Let the racing begin...

Yesterday was my first real tri of the season (I say real tri because it was outside... I did an indoor one in March, but that doesn't really count). It was at Deer Creek State Park which I usually race in September (although the half IM then) so it was a nice change of pace to race the Olympic distance this time around. I was feeling a little nervous though because I haven't been training much. I mean, I've been working out, but definitely not training. I figured I'd get my butt handed to me and I must say... I survived.

I went down on Saturday to get my race packet. This year they weren't doing bib numbers which I majorly love! They gave me two party bracelets (you know the ones that they give you at a private party that show you are a guest). One for me, one for my bike. Simple enough. I got in the water Saturday because I hadn't swam any open water since IMFL and panicked. Totally freaking panicked. I probably should have been swimming outside prior to the day before the race. Ugh... sometime else to totally worry about for the next 24 hours! Anyway, went home, relaxed, ate, slept and work to the alarm at 5:15. I got to the park with plenty of time and got everything unloaded (this was the first race without my personal bike mechanic so I was pretty proud of myself for getting there and setting up by myself). I take my bike and go for the short "are my gears right" test ride and realize that somehow my front derailleur is sitting ON my crank. Shit. I call Tom (poor guy was asleep in New Orleans) and totally freaked out. He calmly told me to find the mechanic tent and call me when they fix it. So much for being a big girl and being able to do everything by myself! Found the tent and the guy was awesome! Thanks so much Wheelie Fun. You saved my race! Got to transition, set everything up and met my mom and dad who came to watch me. We had a little bit of time so we walked to the water and just hung out. Here I am right before the swim (I was of course the LAST wave like always)

The horn goes off and I'm in the water. TOTAL FREAKING PANIC!!! I can't breath. What's up with this? I'm an Ironman. 2,500 people started when I did and I didn't panic. Why now? I literally flip to my back and have to catch my breath. I'm mortified and think maybe I should just call it a day. Then I slap some reality in myself, flip over and end up having a nice swim. Felt calm and comfortable. Yikes... hope that was a "first race of the season" thing! My swim was slow... as always... but that's fine.

T1 went fast. I've mastered the art of the transition. I'm not the fastest girl there, but I'm efficient! :)

Onto the bike. I love my bike. I rode my big girl wheels and hope that the winds wouldn't pick up. Right out of the park there's a bit of a head wind. I'm still breathing hard, but quickly settle in and pass a bunch of people. It's a great ride... two loops and the only really sucky thing is going into the park after the first look to turn around. I'm convinced it's an average killer! Got to see mom and dad after the first loop though. They always cheer so loud!!

T2 went fine. Got off the bike feeling fine.

Started running. Dad got this picture of me right at the beginning of the run

The first few steps I took and crap, my hamstring is in a knot. I've been having a ton of problems with it and thought that I would somehow be able to not have problems during the race (a girl can dream right?). First mile was 8:35. I'd LOVE to average 8:35's, but I knew that wasn't going to be the case. It was hot. There wasn't any shade. And it felt like I was being stabbed right below my right butt cheek. Lovely image huh? Ran the whole race, couldn't get a stupid song out of my head ("My trusty rusty had a flat. I borrowed my best friend's Cadillac. I'll be right back, going down to Wally World" - Sugarland) but the finish line came soon enough.

I finished in 2:51 and some change. I wasn't thrilled, but whatever. It was the first race of the season. I almost went home when I saw my derailleur problem, I panicked on the swim, and my hammy was killing me. I was happy it was over! Waked around for a little while and then headed up to the awards ceremony to watch my mother in law get her award (she did the du and came in first in her AG). They started calling out the award winners for my AG so I asked mom and dad to stay around) I saw 3 people in my AG group pass me on the run so I knew I didn't place, but I wanted to see how close I was. They call the 20-24 group and one of the said girls in my AG accepts her award. They must have mismarked her. They called my name for 3rd in my AG! YAY! My mom was so funny because none of us were expecting it and when they said my name she screamed "that's you". HAHAHA! Too cute! I got a medal and that totally made my day!

Overall, I was happy with things. I had fun and really, isn't that all that matters????

