Ahhh...

I feel like I'm finally getting to a place where I can breath again. Things have just been so busy in the Kingery house. Race Across America is over. Team Type 1 did amazing! They were first overall again this year with a finish time of 5 days 10 hours and 48 minutes. It was definitely an experience for Tom that hopefully he can put in his memory bank and just support from now on versus participate in! :) While I know he enjoys the challenge, he's not a bike racer and it really takes a toll on him. I know he played an important role in this year's team and that he kind of enjoyed himself (it's hard when you are throwing up for the first full day), but it's done! :) Here are some of the pictures from the finish line... it was 4:30am when they got in and we did get to see an amazing sunrise over the marina! :)

Then we got to have an amazing vacation in Annapolis. If you haven't been, it's the greatest little town. We got to see a little of Baltimore too on Sunday before our flights. Tom was navigating as I was driving and brought me to Charm City Cakes. :) I love Ace of Cakes so it was cool. I'm sure they get a gazillion tourists out there taking the same picture that I took, but whatever! :) I wish I could have met Duff...

So we're home now, but only for a few days. Tom leaves on Friday for Orlando. He has back to back conferences there for TT1. I'm going to go on Saturday and just hang out for a few days. The hotel has a lazy river (woohoo) and we're hoping to hit up a theme park on Tuesday. And we signed up for a 5k on Sunday through the conference so that should be fun!!!

I feel like I've been totally slacking in the training department. My motivation has been zilch with everything going on. That's typical this time of year I guess... it's the busiest time with the most miles due. Prioritizing and balancing life (friends, family, work, training, cleaning) starts to get difficult and I find myself struggling with it a lot. I feel like some of the people who should be the most important in my life show their true colors this time of year - and by that I mean not being 100% supportive and understanding. If there's ever a time I feel selfish (which I do and probably am), now is that time. Do you ever feel this way with your training??? It's hard to do what you love and get slack for it. I guess I have to make myself happy before I can make others happy...

Ohhh... good exciting news. I received my 288 Marathon Bar samples the other day in the mail. They are AWESOME! I'm going to do a give away with some of them in the coming days so stay tuned. If you haven't had them, they are awesome. I was given 144 of the crunchy honey & toasted almond energy bars and 144 of the chocolatey nut burst protein bars. YUMMO! I'll let you know the chances to win some of them... you'll be hooked!

Last update

Alright, well it's hard to believe that this is the last update. I'm leaving today to fly to Annapolis to meet Tom at the pier. I'm so incredibly excited! The team is still kicking some major butt! They are in first place by nearly 3 hours and are cruising right along through Southern Ohio (which isn't easy). Today's a tough day of climbing - they'll hit WV and then it's smooth sailing into MD! Tom's feeling good - tired and ready to be at the finish, but I'm sure that's how all of the guys feel at this point. The monotony gets to them after a while. ;) Thanks so much for all the support and well wishes. I've passed them along to Tom and we both really appreciate the support!

And as for me... I couldn't be more excited for a little vacation! I'm hurting... training the last few days has been brutal knowing that I wouldn't be home this weekend. It's crunch time after all. I raced Saturday and Sunday (which meant 1-1.5 hours all out both days), Monday I took a double spin class (2 hours), Tuesday I biked 60 miles and yesterday I ran 10. My hip is really bothering me today and I'm thinking that I might have done something to it in the run. BLAH! Hope it's just a slight over use thing and that a few days at a lower intensity will help heal me right up!

More updates...

First, TT1 is still kicking major butt. They have passed through TS 26, are averaging 23.29mph and are ahead of ViaSat by about an hour and 13 minutes. Yikes... that's not a big lead, but I'm sure they'll hold them off. They are in Kansas now which is Tom's favorite part, although he's sleeping/eating/massaging as I write this. :) Last night he was confused as to where he was, insisting that they were in KS already when in fact that where still in Colorado. He said that it was cold, very windy and pouring. His shift was to start in about 45 minutes and it was going to be dark for the entire ride. Hum... sounds fun doesn't it? I can't believe that they will be done in 2.5 days! It does go by fast!

