"Don't let the fat chick beat you"?

I have been racing for about 5 years now. I am not a typical runner or even triathlete. I fight with serious medical conditions every step of the way, but each step makes me stronger. I have two boys both with special needs and I have learned to chalk that up to making me stronger as well.


It is with sad heart that I must report that lupus has won the battle this year, but trust me when I say the war is far from over! My racing days are not over by any stretch of the imagination. This is just a minor setback that will make me stronger.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

No iron distnace this year :(


I guess it is time to update this.  Sadly I will not be completing my first iron distance this year. Shoot, I won’t even be starting it.  For the past month I have been pretty much stuck in bed.  Rheumy says I am in a full fledge flare up, doc is worried about my kidneys. Come to think of it, I am pretty sure it would have been safer to hide this entire month.  That is ok through.  I am taking it easy listening to my body, trying not to bite anyone and everyone’s head off (thanks to the prednisone) and when my body is ready to start over I will start at square one and slowly build up again (I can’t even go a half mile without being in excruciating pain right now).  This is just a stumbling block for me, nothing more.
Thank you Beach2Battleship for having a refund policy.  The more I have to deal with them the more I like them.  My first iron distance WILL be Beach2Battleship.
I am not going to push it, but I would like to do the Turkey Trot 5K in November.  If I can’t, I won’t, but it gives me something to look forward to.




~If you hear that someone is speaking ill of you, instead of trying to defend yourself you should say: "He obviously does not know me very well, since there are so many other faults he could have mentioned"~

Monday, August 6, 2012

Tri for the Cure – Race day

4:00 am came WAY to early! But I managed to get up, took my meds (must be taken an hour before eating).  Luckily I had packed/laid out everything I needed, the morning went pretty smooth.  I stopped by the front desk to request a late checkout, luckily there was no issues.  We got in the truck and headed to the reservoir.  In the past early parking was at the high school which was nice and close (sort of) to the race, for some reason they changed the parking arraignments and the distance to the start doubled!  Jose and I went ahead of my sister.  I set my bike up in the transition area and then head out to visit with my sister and Jose and eat my breakfast.  My poor sister was almost in tears.  Turned out the bag with the food ripped and the bottle of Starbucks shattered on the ground.  She tried to clean it up so no one would damage their tires going over it. All I could do is laugh, it fit perfectly with the way everything to the start of the race!  My sister told me point blank if my body even twinge wrong to stop right there and call it a day. 
Finally the race started. I was in wave 14 so I had a little bit of time to wait.  When it was my wave’s turn I was in the back on the outside of the pack.  The horn blew and we were off.  I went through my normal open water panic; I stuck with the breaststroke until I could relax.  Once I calm off I went.  The water temp was a nice 76 degrees.  I was concerned about my hands (can’t handle the cold), but I had no issues.  I finished up the swim feeling pretty good (wish I had gum to keep the disgusting taste of water out of my mouth).  When I got out of the water I was a little… dizzy isn’t quite the right word, a smidge disoriented, I guess.

I calmly walked to my bike put my helmet on, put my bike skirt on, my bike shoes, grabbed my bike I was off.  I finally got to the bike mount line, crossed over it and then headed out (a lot of ladies mounted before they crossed the mount line).  I was trying a new nutrition on my bike, it was apple and banana fruit snack stuff, I took a mouthful and YUCK!!!!!!! It made me nauseous for a little while, but luckily that cleared up.  I need to spend more time on hills, but other than that, the ride went well. 

I got to the bike dismount like and I hopped off.  Again, calmly walked to my area, pulled my bike shirt off and put on my running skirt, threw my t-shirt on, pulled my socks on (toe socks with powder in them), shoes on and of course my hat.  I brought a water bottle (Nuun was in it) with me because I was on the thirsty side.  I took it nice and easy up the hill, once I got to the mile marker I started jogging a bit.  My left big toe felt like it was broken (it has been like that for a while), and I could feel my feet getting tender again.  During water stops I would grab a cup and squirt a bit of Nuun in, take a sip and discard the rest. I ran the last ½ mile, and I was able to pick up speed at the end with a comfortable finish.  My final time was 2:05:39. I was super slow, but it gave me the information I needed.

Things to work on…
Things going well…
Need to add weights back into my training plan
Hydration – Nuun seemed to work really well
Need to work on hills – bike and run
Swim felt great
Nutrition

Need to figure out what is going on with my feet


 

~If you hear that someone is speaking ill of you, instead of trying to defend yourself you should say: "He obviously does not know me very well, since there are so many other faults he could have mentioned"~

Tri for the Cure – Pre-race

Technically I guess race weekend began on Friday.  Three out of four of my boys were going to hang out with Grandma and Papa for the weekend.  We decided that two of the boys really should have a bath before heading over to the house with the light colored carpet. We stopped by Wag-n-Wash for bath time and nail trimming. Charlie LOVES bath day, Freddie not so much! We got both boys nice and clean and the brought them in for nail trims.  After a visit to the bakery we headed out. Once again my car would start up for about five seconds and then die.  This is the third time this year and at least the 5th time since I have owned my car so I knew exactly what was going on.  I called my mom to come pick us up and then the tow truck to get the car.  While we were waiting I got my stuff together, I keep my running shoes in my car more often than not, plus we had Cuervo’s stuff and the fur kids’ weekend stuff.  My mom arrived and the tow truck arrived.  The five of us got in my mom’s car and headed over to the dealership (they are the only ones who can fix the problem).  Once my poor car was checked in we headed over to my parent’s house.  My sister met us over there to give me and Jose a ride home. 
Saturday morning I had hoped to be out of the house by 10 am but my sister had to go in to work (she is usually off on the weekends), while she was at work Jose and I got packed, got the truck ready to go.  I had to wait until my sister got home to get my running shoes out of her car plus a few other things I needed for the race. When my sister finally got home (after 11) I started collecting my stuff and could only find one shoe.  You have got to be kidding me!!!!! We finally got on the road and headed up to Aurora.  Went to packet pick-up, got my stuff; went to the expo, luckily Skirt Sports was there I needed a new bike skirt because the padding in my previous one had lost the padding after it was washed.  There wasn’t a whole heck of a lot else to look it so we jetted.  We stopped by McAllister’s for a carefully chosen lunch (keeping sodium as low as possible).  When we got to the hotel we couldn’t check in yet (room wasn’t ready).  Off to King Soopers to get breakfast for the next morning.  When we got back to the hotel we were able to check in and we took some quiet time and I got everything ready for race day.  I found out that my running watch was dead and I didn't have the charger with me, I reminded myself it was just a training run and all was good (I was trying to keep positive).  Dinner was spaghetti from Carrabba's Italian Grill. Unfortunately I didn’t get to sleep until after 2:00 am.



~If you hear that someone is speaking ill of you, instead of trying to defend yourself you should say: "He obviously does not know me very well, since there are so many other faults he could have mentioned"~