Sunday I'm racing at Wendy's International (although it's a sprint). It's a local race that I love, but they changed the course. Usually Tom and I do really well. He's not racing because of the hand, but as my friend Tracy says, I'm hoping to open a can of whoop ass (Tracy by the way will be there too and will inevitably win the entire race. I love her!) And if I can't open the can of whoop ass, I hope to just have fun!

I love this time of year!!!

When I grow up...

I just got off the phone with one of my best friends. She's having a little life crisis. Her birthday is this weekend and although she thinks she's old (um... girlfriend, you're 2 years YOUNGER than me... if you're old, what am I???) she's having a hard time answer the kindergarten question -

What do I want to be when I grow up?

After consoling her as best I could and telling her that happiness is the key to a good life (I know this because I walked away from a good paying cushie job to be my own boss and work with my hubby 2 weeks before my wedding), I began to wonder -

What do I want to be when I grow up?

If someone where to ask me, "Colleen, what's your dream job?" I honestly don't know that I could answer. I went to school with a starting major of biochemistry (dork, I know), but I had great intentions to find a cure for cancer. After a year of college chemistry and a summer internship with just my professor and a beaker with a chemical that I was trying to separate the atoms in, I decided maybe this wasn't my calling. I switched to a business major (aka, the "you can do anything with a business degree" route) and finished with a BS in Business Administration and a concentration in finance. But I never really thought that was my calling. It paid the bills for the first few years and put a good dent in the student loans that I owe. I threw around the idea of working on a college campus, but now I think I'm old and that wouldn't be as fun as I used to think. They kids would probably annoy me.

So now that I'm stuck wondering what it is that would make my life have purpose, I wonder how I could make a job out of my interests. Here are some thoughts...

1. A personal shopper - I love love love shopping and have a great time shopping with my mom, sister, mother-in-law, friends, etc. Spending someone else's money is great fun. But why would someone pay ME to pick out clothes that THEY have to pay for???
2. A personal travel agent - I get so annoyed when people don't shop for travel bargains and have been "hired" a few times (without pay of course) to help people get the best out of their vacation budget. I really love this kind of stuff. I wouldn't want to work for AAA or anything though. I guess people like me are called Orbitz, Expedia and Hotwire.
3. A weight watchers restaurant owner - I have books and books of meals that I think are really good and I know the points for all of them. I don't think people go to eat though with the intention of eating well. Plus I think people would see me and wonder why I don't get back to weight watchers.
4. A tri coach - except most days I feel like I need a tri coach and I don't think that tri coaches have tri coaches. Isn't that kind of backward?
5. Maybe a spin instructor. But I pant when I spin. I would be pathetic huffing and puffing and trying to tell someone that kicking your own ass is a good thing. They'd probably walk out.
6. A party planner - I loved planning my wedding. I think that kind of stuff is fun. I'd get a bridezilla though and hate it right away. I can see it now...

So, all in all, I guess I should just stick with what I'm doing. I love being my own boss. I love working from home. I love seeing my husband day in and day out and having my dogs around to keep me company and bark at everything that moves outside of our house. I love being able to train morning, noon, or night depending on the weather or how I feel. I love being able to be the chair of a great event for a great cause without the hassle of telling the boss man that I need to leave every 2nd Friday of the month for a few hours. I love that I can travel. I love that I don't look at carpet walls 9 hours a day. I love that I'm a woman, a business owner, a marking exec, a customer service person, THE account payable department.

There isn't a price tag on my happiness.

So my dear friend, as the next few weeks or months go on and you strive to answer what you want to do when you grow up, just remember what I told you.

You only live once.

Be happy. Enjoy finding yourself and you passion. You may never grow up to find out what you want to be, but grow up being happy of what you are! :)

But wait for me...

Life seems to be going by in super fast mode and I'm stuck watching it all pass by. I swear there aren't 24 hours in the day that I live. Sure I sleep... a lot... but come on. Literally I wake up, eat, work, eat, workout, eat and go to bed (oh, I do shower in there... I'm gross, but not that gross). Then I start the routine again. Day after day after day. Yet I can't seem to get my desk cleared, all my workouts in, inventory updated, the dogs walked, the plants watered, time with the hubs, time with the friends, etc.

I seriously wrote my friends the other day and asked them to not forget me because I don't see an end in site. I say no to plans more than I want and just wanted to make sure that they realize I'm not a total flake. They humored me and told me they understand. They are the best after all...