As for me, I'm holding down the fort. Work is crazy, I'm trying to get my long training days in so that I'm not worrying about it this weekend, I had to mow the grass (in between the rain) and keep the house clean, etc. Normal stuff that Tom usually helps with. It's hard being alone... I don't think I could ever be single! :)

I got a fun package in the mail yesterday. Jon over at SwimCycloRun had a contest a few days ago about defining the phrase "going taper crazy". He ended up picking my entry which was super cool and sent me 5 Larabars to try. I'm excited. If you want to read my answer to the definition, visit his blog and give him a shout out!

So, the race results from this weekend. I was going to do a whole race report and all the glam that goes with it, but I just don't have the time. Here's a brief rundown of the two races. I'm happy... that's all that matters!

Wendy's Women's Only Tri - Saturday
Swim (.25 miles) - 10:30 - which was really slow, but all the times were a bit slow.
T1 - 1:26 - with a wetsuit! WOO HOO!
Bike (12.2 miles) - 35:17 - average 20.6 Had hoped this had been faster...
T2 - 1:03 - in and out and short and sweet. I'm getting better!
Run (2 miles) - 15:58 average of 7:59's. I wanted to be under 8's!
Total time - 1:04:11
1st overall out of 123

Wendy's International Tri - Sunday
Swim (.5 miles) - 16:08 - I felt a little better about this one than Saturday's.
T1 - 1:36 - this is about average for me
Bike (16.8 miles) - 49:20- average 20.6 this is where I started to feel Saturday's race! :) (the results are listed at 22.6 mph, but I think that's based on a distance of 18.6 miles which was last year's course... oh how I wish I had been that fast!)
T2 - 1:15
Run (3.1 miles) - 25:36 average of 8:15's. I had hoped for a sub 25, but my legs just weren't there
Total time - 1:33:59
5th in my AG and 16th of 137 women. I did PR on this course though by over a minute!

Jeff Sheard at Ultrafit-USA did an amazing job with both races. Can't wait to race them both next year. Hopefully Tom will be there though! :)

Super quick update

I'm hungry and I'm stinky so I have to make this quick!

TT1 is doing awesome... they are still in 1st place and their lead had grown to over an hour. They've passed TS 20 which is in Trinidad, CO and have completed at least 1145.2 miles. They are averaging 23.04mph so far. Tom's texts from earlier today included:

"Climbing Wolf's Creek Pass at 11,000 feet. Highest in RAAM. Over 6k feet of climbing"
"Altitude is killing me"
"Puke and Rally"
"I'm trying to fight through this, every shift is stronger than the last. Kansas should be fun"

He's feeling a bit better today. When I talked to him he sounded much more upbeat. He only got sick once and has been able to eat. He said that altitude was the worst and that it felt like he was breathing through a coffee stirrer. We live at 900 feet. I see why. He also said that they saw snow and had flurries for a bunch of his morning shift. He had one pull where there was a problem with the car getting to him and he ended up biking for 20 minutes at 27mph. He's back! One of his teammates wives joked that he gets the award for biking the most with the littlest amount of food and that I need to bring him a few belts because he's probably lost a ton of weight. Oy ve!

I think they are pretty much done with the climbing for a while. Now through Kansas which Tom loves and then they'll hit more climbs out this way. But at least then they are almost done.

Thanks for all the good thoughts and prayers! They are working!

So it's been a day...

And what a day it's been.


TT1 update - the guys are doing awesome! They are currently in the lead and have passed through the 9th Time Station (this one is in Flagstaff and there are 55 in all). They are averaging 23.12mph for the first 536.11 miles and are beating Team ViaSat by 38 minutes and Team 4Mil by 46 minutes. Have had a few quick updates from Tom, but unfortunately they have all been mainly about him. He's still super sick and during his 12am -7am shift, found himself vomiting after nearly every shift (if not during). He told me that he's doing what he can to keep up, but that he feels like he just didn't have the power. I'm sure that's due partly to the fact that he had no food in his stomach (he was on liquids only and those wouldn't even stay down). He got a good amount of sleep after his shift, ate some oatmeal this morning and then some pasta and I just got a text from him that he definitely has more power this shift, but still feels "pukey". Hopefully the next 6 hours that he's out there won't be too miserable for him. I feel so helpless... so far he's been less than impressed with the race simply because of how miserable he feels, which is sad because he really was super excited for it. I can't image the disappointment he feels and hopes that each shift will get better and better. Keep it up boys... you're doing awesome! Team Type 2 is doing amazing as well. They are through TS7 and are averaging 18.41mph!



