Back in May Susan and I got sick and gave up our spots in the White Lake half iron distance race. Well this weekend we did it again. We were suppose to run in the Victory Junction half marathon on Sunday, but we had both been sick on and off for the previous 3 weeks. Because of that we hadn’t run in almost a month. When we woke up in the morning it was 35 degrees and poring rain so we decided not to go (we had really decided the night before). All and all this hasn’t been our year for races. I had my blister issue in the marathon and we had rain, we were both sick and had to skip White Lake, I was running a fever during the Blues Lake triathlon but did it anyway, blisters again for me at the Mission Man triathlon, and then we got sick and couldn’t do Victory Junction (not to mention the weather). Hopefully next year will turn out better for us as far as races go.
On a brighter note Susan got us tickets to a Carolina game for my birthday so we will be going to that next week. This will be Susan’s first time in the Dean Dome which makes it even more exciting. I went to a exhibition game earlier this year while Susan was at her fall “camp crop a lot” so it will be my second game of the year!
Eric Clapton is coming to Raleigh in March and we got tickets for that this weekend. I had heard a few weeks ago that he is going to be in New York with Jeff Beck in February so I think Susan was relieved when she heard on the radio that he is going to be in Raleigh. She of course made sure to call and let me know right away. Before I heard that I was buying plane tickets and headed to New York. It would be fun to see him with Beck but the cost savings of going to Raleigh instead is too much. So between going to B.B. King, a Carolina game(s), and Clapton we are doing good on the entertainment front…now if our racing would only catch up.
Not too much to report really. I am at Camp Crop a Lot right now waiting for breakfast to open at 8am. A couple weeks ago I had moved all of my scrapbook pages to the server at home so Paul could back it up regularly. Alas, I neglected to move them back to my computer before I left Friday to come to camp. So I have none of my projects that were in progress. I did a few traditional pages (about 10), but I cannot put them into an album b/c the order will be wonky b/c I mixing and matching digital. My plan for camp was to have an extended period of time to carefully map out the album mixing digital and traditional. Riiiiggghhhtt.
I guess you could say this is the calm before the storm that is the holiday season for us. We are in the meaty part of our training for the half marathon. The time change and the COLD has really made it a challenge for us. But the race is only 4 weeks away (read: TAPER IN 2 WEEKS!).
Halloween was fun. We took the kids to the Fall Festival at their school on Friday b/c they were Trick or Treating w their mom. It was neat to see them so into their friends (boy, I will regret those words in a few years, huh?).
Halloween morning we walked in my work’s charity 5k for Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Anna and Tyler were so cute they got on the “jumbotron.” Anna was REALLY angry that we only did 2 of the 3 miles (we took a shortcut b/c to get back to do all the other fun stuff that day). That was funny b/c 1 week before that she said she “really wasn’t in the mood to walk.” That seems to be a new phrase for her and Tyler. Love it.
This past weekend Susan and I made the hard decision not to do the White Lake Half Iron distance race. Now that the weekend is over I think we made a good decision. I left work early on Friday and did a 44 mile ride and have started building back some fitness after being off so long sick. Susan went to the doctor Friday and he gave her some antibiotics and told her to get some rest. She did a lot of sleeping Friday and Saturday, and by Sunday she was sounding much better. Sunday morning she was feeling good enough that she wanted to go for a ride. We took it easy and she still isn’t 100% but she is headed in the right direction now.
With me just getting back and Susan being sick I am not sure if either of us would have finished the race. Skipping the race allowed me to get in some easy training and get some work done around the house. It also allowed Susan time to sleep and get better. Even though I wish we could have done the race I think we made the right choice. Now the goal is to get Susan 100% as soon as possible. We have our first ride in the mountain planned for Saturday the 23rd. Her asthma gives her a hard enough time in the mountains without a cold.
Awhile ago I typed out what my ideal day was for a thing on Facebook. Today pretty much fulfilled that. I got to sleep in, Paul made my favorite breakfast (from a recipe of my mom’s) while I cleaned out and organized our garage post-project (more on that in a minute). We rode bikes and did some yard work. We ate Mexican food on the patio on a gorgeous Carolina day w no clouds. I talked to my mom and hung out w Paul’s family, then friends of Paul’s stopped by. Shortly after we got home from dinner in Asheboro, Anna and Tyler were dropped off. They both made me cards that were so cute. Anna made me a bracelet of various color beads and had a poem about what the colors mean. Tyler had a picture he drew framed for me. Wow. It is my first Mother’s Day and I just don’t think it can be topped.
About our home improvement project…Usually I hear about couples arguing constantly over home improvement projects. Ours made me love Paul even more! I have seen Lance Armstrong side (cocky athlete), Martha Stewart side (cook EXTRAORDINAIRE!), work side (too smart for most ppl’s good), but to see the Bob Vila side, WOW! You can see the photos of him working (I really did just stand around most of the time like I predicted in my previous post) by clicking here. I was drawing 3D pictures and trying to get exact measurements and things. He had the whole thing in his brain for months and executed the plan perfectly! We only made 1 trip to Home Depot–the initial trip! THAT has to be a record!