And did I mention that Tom's traveling a lot which leaves little ole me to fend for myself and the health of our company. YIKES! That's a lot of responsibility for a girl who's yearning to be out and about on a bike or at the lake. :) Yeah, I have priorities.

I shouldn't complain though. In an economy when people are desperately searching for a job, I have a one. I am my own boss. I work my own hours. My pay check depends on what I do for the day. I don't wear a suit to work. I break when I want. Okay, I've convinced myself that I'm lucky! :)

Training is going well. Like I thought, I kind of got my mojo back. This past weekend I was in Chicago for my cousin's graduation. Across from our hotel was a great 24 hour gym and I took a big leap and did a spin class both Saturday and Sunday. For me being the biker I am, it's kind of surprising that I've never taken a spin class. I'll tell you something, I was quite scared that I would get my ass handed to me. But I absolutely loved it!!! It was a bitch of a workout (pardon my language) especially since the spin room was probably 9,000 degrees (I've heard of Bikram Yoga and maybe I didn't read the class schedule right... maybe this was Bikram Spinning). I worked and sweated and panted and grunted and thought that I was going to die at least once, but I loved it! I can't wait to try our spin class out at the gym by me! I ran 8 miles yesterday in the sauna of Ohio. Oh my gawd... I forgot what humidity was until last night. Ew... nothing like dripping for a little over an hour. It was so gross and so good at the same time. I averaged 8:38's which surprised me. I thought I'd be super slow again.

I'm thinking I'll live through my tri's on 6/7 and 6/14. I don't think I'm nearly prepared enough for them but hope that I'll get there. It's early, I'm not expecting miracles or land speed records by any means!

Oh and an update on my hubby, the transformed biker. As you know he's doing Race Across America with Team Type 1. It starts on June 20th in Oceanside California and they are hoping to ride into Annapolis 5.5 or so days later. It's a super exciting (and stressful) time in the Kingery household. We went to a second doctor yesterday to get another opinion on the hand and the hip which are still hurting from the crash last week. No real news except the break required a cast (the splint Dr. Doofus had given us last week wouldn't have done any good) and the hip/groin are just pulled and not torn or broken! YAY! That simply means that Tom's busting his hiney on the indoor trainer, doing lots of long hot rides in Zone 5c. He's so determined to break the record at RAAM... at this point, I just hope his teammates can keep up! :) He's in Cincinnati talking and riding this weekend, in New Orleans next week and then the race is right around the corner. Exciting times!

My never ending funk...

No, it's not some weird smell I have going on. It's that darn ole' workout funk rearing it's big fat head again. I hate it! I finished the marathon 3 weeks ago and firmly believed that I would be amped to get into tri training. Um... yeah, not so much. I just haven't found my mojo.

I've had some funky thing going on with my upper quad lower butt area. When I run, it feels like someone's stabbing me with a sharp knife. I ran through 2 miles of it the other day and succumbed to the pain. Yesterday I made it a whopping 1:57. That's minutes and seconds, not hours and minutes! :( I had a great bike the other day - 42.25 miles averaging 18.5 so that made me super happy and I did get into the pool the other day to swim a quick 1500 meters, but otherwise, that's been about it. short runs here and there - a 10k, a 5k. A short bike when I gave up on running. But I'm just not excited about it. It's so frustrating because I want to be and when I'm not working out I am, but the minute it comes time to think about my work out, yuck!

Oh, did I mention I have a race in 3 weeks? What's a girl to do?

I took yesterday off and I'm taking today off. Maybe tomorrow I'll wake up and miraculously be over my funk. A little dreaming never hurt.

Other news...

