Rocketchix

I did it! It was hot, it was tough & it was fun! I'll do it again. Yeh, I know I said I wouldn't. Never say never right??? More on that later.

I was very happy with my overall time. Although, it came about differently than I expected.

Let's start with Friday night. Dean & I, along with Allie & her parents had dinner at Monjuni's. Good Italian carb loading. I don't really know if the carb loading does anything for me but it's a great excuse to eat pasta & bread. I've done it before both Half's & I didn't see any reason to break tradition. Also, in keeping with tradition there were cake balls!

The one on the left was banana pudding. OMG soooo good!!! On the right we have wedding cake (my all time fave), carrot cake & Italian cream cake. All were delicious. I didn't eat them all Friday. I spread them out over the weekend. After dinner Cindy came over to make sure we had everything that we would need Saturday.

The alarm went off at 5:00 am & I was wondering why the alarm was going off on Saturday, then it hit me. CRAP! Yeh that was my first thought. I got dressed, had my breakfast, aired up my tires & loaded the bike. Well, Dean loaded the bike. Then it was off to Allie's house (2 doors down) for her to braid my hair & load up her bike. We left a little before 6:00. Everything was held at LSU so it was only about a 10 minute drive.

All marked &  ready to go. They write your bib number on both arms & your age on the back of your leg. There were over 300 ladies participating & the #1 complaint was having your age on your leg. Cindy made us swim 6 laps to warm up. I thought she was crazy but it really helped. We got a feel for the pool & it settled some nerves. Not all but some.

A bunch of bikes! This was the transition area. Tons of bikes everywhere! I had no idea what to expect.

The first swimmer was in the pool at 7:15. We were self seeded for the swim so I was close to the end of the line which meant I didn't get in the water until 8:30. It was a long wait but everyone was talking & it made me feel better to hear that a couple of ladies planned on doing the backstroke for the entire swim. Nobody but volunteers were allowed in the pool area because there wasn't room but there were windows for everyone to watch through.

That's me swimming. Cindy volunteered & I could hear her cheering for me. That's me going to the transition area. At that point I was feeling good. I had a good for me swim & was so glad it was over since that's what I was dreading the most. I swam the 200 yards in 5:37. That's a minute faster than when Cindy timed me last weekend.

My cheering section was waiting outside of the pool.

Those brick things are the reason my heels are KILLING me! Next up was the bike ride. There was a head wind the first 6 miles which was tough but that meant the last 6 miles would be easy. I had my watch on so I could keep track of my time. I knew I was close to a PR on the bike.

This was at the end of the bike ride. You have to "dismount" & push your bike back to transition. Time for the run. This I can do. It was really hot & humid. I'd eaten a GU around mile 7 on the bike because I hadn't eaten since 5:30. I think that was a mistake. Too sweet, too hot & too humid. I ran & I felt like I was going to throw up. I never feel like that during a run. I kept trying to push myself. Normally when I feel like walking I tell myself that if I walk it'll take longer to finish. Then came the cramp in my side. I had to walk. I was so mad at myself & I'm still mad but I didn't want to throw up. Other people did. I ran some more & I walked again. I did run more than I walked so there's that. The last 3/10 of a mile was so tough. I ran & ran & didn't think I was ever going to get to the finish line. I could see it though! I really didn't think my legs could go anymore. Then I saw all of my peeps - Allie's mom, grandma, Dean, Lydia, my friend Allison & Logan. When I ran by Logan joined me & helped me get to the finish line. He told me "run fast Tante". I ran as fast as I could because I just wanted water! 

FINISHED!!!

After I sat, had water, a plain bagel, an orange slice & some powerade I felt better. Still ridiculously hot but better. My run ended up being 22:14.

Logan waved his signs every time he saw me.

 

 

We were so happy that we finished!

 

Me & Allie with our "coach" Cindy.

She helped us soooo much.

 



When we crossed the finish line we got a coffee mug, a medal & a sticker. Y'all know I love a sticker!

After the race Logan came home with us to swim. After Mass Dean & I ate at Caliente & I had a celebratory Jose Special. YUMMO!

This weekend was a bust as for as eating healthy.  Sunday for lunch we went to LeRoy's. It's a little local place.

Fried Oyster sandwich with pickled onions, lettuce, tomatoes & blue cheese dressing. OMG. Soooooo delicious!!! If you like blue cheese that is. After we ran a few errands it was home to the sofa for me. I wasn't sore (aside from my feet) but I felt like every muscle in my body was tired. The heat is just ridiculous & it completely drains you.

