a victory a year in the making

106 days until Day 1 of the Goofy Challenge!

Not that I'm counting or anything.  

Race season is well underway, and I had my second race in as many weekends this month on Sunday.  This one I wrote about a year ago but I'll brief you on the details:

It was the Let's Move Apopka 10K- we ran it in 2014 to get a POT for PHM Weekend earlier this year.
I was the first female finisher with a rather underwhelming 54ish minute finish time but hey, it was the first race I'd ever actually placed, won, whatever, so I was thrilled.
All the winners got little trophies, the age group winners were good but the overall winner trophies were broken so the Polish guy that came in first and I both had to go home empty handed, with the promise of it being fixed and mailed to us.
Around December, I got to thinking how I never heard anything back from the race director and I sent an email checking up on it.  
I never got a response.
I occasionally bitched about not getting my little award, but only with a smile because hey, I know I won!  Secretly I was still a bit disappointed though.  Over this past spring and summer, I actually got 3 more placement awards- 2nd and 3rd place overall female, and 2nd in my age group.  But still, the missing first place award could not join the others.
Finally, toward the end of the summer after the race director posted a Facebook page update on the 2015 race, I queried about last year in a comment.
And then things really picked up!
I got messages, apologies, phone calls, and a free race entry to this year's 10K.  They were very nice about it, and couldn't have been more apologetic.  I was gracious, thanked them for getting back with me on the matter, and took them up on the free entry.

And then I started freaking out.

I HAD to win again!  It would be the only way I could make up for not having recognition for my first place 2014 win!

I didn't sleep well in the 2 nights leading up to the race.  My stomach was in knots and I was under so much pressure I could barely even focus on anything.  I got to the 7th Day Adventist church in Apopka in time to pick up my packet and try to calm down.  I posted about my significantly elevated stress level in the Team #rundisney page and everyone's words of encouragement and support really helped me and gave me a good distraction before the race kicked off.  

The course was the same as the year before- around an elementary school and eventually down and back a bike trail.  Back again was this awful pedestrian bridge with a steep zig zag path to go over a busy highway.  

I'll spare the details because it's not super interesting- I started out at the gun in about 4th place overall for the women before eventually moving up to 2nd and then falling back into 4th.  I never had a chance.  The first place woman ended up finishing in like 48 minutes, and I've never run a sub-50 minute 10K before.  I was watchful of the women I passed, and then even more so of the women who ended up passing me after about 4 miles.  I'd already decided there was no way I was going to win so I focused on at least winning my age group.  One woman who passed me was much older- closer to 50 than 30-34.  The other girl who passed me later on looked almost my age but could have been younger.  I crossed my fingers and hoped she was in her 20s and just kept moving along.  

I held on to 4th place for the women but that didn't mean a thing.  I finished in 53:01, grabbed my banana, and headed back to my car for some Powerade.  I felt ok, not exausted, not excited, just... neutral.  What I really wanted was to find the overall men's finisher, Fredison Costa.  Fredison was the winner of the Walt Disney World Marathon this year and actually showed up to race this little 10K in Apopka!  He finished the race with a 6 minute mile and get this- he took a wrong turn while he was in a far off lead and made an extra lap around another couple blocks before finding the rest of us.  He cranked it into higher gear and STILL WON.  He probably would have been 3 or 4 minutes faster if he hadn't done that but holy crap!

I found him, btw!

See what I'm holding there?  I won first place in my age group!  Yay!!!  Vindication!

As I was fixing to leave, I stopped to say hello and thank you to the church pastor, Andrew Moreno.  He'd called me in regards to last year's award and was super nice about it and for arranging my free entry this year.  We chatted for a bit, I was all smiles with my age group win when he told me to wait one second, he would be right back...

WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT!!!  The 7th Day Adventist folks had gone and had a little plaque made for me (he had 2 boxes, one was the other for the Polish guy winner as well) to make up for last year's broken trophy debacle.  I was shocked, grateful, and amazed.  I told him I'd been also speaking to Cayce, she worked the race as well and had been instrumental in getting things set right.  He introduced us, it turned out she'd been the one to take the photo above of Fredison and myself!  We chatted for a bit but then I had to head out.  I walked away feeling validated, happy, grateful for such a good group of people, and most of all- relieved!  There was always a little part of my race history that felt incomplete and now everything is as it should be!  

a remarkable run

Sunday was the final race in the Remarkable River Run series- I missed out on signing up for the whole thing (didn't know about it in time to do the 5K back in the spring) so this was my second run.  The first was the 10K back in June where I snagged up that 2nd place age group medal...and then went and got engaged at Epcot that afternoon.

This was my 3rd trip up to Port Orange- it was the same route and location as the 10K as well as the triathlon I did last month.  I'd had a couple good training runs the past few weeks- either I'd adapted to the summer heat or it wasn't affecting me as much but my speed had been consistently improving!  I wasn't back down to that 8:15 min/mi for 13.1 yet (like I was in February) but I didn't feel like the lost cause I used to feel like in July when I was slogging along barely able to hold a 10m/m.  I decided I was going to try to place in this race!  An age group award didn't seem that impossible again.