Tom was in a bike accident yesterday. He was concerned about how far he'd gone, knowing he wanted to get in 80 miles yesterday. About 3 mile from home, he was cruising along at about 20mph, toggling with his darn Cat Eye and he lost control. Next thing he knew he was on the ground and there were people around him (a nice man mowing his yard came to help and a car actually stopped). Besides his pride being a little tarnished, he did a good number to himself - a totally destroyed helmet (this is why we wear the ugly M F'ers!), a torn vets, jersey and arm sleeves, a nice road rash on his hip and back, cuts on his ankles, elbows and knuckles and most importantly, a broken hand! :( No damage to the bike though which according to him was the most important thing... he would much rather be damaged than his trusty inanimate object that he calls Boom. He managed to ride home and told me what happened. I went into freaked out wifey mode and babied him as much as I possibly could last night, but he finally gave in and went to the Urgent Care this morning to find out about the break. They have him in a cast and we have an appointment with an orthopedic doctor on Wednesday. Perfect timing for his Team Type 1 RAAM training camp in Moab Utah on Thursday! :( He's bummed to say the least. Please keep him in your thoughts for a quick recovery... Race Across America is only 32 days away! Here's a picture of him all bandaged from his "boxer break" (the kind of breaks boxers get when they hit things like people and walls... lovely).On a more positive note, Charlie (my little pup) is turning 5 on Thursday! I'm so in love with her and never in my wildest dreams could have imagined a dog bringing so much joy to my life. She got her b-day present a little early since daddy won't be home on Thursday and had a great time playing outside with it. This picture makes her look huge... she's not. She's only 35 pounds full grown! :) You can tell by the size of her toy which really fits in your hand pretty well.

Happy birthday beano!!!

And of course her brother...

Mom's Day

I totally missed my mark yesterday in telling the world how wonderful my mom is. All day I was thinking about a blog that I could write and then the day came and went and I never wrote anything. My mom is in Sin City after all, celebrating Mother's Day her way... at the penny and nickle slots so I knew that even if I wrote something, she'd never read it. :) But that's alright - maybe she'll catch up with my blog when she gets back. If not, at least you all will know how special she is.

My mom is my best friend. Cliche to say the least, but besides my husband, she knows me the best. I probably wasn't the world's number 1 child growing up. Sure my sister and I were angels compared to some kids, but I know my mom put up with a lot of whining, talking back and the infamous Colleen "Nooooowah". She worked hard to give me and Kristen the world on a platter. She never missed a beat when it came to soccer games, traveling teams, basketball games, all day dance recitals (which we all know where her favorite), school functions, show choir concerts, awards ceremonies, etc. Even through college, she and dad never missed an event. I went through a period when I was less than stellar as a young lady - you know... the time when I had a new found freedom that no one in the world could take away (um yeah... my freshman year of college!). I did things that I know she probably wasn't very proud of, yet she let me live my life, learn my lessons and was always there to lend a hand, shoulder or smile. When I left for the Netherlands, I literally thought that I would never see them again (4 months across the world was a long time when I was never further than 15 minutes from my mom at any given time), yet she and I probably got closer in those 4 months than any mom and daughter. She wrote me daily (saving all my old emails for God only knows what reason), called 2 or 3 times a week, even sent me the best care packages ever (who cares that it took 5+ weeks to get to me because of 9/11 and that the bagels were green when I opened the box).

When I graduated college, I know that she was proud of me for the woman I had become, taking on a job and responsibilities of a grown up. I had bills to pay, meetings to get to, long days at a job that I hated, but we worked 2 minutes from each other and I loved our lunches together. When I met and married Tom, I never in my wildest dreams imagined my mom would love someone like their own child the way she loves Tom. She literally lights up when she sees him and I know that she couldn't have hand picked a better partner for me. Through the last 6 years, she's been Tom and my biggest fan (besides my dad and they fight for that role daily). She's been at my half marathons, my marathons, my sprint tri's through my Ironman. She ALWAYS makes the best signs and cheers and cries every time I cross the finish line, no matter how many races I've done of that distance prior. I still talk to her daily, sometimes more than once a day, usually about nothing important. When I'm with her, I feel comforted by her support, her love and most importantly, her friendship.

As I get older, I see a lot of myself in my mom. Someday I hope to be half the mom that she is to me. I hope that I have the love that she's always shown me, the courage to let my children make their own mistakes the way she did me, the support that they need if times are tough and the friendship that above all else is priceless.

So mom, you may be in Vegas, playing Wheel of Fortune and forgetting your troubles back here in Columbus, but Tom and I love you very much and hope that every day you know how much you mean to us!

xoxo

Starting over

So the marathon came and went and I feel like I'm starting over. Onward to bigger and better things my friend. :)

It's been a good couple of days - I've taken it easy. No workouts Monday or Tuesday (I couldn't have done anything if someone had a gun to my head forcing me!) My legs literally felt like they had been beat over and over by some nasty hard object (that or the result of hills... either way, I'm a baby about it!) Tom giggled when I saw him at the airport. I was still walking very gingerly. Yesterday I felt better though and was able to get an hour of cross training on the elliptical. I'm hoping to get out for a little run tonight. Nothing mind blowing... maybe a few miles to stretch out.

