Race Schedule and Results

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Peanut Butter Pie Recipe

A few of you have asked so here it is...

  • 1 packaged reduced fat graham cracker crust
  • 1 box of fat free sugar free vanilla pudding mix
  • 1 cup of skim milk
  • 8oz fat free cool whip
  • 1/4 - 1/2 cup of your favorite peanut butter (more or less for taste... I just eyeball it and put in two big spoon fulls because I love me some pb!)

Directions are simple. In a bowl, mix the milk and the pudding until well dissolved. It will be thick because you didn't add as much milk that the pudding box calls for. Stir in the peanut butter with a wire whisk and then add half of the cool whip. Pour this in the crust and top with the rest of the cool whip.

It's that simple. There are some variations which make it super yummy too...

  • Oreo crusts instead of the graham crust
  • Chocolate pudding instead of the vanilla
  • Topping it with chocolate chips or mixing them in during the mixing process.

Enjoy!

Monday, September 27, 2010

A big a** PR

I'm a happy girl today - that's because I raced yesterday and indeed got a big ass PR! WOO HOO! Here's how the day played out.

Saturday night I got everything together by myself since Tom was racing in Iowa. It's sad racing alone and I started to get really nervous. I wanted to PR in this race because I knew that I was capable, but we had a less-than-stellar training week leading up to this weekend and my confidence was definitely not where it should have been.

Woke up Sunday morning and it was COLD. My car thermometer read 47 degrees. I bundled up and started my trek down. I had a bagel in my car for breakfast and it totally didn't sound good. So I did what any fast food loving America would do and stopped at McDonalds. Now, while I know that McD's isn't the smartest choice pre-race, two things came to mind

  1. Tom and I had eaten McDonald's sausage burritos before two races this year and I PRed big time in both of them

  2. My race wasn't for another 3.5 hours so there wasn't much chance that it would upset my stomach.

I got to the race site fairly early (my wave wasn't going off until 9:20 and I got there a little before 8). Plenty of time to use the potty, check in, get my gear together and then freeze my bottom off. It was freezing. There were only 20 women signed up for the half and most of us stood in transition before the start of the race bitching about the temps and what we were going to wear on the bike since the wind had started to pick up a little. Gotta love women!

I put my wetsuit on (in hopes of warming up), talked to Meredith (who was racing the sprint and kicked butt by taking first in her AG and 4th women OA) and Rebecca (who did awesome in her first "olympic" race and came in 2nd in her AG), got in the water which was definitely warmer than the air and then was told we needed to get out because they were starting the race. That meant that I had about 30 minutes to sit and wait in the freezing cold until my wave, the last, went off. My feet turned purple and I started to worry about the temps on the bike.

Finally they were ready for the women in the half - like I said, we were the last and I think that we were all ready to get in the water knowing it was about 25 degrees warmer than the air. It's a rectangle course and for some reason everyone lined up behind me. The horn blew and we all ran into the water. It was super shallow. People (myself included) tried to dive in a few times, only to stand up and keep walking. I got water in my goggles and thought for sure that I was going to have a repeat of IMLOU, but I cleared them out and got into my groove. I felt pretty good. The course was a rectangle and we had a nice current for the first half of the first loop. Then I turned... and it was mouth fulls of water ever stroke. I was so annoyed because every time I would breath and try to avoid the water in my mouth, I could see some guy swimming with a lime green snorkel. Really? That can't be legal. Anyway, it was an uneventful swim and I felt really good. I ended up getting out and running up the hill to transition to see a time of 38:44. I was thrilled with that - almost 4 minutes better than last year at this race!

T1 was a cluster. I knew that I needed something warm, but didn't want to put my sweatshirt on. I dried off with an extra towel I had brought and threw on my arm sleeves... let me rephrase that... I fought with these darn fleece arm sleeves on wet arms until they were good enough for my liking. Not the fastest T2, but considering the extra time I spent drying off, I was fine with it - 2:26.