Update on me - I know I'm nowhere near as important as the TT1 updates, but I raced the Wendy's International tri this morning (it's not an International distance though which is weird... it's a .5 mile swim, a 17 mile bike and a 3.1 mile run). Anyway, I could definitely tell that I raced yesterday. YIKES! My legs were screaming. I finished in 1:33:59 which is a PR on this course by about a minute and a half, but and that got me 6th in my AG. Damn being old... I would have come in 3rd if I didn't have to go up an age group this year (I know, I know... that would mean that the fast girls that moved up with me would be in the group with me and it wouldn't matter!) I was happy with the race though. I had a great time competing with some amazing athletes, got to see some friends and even got to meet Rebecca (which, by the way, I'm so excited about and can't wait to see you at some of the other races that we're doing together this year!!!) I'll post times and splits and all that triathlon related stuff in the next couple of days.

Keep TT1 in your thoughts... and send good vibes to the sick hubster for me, will you?

First update... and 1 down, 1 to go! :)

First, an update on the guys... They kick off at 2pm PST so they are getting ready. The teams have been chosen (Shake and Bake) and Tom's on the second shift this time around so he'll probably see the 1/2 of the course that he didn't get to see last year! His first shift will start at 9pm PST this evening. He has some sort of stomach bug though which really has him down. Feels miserable. He just told me that he was going to try to sleep (since he was sick all night) and should be ready to hammer when it's time (keeping my fingers crossed!!!) Here's a picture of this year's guys...GET IT DONE BOYS!!!

So I'm not going to write a full race report of this morning's Women's Only Tri because race weekend isn't done yet (I'm racing again tomorrow morning), but I had an amazing morning. It was such a cool feeling being surrounded by women who can all call themselves triathletes after today's race. It was really inspiring to watch many of these girls participate in their first race with such big smiles. I loved seeing all the running skirts (and of course am slightly jealous that I can't run in one - don't ask...) but it was cool. And... I got to experience what a sheriff's escort on the bike feels like and a bike escort on the run feels like! :) Yep, after the swim and catching a girl or two on the bike, I was the lead athlete the rest of the day and let me just tell you, I felt like a superstar. So that will totally never happen again, but I loved every minute of it. I felt really strong out there (besides my swim which always sucks) and I was really happy with the performance! I wore my Team Marathon gear, got tons of great compliments and just had a blast! My dear friend Tracy (who is probably the most kick ass triathlete I know in person) was at the race cheering for a friend and was able to get some pictures.

Jeff Sheard and the Ultrafit-USA crew did an AMAZING job with the inaugural event! I'll be back! And I'll post stats and whatnot once they are posted and I'm done with my next tri tomorrow morning. For now, I'm off to lay on the couch, eat some ice cream and get ready to hammer it again tomorrow! Wish me luck.

And if any of you questioned how wonderful my husband is (which I'm sure none of you would do), the proof is in what showed up at my door today!