Also at that link are some photos of chillin and grillin at Paul’s mom’s house for Mother’s Day. Healthwise…I am feeling much healthier and more ready to start the work week than I have been in a long time.
Yup, we dropped out. I have been feeling worse each day and can hear the raspy breathing in my chest just climbing a flight of stairs. Paul had a good ride w Tamara this weekend, but has not run successfully in over 6 weeks and even then his blister issue came back. I just emailed the race production company to give our spots to someone else.
What about the motto you ask? I guess if I am ditching goals, I should ditch mottos too, huh?
As you know from a previous post, Paul was sick at Belews tri. He then proceeded to have 103 degree temp for 4 days. I thought I had dodged the bullet. Until yesterday morning. I think I was fighting it OK, but then training was intensifying and I think my body is worn down. My throat is sore, head ache, stuffy nose. The pollen continues to coat EVERYTHING here. I know it is not the swine flu b/c I do not have a fever. I fly tomorrow to Cincinnati for Elli’s baby shower. I contemplated bringing a face mask from work, but alas, that would be stealing supplies. And I think the hospitals will seriously be needing all the supplies we can use in the upcoming weeks.
So, here we are and according to the main page on our website, Paul and I race the White Lake Half Iron Triathlon in 8 days. 8 days?!?!? When did THAT happen?!?! I am only worried about my asthma now. I anticipate the race taking about 7 hours, which is hard enough w/out suffering from or recovering from respiratory illness. But alas, I have this motto…
As Susan said yesterday we raced the Belews Lake Tri, and all things considered things went well. As expected the water was freezing but it did feel a little warmer than last week when we went to swim. Other than the cold water we couldn’t have had better weather. It was sunny and in the mid 70’s by the time we finished. Susan and I haven’t done too much training lately so we weren’t sure how we would do. In the end Susan finished 2nd in her group and I finished 3rd in mine. Susan has been having some problems with her cycling shoes lately where her big toe has been going to sleep and she had that problem again today. I am going to move her cleat a little which should fix the problem but she wanted to wait until after the race to make the change (the golden rule is never to change anything before a race). Obviously a numb big toe makes running difficult but she still did well. I on the other hand had a horrible race. All three of my events were much slower than I expected (although I still finished with the fastest bike split in my group). The past few days I haven’t been feeling good, but we have had a ton of pollen out lately so I thought that is what was bothering me. During the race I felt horrible and when we got home from the race we took a nap. That is nothing unusual for Susan but I never take a nap. When we got up I still felt bad so I took my temperature and I was running a fever. For Susan to have a numb toe, me to have a fever and neither of us with much training we are both happy with 2nd and 3rd.
My friends Tamara and Bryan from work also did the race with us and they both did good also. This was Tamara’s first triathlon and she looked strong when she finished, even sprinting it out with a guy that was trying to pass her. This was Bryan’s second triathlon and he looked like he felt much better this time. All and all a good race day!
We are working on packing for the race tomorrow. I am having a beer in my winners pint glass from this race last year (yes, I placed in my category). Paul is going to ROCK, he is fit and focused (and not having a beer). I updated the goal thing–check the column to the right. We both are sketchy about the freezing water. Paul is going to save so much time in transition not putting on all his cycling stuff now that we have turned him into a triathlete, he will surely win his category! OK, almost pasta time. Here we gooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!
We have our first triathlon of the year coming up on April 18th at Belews Lake. I am getting a little worried about the race being so soon. Not because of the fact that we haven’t trained much (which we haven’t) but because the mean water temperature of the lake right now is 55. I don’t mind cold weather but I am a big wimp when it comes to cold water so I am really hoping for all this rain to stop and that we get some warm weather the next couple weeks! The water was 68 last year when we did the race and that was about as cold as I want to be in even with a wetsuit.
Well it’s a week after the marathon and we are recovering fairly well. Susan’s hip has been giving her problems for several months now and it got worse during the marathon. The PT thinks it is either her IT band or hip flexors but it is so high on her hip that it is hard for her to get any stretches to work on it. The hip is still giving her a good bit of pain but other than that she is doing good.
All the dead skin from the chafing has come off of my leg and I have a lot of nice new pink skin. It is itchy and tender but healing much faster than I thought it would. The blister under my left foot was never very bad and is completely better now. The one on my right foot is still very painful and keeps trying to get infected. It is extremely hard to keep a huge blister on the bottom of my foot clean and covered. Hopefully it will be better before long.
Muscle wise we are both fine (I think the bike ride the day after the marathon really helped with that) and ready to get back at it. We swam yesterday and are ready to get back on our bikes as soon as the weather improves a little (it has been cold and rainy the past several days).
“schinderei” by Isar-Bella. “Schinderei”, by the way, means “drudgery” in German. To see more Pics of the Day, click here, and to submit your own photo to be shown to the world, go here. […]
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NON WORD-SMITHED SUMMARY: Buy this solid looking jersey and support BikePure, a group that’s helping promote and support dope-free racing. PRESS RELEASE: The 2010 Bike Pure cycling team clothing will be produced by Onimpex UK/Bio Racer, one of the world’s leading cycling garment manufacturers. Bio Racer have a long history within cyclesport and supply severa […]
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