But I'm freaking exhausted. I think my body is telling me something. I've stopped eating everything that isn't nailed down to the table (that phase lasted a few days), but I hit that pillow at night and I'm done! Even now, after having slept 9+ hours last night (shut up... I know I'm lazy), I could easily fall asleep right here and now at my desk. I'm sure the hubs would love that! :)

But I'm ready to be done with marathon training and move forward. I have my new workouts ready to go and they pretty much start Saturday with a warm up 5k and a timed 5k. Yikes... guess there's no easing into this...

But, I knew what I was getting into. This all started with me asking Tom to be my "coach" for the next few weeks and get me ready for my tri on June 14th. Outwardly, he said "sure honey" in this sweet, caring kind of way. Inside was another story, as I think his master plan was already brewing. See, I came in 2nd last year in my AG in this race and I think maybe 14th overall for the women. I know the lady who came in second - she's a good friend and quite frankly, a badass. I think Coach Tom has this grandiose plan to make me into his own little badass. I guess he can try, but a girl can only do what she can do. :) If I don't die before the race, at least I'll know that I've worked harder than ever to be ready for a sprint race. :)

I am looking at adding a few shorter tri's this season. Last year I did 2 local Olympic races and they don't work with my schedule this year. I'm venturing our on my own for a race in June (Tom will be gone with TT1 stuff) and then I'm looking at another in early August, before my longer race season starts. They will be good opportunities for me to go all out for a few hours and test where I'm at in terms of speed.

And if Coach T has his way, maybe I'll bring home some hardware. ;) It's early, we'll see...

The Flying Piggy

Well, I came, I saw, and I got kicked in the arse by the hills (no, really I could complete that statement with I conquered because I did). The Flying Pig Marathon was this morning and I'm happy to say that I finished. Here's the run down of the race (brace yourself... I got a little wordy!)

Yesterday, my mom and dad drove me to Cincinnati. We got to the hotel (which was a complete madhouse) around 3:30 or so. We checked in and walked next door to the expo. I have to say that I have never in my life been so close to the expo!!! It was a really big expo for this size race and I was totally in heaven because I love walking around expos. I think in my next life, I'm going to create something that forces me to have to be at expos - I guess I could do that now with my products, but I digress. Anyway, got my packet, chip, shirt (which is very cute, although I don't see men wearing them, but whatever. I'm not a man, I don't have to worry about it), poster, bag and walked up and down the aisles with everyone. I loved the pigs everywhere and of course everything was decked out in pink and black so I enjoyed it. Yeah, I'm a girlie girl when it comes to that stuff! I loved these pigs. They were monstrous... I wish I could have taken one home, although I don't know that they really wouldn't added much to the value of our house. :)After the expo, we hit up Macy's (cause I'm a Lynch girl and well, that's what we do) and then went to a brew house for dinner (I didn't partake in the beer, but enjoyed me some mac and chicken! Yummo). After that, it was back to the room to wind down for the night. With a 6:30 am race start, I knew it would be an early night.

I called for a wake up call at 5am which never came. Luckily I never trust hotels and set my alarm so I had no problems getting up. Quickly got dressed, talk to mom and dad shortly and left the hotel by 5:30 to walk to Paul Brown Stadium. It was raining. Just my luck. I curled my toes as I walked as if that would help them from getting wet. Ha, as if... I met a girl from a local chat board I'm on who graciously made me and another chat girl a sign for the race. Stevi's husband was running his first marathon and she had rocked a 5k the day before. I would end up seeing her twice more on the race course and love her dearly even though I just met her!!! After chit chatting with her for a few minute, I headed into the stadium to use the nice potties and made my way to the start. The rain had stopped, although it was dark and chilly. I was glad I brought a throw away shirt!

The countdown began for the race and I was excited. I placed myself between the 3:45 group and the 3:50 group. I knew I wouldn't finish there, but wanted to start at a pace I had been training at. The cannon sounded and we were off. I crossed the start line probably 1:30 after the cannon and pushed the start button on my Garmin. Nothing. Well, a timer, but no other data. I pushed the up and down buttons thinking I was on the wrong screen. Nothing. I pushed mode and got "searching for Satellites". Ugh... you've got to be freaking kidding me. So, that's how the race starts... Can you tell my joy at this point?