The 15K race started at 7am.  I hung out near the front- there were a few hundred people in this one- not a bad group.  The course headed south along the river past some large homes on the other side.  The stately properties abruptly turned in to a trailer park, then quick-changed into a typical neighborhood setting after that.  I liked this area-  Miles 2 and 3 were pretty shaded.  The route wound through a neighborhood before doubling back on itself and heading back north along the river with the trailer park and manor homes coming up again.  I was feeling pretty good- for a few minutes at the start I was in the #1 female position.  It didn't take long for a woman to pass me though, in a pack of who I found out later were a group of Ironman guys.  Another woman passed me shortly after and I managed to keep pace right behind her, but she fell back after about 2 miles.  I was in second now.

I skipped the walk intervals on my watch- I was feeling good and comfortable at about an 8:20 pace.  There were plenty of water stops on this course, and the also had a lemon lime Spark drink that was actually pretty tasty.  I took a swig here and there and decided to save my Gu pack for mile 6 or 7.  

Just after the 4 mile mark, I got passed again!  I knew this other woman was behind me for the past few miles and I tried to keep ahead but she cranked it up and pulled into 2nd place.  If I could only stay in 3rd now...

I could sense there was another woman maybe 20 yards behind me, but I wasn't going to relax!

The 10K mark was back at the finish area- the first 6.2 miles were exactly the same as they were in June, however this time I had to pass the turn into the finish line and head over that goddamn bridge.

The very same bridge that stole my dignity on the triathlon.

The bridge where I was forced to walk my bicycle up the westbound side. 

I could see it looming in the distance- it looked about a mile high and straight up.

Fuuuuuuudge.  In other words.

6.5 miles, I hit the base.  And I chugged up that bridge.  It was soooo hard!  I will be eternally grateful for the overcast skies that day- a light rain would sprinkle down every now and then and provide some relief.  My ponytail by this time was extra curly!

I wasn't too far behind the woman in 2nd- not close enough to catch her but I could still see.  As I pulled myself up the bridge, one foot in front of the other...I couldn't do it anymore.  I had to stop and walk.  Just for 20 seconds.  

The woman behind me passed me.  Dammit.

I made it to the top of the bridge, pretty sure I was getting altitude sickness, and let gravity take over on the way down the other side.  7 minute mile, anybody?  Hell, yeah!  I pulled ahead back into 3rd and sailed down the bridge.  On my way down, I noticed the Ironman guys coming BACK UP AND OVER the bridge.  WTF is this?  We have to do this shit TWICE???  I guess there really was only one way back but.....whyyyyyyyy?

Ugh.  So I followed the course down and around an area that I'd biked in the tri back in August before.  The rain was really starting to come down now.  A good, steady rainfall felt great!  I didn't notice how heavy it had gotten until my hat started dripping.  The trip back up and over the bridge was equally hard as the first time.  I started doing run/walk intervals with the diagonal white stripes in the shoulder area between the road and the bike lane.  FINALLY, made it over the hill and cranked out the last half mile toward the finish.  I was just a few seconds ahead of the woman behind me and I actually felt like I was racing.  As I turned the corner to the finish line, a woman WALKED RIGHT ACROSS THE FUCKING COURSE 20 feet from the timing mat!  I yelled at her to get out of the way and accidentally/on purpose kicked her leg as I tore past her.  The clock read 1:19:18.  I'd set a new PR.

Oh I was excited!  I did a little jumping around and a happy dance before taking my medal and a bottle of water.  I was 99% sure I finished 3rd but needed to see the results for myself.

Results took a looooong time!  I wandered around the sponsor booths a bit.  Aunt Catfish's always does a breakfast but my stomach didn't want sausage links and eggs.  I found the woman who'd chased me and thanked her for pushing me.  She thanked me back- she was glad to try to keep up with me because she earned a PR, too!  

When the results were finally posted I felt a little torn-
1. YES, I came in 3rd overall female- that is awesome and I felt amazing
2. The 2nd overall woman was in the same age group as myself, she beat me by a couple minutes.  If there were no overall awards, I'd have gotten 2nd in my age group.  
3. If I'd known #2's age, I could have hung back, let #4 pass me, I wouldn't have placed in the top 3 but would have been #1 in my age group
4.  The award medals were all the same regardless of overall winners or age group, so I could have had a 1st place medal instead of a 3rd place medal.
5.  But, I might not have set a PR and even though my medal says "3rd Place" I KNOW that it's a better one than the "1st Place" age group win.  

Does that make sense?

Anyhoo, I'm happy with it!  It rained on and off throughout the morning while I was waiting for the results and awards. Eventually, they posted placements (of those who had finished so far) on a tv screen that I took a photo of.  I was tired and wet after waiting over an hour so I just went up to the tent where the awards were, showed them the photo, got my medal, and went home. It was another half hour I found out before they did the little award ceremony.  That was fine by me, I needed a shower!

I was 18th overall, not sure how many finishers there were, as I left before everyone was done and as of today the results are not posted online
Chip time: 1:19:16 (8:39/mi)
Gender place: 3rd/unknown total
Age group place: technically 2nd (the 2nd place overall female and I were in the same age group but did not get awards for that)

I added my new hardware to the rack on the wall- it's getting full!  Next up- more wedding stuff and the WINE & DINE HALF!!!!  We've got excellent costumes (once I figure out how to make them.  It involved glow sticks.)... stay tuned.

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!