10 Things that make me happy...

1. That my uncle is doing much better! Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. During a time when things didn't look so great, it was good to know that people were keeping my family in their thoughts! Looks like he'll make a full recovery, although it's going to be a long road ahead. :)
2. It's race weekend!!! WOOT WOOT! I'm so excited to finally kick off my triathlon season. I'm kicking around the idea of signing up for the Women's Only Tri on Saturday, but I'm definitely registered for the Wendy's Tri on Sunday. Should be a good race with lots of speedy women which is always fun! Should I do two days in a row of all out racing???
3. The pizza I just ate... there, I said it. It was a California Pizza Kitchen White Pizza from the frozen food aisle at Kroger. Probably one of my favorites.
4. And while I'm at the food portion of this post... my addition to diet coke. I know it's a horrible substance, but it's sooooo good! (hey, I could be addicted to worse things right?)
5. Finding little notes around the house that my hubby left me. He'll be gone for 10 days so after sobbing like a baby this morning when I left him, the notes have definitely brightened by day.
6. Knowing that Team Type 1 is starting the Race Across America on Saturday afternoon. Seems like RAAM just happened, but it's already been a year. I'll start my updated on the team and the race on Saturday. :)
7. Booking a little trip away with the hubster for when he gets home (sure he's working at the conference, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy the lazy river at the hotel). And who knows, we might get to hit Disney for a day!!!
8. Doing my first open water swim of the season this week. I know... I have an Ironman in 3 months and I'm just now doing an open water swim. To my defense, I need to limit my exposure to the water. The proof is in this picture, which I snapped as I was entering the parking lot to the lake. And it's where my tri is this weekend. I love Ohio!
9. Getting an email that my 288 marathon bars on being shipped shortly. If you are on facebook, become a fan (http://www.facebook.com/#!/MarathonBars). If you'd like a sample, just let me know! :)
10. That it's almost Friday. Technically I only have 30 minutes until it's Friday. :)

What are some things that make you happy???

The good, the bad and the ugly...

THE GOOD:

I ran my 10k today. I was totally nervous which is funny since it was only 6.2 miles, but I get like that. I had a good transition run this week of 3 miles at a 7:36 pace. I was hoping to be under 8's for this race (or as close to being under 50 minutes as I could). It rained on the way to the race. There was a tornado watch. The winds were supposed to be 20mph. Nothing like adding to my nerves. We got there plenty early, took some pictures of me in my new kit (well part of it at least) said hi to my friends Stevi and Lori who were both running today (and did great) and then coach Tom had me run and do some sprints. My HR skyrocketed. Again, nothing like adding to my nerves. I lined up pretty close to the front because although it was chip timed, there wasn't a start mat (I know, weird, but that's the way they like to do it in Ohio). The rain had stopped, but it was HUMID! I took off at a comfortably hard pace. The first mile was a 7:30. Yikes. The second mile was a 7:32. Yikes. There was no way that I could maintain that. The sun popped out on the third mile and I entered the oven. I got hot. Really hot. I lost track of my splits (and I didn't wear a garmin), but I crossed the line in 48:14! WOO HOO. We grabbed some pancakes and sat on the stairs waiting for awards. Seeing the ladies that I was running with, I had a snowballs chance in hell of getting top 5 (which is what they awarded). My AG was called, Tom was talking to my dad who walked over from his office, and I hear "in 4th place, Colleen Kingery". What? I was giddy like a little school girl. NEVER have I placed in a running race. Now that I'm in the big girls group (that would be F30-34), I know the competition is good. I ended up 4th out of 71. Made my freaking day! :) I got a really cool cup that says "Age Group Hero" on it.
THE BAD:

My uncle was riding in the MS150 this weekend - he does the event every year. Yesterday he called and said that it was super hot. No biggie. Today he collapsed 5 miles from the finish and had no pulse. They revived him, rushed him to the hospital and he is in critical condition. They said that it was a heart attack, but were worried about his kidneys, liver and swelling of the brain. My aunt is not home (in NC), as she's visiting my grandparents in PA. She's flying home as soon as she can, but even that has been delayed. We then got word that he was in Cardiac Arrest and were doing emergency surgery. It doesn't look good. PLEASE say a prayer or at least keep our family in your thoughts. He's a healthy guy, a great husband, dad and uncle.

THE UGLY:

I got bit by a dog yesterday. It was a totally freak thing. I'm a dog person. I was standing in my bff's in her driveway and this pit looking dog (the lady claimed that it was a lab mix... um, no it wasn't) got loose. These little girls were chasing it with a stick and calling for it, but it ran the opposite direction from them. Until it grabbed my dress, ripped the bottom of it and sunk it's teeth into my calf. He didn't break skin, but I have a huge bruise on my leg and three good size teeth marks. Damn dog. The lady needs to be careful - while I won't call the pound, I'm sure my friend's mom will. Being the typical girl that I am, I got more mad that the dog ruined my new dress. :( She paid me for it, but I got it at TJMaxx and if you know that store, they never have 2 of the same thing! Oh well.