I got on the bike fully expecting it to be absolutely freezing. The wind was blowing and the sun was hiding. It's a three loop course and luckily we had the wind to our backs at the start. I was able to calm down, get into my groove and work my legs into a good rhythm. They went numb pretty quick, but otherwise I felt alright. Hit the head wind, but I was still maintaining about 17.5mph and passing people. I guess I thought it I pushed it, maybe I would warm up a little. I kind of just zoned out and rode. First lap took me 57 minutes. If I kept that up, I would PR for sure in the bike. I saw my parents at the first turn around and felt great - so glad that they were there. The next lap was so uneventful. I didn't get passed by a single person and was picking people off what seemed to be left and right. I ate a PBJ, fought the wind, flew up and down the hills. I was feeling good. The third lap, I ate again, but my IT started to bother me. I watched my time start ticking away slowly. I really wanted to go sub 3 hours on the bike and I thought it would be close. About 3 miles into the final lap I passed a guy who told me that I was in second and that the first place girl was right ahead. I'd see her in the out and back sections and she was maybe 300 yards ahead. I couldn't catch her if my life depended on it though. Definitely pushed me to work harder. I kind of half believed the guy too... how did he know where the other women were? I got to T2 and was shocked at my time - 2:53:51. WHAT??? that was a PR by like 7+ minutes! I was ecstatic! That meant I averaged 19.4mph. I think that the bike might have been a tad short though and that my average was closer to 19mph, but in any event, I was so excited.

T2 was as fast as I could go. My feet were numb which I didn't realize until I took off my shoes and tried to put my socks on. I threw on my visor, my running shoes, grabbed my bottle and some food and ran out. 1:44

As I was leaving, I heard "and now we have some of our women in the half on the course". Maybe that guy was right... I could see the fast bike girl in front of me, taking off like a speeding bullet.

The run course is an out and back that you do twice. I hit mile one around 8:30 and felt good, although my feet were still numb. And it was breezy. Mile two came in 18 minutes. Uh oh... and then my feet started to get the feeling back, although it wasn't a good feeling. It was a burning. It killed. I ran from cone to cone, from telephone pole to telephone pole. At the turn around, I knew there was only one girl in front of me, but about 5 fairly close behind me. I just kept slowing and slowing and there wasn't anything that I could do. I was so frustrated. If I ran a 2 hour half, I would finish in 5:36 and would beat my previous PR by 20 minutes, but I just watched that tick away. I kept running. I got to the 6.55 turn around in the parking lot and everyone started yelling that I was the second place woman still. As I was leaving the park, I got caught. The girl was hoofing it and I was in just too much pain to keep up. I got caught by the next girl around mile 9 and the next one passed me around mile 11.5. Talk about deflation! I knew that I was going to PR, but by how much totally depended on how little I walked or slowed. I made it a goal to beat 5:45. I had it. I smiled.

Rounding the corner into the parking lot and down the shoot was amazing. People were screaming,, my parents were there, I had a huge smile on my face. For the most part, my race had come together. I kept thinking that I had wished Tom had been there - he would have done amazing and would have been so happy to see me WAY before we both anticipated! I crossed the line in 5:42:16! That was a 14 minute PR! I was smiling ear to ear. It didn't matter that I got beat on the run by 3 girls. It didn't matter that I came in second (out of two) in my age group. I know I have more in me and I'm excited to push myself to the next PR!

My mom took this picture of me after the race with my finishers medal and my second place award. I was a happy girl!

Stats from the race
Swim - 38:44
T1 - 2:26
Bike - 2:53:51 19.4mph (fastest woman and 33rd overall fasted
T2 -1:44
Run - 2:05:29 9:35/mile
Overall time - 5:42:16
2nd in AG
5th woman

I'm telling you, I think it was the McDonald's! :)

Friday, September 24, 2010

Friday in pictures

I feel like I haven't posted any pictures lately. Here ya go...
It's fall and that means applesauce in the Kingery house. yummo! I can't get enough of this!
Sunday we celebrated Tom's b-day with his parents and I made him a pineapple upside down cake which is his favorite. I don't like the stuff. I love pineapple and I love cake, but together, I just can't do it. So I made myself a peanut butter pie. Low fat, low sugar and still to die for! Tom's helped me with it too.
Thursday was Buddy's birthday. He's 10... our little old man. Don't comment on how fat he is... we know already. :)
Last night for Tom's birthday, we went to see Sugarland. Little Big Town was opening for them. A.M.A.Z.I.N.G! Such a good show.

During an encore, Little Big Town and Sugarland sang together...

It was a good time.

Today's the hubster's b-day. He's packing for Iowa and getting me ready to roll on Sunday at my tri. Weather looks good so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the stars align for me and I have a great race!

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

What a week...

Looking at that picture of me from the last post makes me sad... of course sad that I didn't finish the race, but sad that it had gotten to the point where I could barely keep my eyes open. I don't know that I've felt that miserable in a long time. Hopefully that was a one and done kind of thing.

