt us, especially after the previous night, right?

The flight down the coast was pretty uneventful.  We got the Teterboro 9 departure and were on course in no time.  XM radio kept us company as we headed south.

First Flight airport is where Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hill is where the Wright brothers made the first flight in an airplane.  Aviation history!  

 On approach- the green space to the left of the runway at an angle is the field we'd be visiting soon

 monument at the top of the hill- walking up the hill with legs that don't work sucked major ass, btw

 This is it!  The open field used to be just sand, but it's where the first airplane was flown!  Amazing!

 The Wright Flyer had no wheels (too much sand!), so it lined up on this rail with skies basically to keep it going straight

 Granite markers for the 4 flights made that day.  We didn't walk all the way down to the 4th, and 800-something feet.  Too hurty.

After that pit stop, we flew 5 miles away to Dare County airport for fuel and food.  We found some good barbecue and then loaded back up to continue south.  We made one more fuel stop just south of Charleston, SC.  It was a quick one for some 100LL and a leg stretch, but we were anxious to get home.  The flight back was beautiful!

We got some excellent IFR time once we got off the coast.  It was smooth, patchy in parts, but you'd never know once it got dark.  Every now and then we could see some lights twinkling off to the right from the coastline.  We hit some pretty rough stuff once we got in to Florida- there were thunderstorms in the area so we took a vector back west and broke out of the clouds over Deland at around 3,000.  From there, straight shot into ORL!  We landed literally 10 seconds before the tower closed.  

This has to be the most amazing, educational, multi-faceted cross-country flight I've ever had the privilege to do.  I learned so much- my teaching and training was thoroughly tested, and I have a re-enforced confidence in my abilities and decision-making as a pilot.  We encountered weather neither one of us had ever experienced before, terrain that was new to us, and airspace and flight planning that would rightfully intimidate even an experienced flyer.  It was a great trip, and I'm damn confident in Dave's ability to pass an IFR checkride now!