The first miles was crowded... like 10 minute mile crowded. :-( It slowly started to spread out. We went over 2 bridges within the first 4 miles. I already thought it was hilly, and this was supposed to be the flat part of the race! I knew my mom and dad would be at mile 5 and I was happy - I was starting to get hot and wanted to hand them my visor and gloves (yeah, I have a thing about $1 expo gloves, what's it to you??). I passed them around 43:30 which was right about where I thought I'd be. Look how cute my mom is and the sign she made me! I love their homemade signs!!!The "hills" would be starting right after I saw them so I braced myself.

What came next, I'll never forget. Climbs, climbs and more climbs! They were the kind of climbs where you would climb, turn a corner and climb some more, hit the crest of the hill and then run straight down meaning your legs were just screaming. My heart rate increased, I got dizzy. Would I be able to do this? What had I signed up for? I panicked. Somehow I made it through Eden park which was the 3 mile climb that goes up 300+ feet. I just felt like the hills were relentless. I ate some sport beans, my stomach started feeling a little better and I tried not to think about the miles. I didn't know what pace I was running, but felt like I was probably pushing it a little.

Miles 8-12 just kind of just went. They were rolling, the half marathon split at mile 9 so it started to thin out. I got in a groove. I hit mile 13.1 at 1:56:52. WOAH... way faster than I should have done those hills. And my legs were nice enough to let me know. Thanks for that. I honestly thought that I wasn't going to finish. My legs were screaming and I still had 13.1 to go. I knew that the second half was supposed to be a little more forgiving (yeah, right...) so I held on to hope that I would be alright.

I hit the 19.7 mile mark at 3:05:18. I of course had no clue that I was running 9:25's at this point but knew that I had slowed down considerably. I wasn't drinking anymore. "Dear Mr. Race Director. Don't fill the water glasses and the Gatorade with hose water. It takes like poo, not that I've ever tasted poo, but if I did, I bet it would taste like your water. Sincerely, the runner who REALLY wanted water that didn't taste like a hose." Yeah, it wasn't good. From that point on, I started to do a little run walk combo. I knew it would get me to the end. I ran to the next song, the next mile marker, the next water station, the next lady holding jolly ranchers or oranges, whatever seemed to be closest. I did a lot of stretching. The second half was not flat. I'm just sayin'...

With one mile to go, I had the whole "oh my goodness, I'm going to do this" feeling. Just one foot in front of the other. I turned my MP3 off and just took in the crowd. I found my parents about 100 feet from the "Finish Swine". My dad found me too... (Don't laugh... I was VERY happy to almost be done!)

I ended up crossing the finish line in 4:21:20 - a PR by 23 minutes and 28 seconds! I then proceeded to well up with tears. I HURT. Those hills definitely kicked my ass. I was not ready for them and if I ever decided to do this race again (it's not on my short list) I would train in southern Ohio because Delaware Ohio didn't prepare me. :) My medal was great. The finish line food was great (they had Swiss cake rolls - SCORE! Sure I could buy a whole box for $1.29, but after the race I had, they were little packages of heaven being handed to me). I found my mom and dad, cried to them a little more about how much I hurt and then gingerly made my way back to the hotel for a quick shower before our trip home.

Overall, I'm SUPER thrilled with the race. No, it's not as fast as I had hoped, but I now know that I had unrealistic expectations for the race. I can honestly say that I wasn't prepared for the hills. I thought that I could fudge my way through them and maybe that's what I did. In any event, I proved to myself that I am in fact a strong woman, capable of taking on challenges and pushing myself beyond my limits.

One funny thing though... I looked at the official race results and couldn't find my name in the Female 25-29 AG. They have me listed for some reason as a 50-54 age grouper! :) I wrote them and told them that was wrong. Where they got that, I don't know. My bib was right so I know I didn't mess up when I registered. This race kicked my butt, but I don't think it aged me!

So what's next??? I have 41 days until my first tri of the season. I think I'm going to back my running distance back, pick up the speed, increase my biking and start cranking out some sets in the pool. I have new goals to meet in June. But maybe I'll start Tuesday... these legs need to recover!