This is literally one of my favorite weeks of the year. Our little town has a great county fair that runs all week. It's big doings let me tell you. They have harness racing each day, culminating with the Jugette on Wednesday and the Little Brown Jug on Thursday which is the race of all races. :) Tom and I always go at least one day to the fair, walk through all of the barn buildings (4-H is HUGE in Delaware County so the kids show their animals all week), bet on some horses (usually mine is always 4th so I never win anything), eat at least one piece of fair food (there's something about deep fried food from a cart), watch all the brave people encounter the mobile rides (which I will NEVER put my life on the line to try) and just enjoy that this is our hometown. We're hitting it up tomorrow with some friends for the Jugette. We're gonna get our betting on... (aka, I'll catch up and gossip with Jill while Tom and Sam spend some money). It's great.

Then it's Tom's birthday on Friday so we're going on a little date on Thursday. I got him tickets to see Sugarland on Thursday night. We both love Sugarland so it should be fun. Plus it's my husband's first concert in 35 years (he always corrects me and tells me that he's seen Pavarotti live, but really... you're 35. That doesn't count!)

Tom leaves Saturday morning for Waterloo, Iowa to race at the Peregrine Charities Tri and I'm racing a half IM on Sunday here in Ohio. I'm getting nervous for it... I have some goals that I would like to hit and I'm worried that I'm not where I should be to hit those goals. Only time will tell...

And after my race - my butt will be planted firmly on the couch watching all the shows that I DVRed this week... Glee, Biggest Loser, Office, Community, Modern Family, Outsources, My Generation, and Sister Wives. Love it!

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Wowzers

Check out this picture... Does that say heat stroke/dehydration or what? So I finally got a chance to look at the pictures that my awesome sister took and I got to this one... this is at the BEGINNING of the run. And I wonder why I DNFed. I look like I'm going to die. Yikes - at this point, my world was spinning and not in a good way!And yes, I wore an old shirt from my second marathon that had my name on it during the "run" part of Ironman Louisville. I knew it would be hot and I knew this shirt would be the best for pouring water over my head. I'll try to post other pictures (there are some better ones) soon!

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Two Things Tuesday

I have two things to talk about (shocker, I know... the list is actually quite longer but I'll spare you!). It's Tuesday. Hence the Two Things Tuesday! :)

First, I have to give a HUGE shout out to our dear friends Jim and Tracy Aust. Tom and I met Jim and Tracy a few years ago. Tracy is friends with my mother-in-law and over the years, we've gotten to know Jim and Tracy and become great friends with them. They are truly amazing people and Tracy has become almost like a mom to me. They are by far the most caring, sincere, humble and fun people I think I've ever met. Oh, and did I mention that they are absolute rock stars in the tri and du world? I'm talking A-MAZING! Just to give you a little run down of how much in awe of them I am, here are some stats about the Aust:

  • At the Elite Endeavors Triathlon in Sylvania, Ohio the Austs all made the top 10 overall with Jim at 6th, Zach (their son who just started racing this summer on a whim) at 7th (and only his 3rd tri) and Tracy at 10th (1st overall woman).
  • Tracy has had 7 1st Overall Female race finishes ... this year.
  • She repeatedly qualifies for Nationals and this year was the 1st in her Age Group by 10 minutes and 4th Overall Female (missed third by a mere 3 seconds)
  • She's a USA Triathlon 2009 All-American and ranked #13 in her age group
  • Jim's a freaking stud too - always in the top 10 at any race we do, one hell of a biker (and swimmer and runner) and has competed a multiple times in Nationals and Worlds. Oh... and he only took up the sport a few years ago.

Anyhoo, so this past weekend they head to Budapest to represent the USA at Sprint Worlds and they both kicked some major butt! Jim was smokin' fast in a super tough AG and came in 13th, and Tracy freaking WON her AG. She's the World Champion. The. World. Champion.

And we know them. I wish I could be fast just by association or that some of their awesomeness would rub off on me. I'm determined to find out their secret (besides an amazing amount of hard work). Heck... maybe I should hire them to coach me.

In any event, I'm so super proud of them and just think that the world should know how much Tom and I admire them, look up to them, want to be like them and love them!

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My second thing is TOTALLY off the subject of awesomeness.

So right after the Ironman, Tom and I went to a friend's pool and hung out with my sister and brother-in-law and their kiddos. My brother-in-law used to be a swimmer so as we were splashing around, Tom asked Richard to check out my stroke and tell me what I can do to improve. I swam once across the pool, popped up and looked at him for wisdom and his response was "do you always kick that much because I couldn't concentrate on anything but your kicking?". Lovely. I guess I do. I don't know.

He had me put a kick board (because that's all we could find) between my legs to prevent the kick. I swam some more. We talked some more and it was determined that I need to kick less. His suggestion "swim with a pool boy between your legs".

A WHAT???

I don't think I've ever laughed so hard in my life.

Richard is originally from England and still has a very thick accent. He repeated himself, probably because at this point everyone was cracking up. The jokes started...my husband was definitely not in favor of me getting faster if it it meant I had to put a pool boy between my legs.

In any event, I finally stopped laughing, told him it's a pull buoy and promised that I'd buy one of those and work with it. Went out, got one, and tried it out today.

Hot damn that thing killed my inner thighs. Am I doing something wrong? Not only were my shoulders on fire from pulling without a kick, but I seriously must be squeezing the thing way hard. It's definitely like the thigh-master.

Everyone always said that swimming works every part of your body... I can barely walk tonight.

hehehe - all because of Richard suggesting I get a pool boy. :)

Friday, September 10, 2010

Where to next

Gosh, I couldn't be more lucky to have such amazing people in my life. All of you bloggy friends have really helped me tremendously in getting through the disappointment of not finishing the Ironman. You're words of encouragement were all so sweet and supportive - I'm really lucky and thank you all.

So, what's next? (because let's be honest, I'm not one to throw in the towel and mope around all day because of a stupid DNF).

I'm feeling good. Training is coming back faster than ever and I still have the desire which is something I was hoping wouldn't leave. Yesterday we went out for a run. 5.4 miles. The first mile was a 8:55 pace. Then we got talking about something that's bothering me, I got all worked up, and I ended up averaging 8:14's for the run - and I felt like that pace was casual. Nice... And the day before we went for a 30 mile bike ride. Fought the wind for 15 miles (I'm talking leaning into the wind to stay up kind of blowing) and averaged almost 19 for the ride. Felt great. I've done a 10 mile run which was strong, and some smaller workouts here and there.

I'm putting a half Ironman on my schedule in two weeks - the Deer Creek Fall Challenge. I know that I'll be ready by then and I'm excited to go a little longer. Kind of my redemption for the 17 miles I missed in Louisville! :) It's a local half and I've done it three time. The first year, I finished in 6:55 - it was 93 degrees, my first half and I thought I was going to die. The second year, I finished in 6:50 - a hurricane literally came through Ohio ( I can't even make this up) and at one point, myself and two other races were on the ground in a three point stance (one hand and two feet touching), crawling across a dam on the run course because the winds were gusting at 60mph. Last year I finished in 6:01. I know I'm better than that and hopefully that shows this year. If nothing else, it'll get the dust moving.

We signed up for the Columbus Marathon in October too. I wasn't going to run it even though I knew that Tom really wanted to, but really, it's just a few extra runs. Tom's convinced we can break 4 hours - I'd like to PR (which would be a 4:20 or better). I'm just excited to run in the fall. There's nothing like lining up next to other runners - me in capris, long sleeves and gloves, and many of them in short shorts and sports bras turning blue from the cool crisp air. :)

And then we're doing the half at Beach2Battleship. It's a team race for Team Type 1 and I'm super excited. I haven't heard a ton about the race so it'll be fun!

So that's what's next... that'll get me through this year and then I can start looking at next year! Baby steps...

Friday, September 3, 2010

I got a blog award! :)

I know it's going around, but I don't ever get awards so I'm super excited!!!! Kristin, you just made my day! :)
  1. If you had a chance to go back and change one thing in your life, would you and what would it be? This is tough. As many people who've gotten this award have said, I don't regret things in life. You know, life's just too darn short to not learn from every experience. And I've had my share of learning experiences. I think if I could have changed anything that was really in my control, I wish I would have given more time and effort to my soccer career. I played soccer from the age of 4 until my freshman year of college. I loved it, but I was one of those players who couldn't be bothered with the off season training. Sue I made varsity my Freshman, Sophomore and Junior years of high school, and got to play at the college level, but as far as a soccer player goes, my fitness was lacking. If I knew then what I know now about being fit, I think I would have had a tremendous amount of success in the sport. I never really thought about this until my dad mentioned it to Tom this past spring... he saw it too and for all the time and money he and my mom put toward the sport, I just wish I had been a little more mature about it!
  2. The second thing you have to do is pick 6 people and give them this award. You then have to inform the person that they have gotten this award. - This is hard because I don't want to give it to anyone that already has it, not because of the lack of fabulous blogs! :) The 6 people I give it to are: Kim at Teta Means "Booby" in Spanish, Stevi at Going The Distance, Lori at Adventures in Grownupness, Alisa at Ambitious Aspirations Make Great Accomplisments , Rebecca at The Thorpe Family and Marci at Triathlete 4 Life.
  3. The third and final thing is, thank the person who gave you the award. - Kristin, it's been so much fun to start following your journey and I can't wait to see what the future holds for you! Just remember to keep believing in yourself and I think you are going to be super successful! ((HUGS))