 

Since I didn't run the entire 2 mi. I want to do it again. NOT in July. There's one in April so I'm thinking about it.

Toodles!

Tomorrow!!

Ready or not Rocketchix is tomorrow! I registered May 1st & July seemed soooo far away, yet here we are.  Hard to believe how fast it went.

Tuesday afternoon I went for my last swim. I was faster but there was nobody in the pool so I attribute my time to that. The race requires you to self seed for the swim. I'm going with 6:30 because that's what I did the other day when the pool was full & Cindy timed me.

After doing a long bike ride & run Sunday I decided to just do one run this week. I ran Wednesday.
It was a good run. I wasn't as slow as I normally am when I'm by myself before work. I've also been noticing that my heart rate is much lower than when I first started running. Average of 154 beats per minute this run. My max rate is about 190 & when I first started I was always very close to that. This means my heart is pumping more efficiently & it's getting stronger. I've been googling & reading, can you tell??

My 2 mi. runs after biking have been between 19:10 and 20:27. I'd like to stay in the 19 minute range. It's hard to run after biking but it's also very mental. I see that from looking back at my times & heart rate. My heart rate never got over 170 beats per minute so I can definitely push myself to go faster. I must remind myself, the faster I go the faster I finish!!

After work Wednesday I was going to go for my last bike ride. We had some sprinkling & really threatening skies so I skipped it. I'm not concerned about that because there a couple of weeks that I just did long bike rides on the weekends & none during the week. I'm hoping to do the ride in less than 45 minutes. My 12 mi. training rides have been anywhere from 44 minutes to 49 minutes depending on head winds & tail winds & all that business. The training rides have always been on the levee so there are hills which we won't have Saturday. We'll see.

I also have no idea how long transitions will take me. I've gotten a lot of tips from Cindy. Hopefully, I won't waste too much time. My biggest concern is finding my bike when I get out of the pool. I have lots of directional issues. Trying to find a black bike in the middle of 200 bikes could prove to be problematic. My plan is to pay really close attention to where it's racked before the race starts.

I had issues finding a tri top. I ordered several & most of them were too short. I can't handle a short shirt for working out. This is what I ended up with.

You can't tell in the pic but the shorts have blue stitching that matches the top. These outfits are not attractive. They're supposed to be really tight. Something about aerodynamics & all that commotion. Anyway, they're really tight so they show every imperfection you have. Basically, you're walking around in clothes that are too small for you.

I gathered up all my gear last night in hopes of not forgetting anything.

The only thing not pictured are shoes & a small bottle of water to clean my feet before putting on my socks & shoes for the bike ride.

Have I mentioned I'm nervous?? I am. Have I mentioned I don't like swimming? I don't. The plan for today is to pick up my packet after work, go eat Italian for dinner - you know carb load - and then get cake balls for dessert. This has been my routine for both of my half marathons so I figure I'll stick with what works.

Toodles!

Far Behind

Not sure what's happened but I'm behind reading blogs, I'm behind writing blogs. Oh well. Let's play catch up. Basically, we've been eating out & I've been working out. Pretty much the regular old schedule.

Last week I got a run in on Tuesday morning.

Tuesday when I got home from work it wasn't raining so I went for a short bike ride.
I was planning to ride longer than 4 mi. but it started sprinkling.

Wednesday I swam. I'm pretty sure this is the first & last triathlon I do. I don't like the swimming. AT ALL. It's just not my thing. I know I've said that before but I completely underestimated just how hard it is. The goal at this point is to finish the swim without using a ton of energy so that I can do well on the bike & run. Those are definitely my strengths.

Thursday I ran. I've just been sticking to 3.1 mi. for the time being. Once the Tri is over I plan to start increasing mileage on the weekends.


I've kept up with the 30 Day Challenge. This month is harder than last. LOTS of squats!

Friday after work I brought my bike in for my fitting. I didn't know what this entailed but I'm really glad I shaved my legs. They did some measuring & poking & prodding on my knees & hips. I didn't have any complaints & not much feedback to give because I've been comfortable on my bike. They like you to ride for 4-6 weeks before the fitting so they can work on anything you're having problems with. I bought a "computer" as they call it which is basically just a speedometer, tripometer & odometer.

Friday night a bunch of us went to Caliente as usual.

Saturday Cindy & I swam. It wasn't a very good swim for me but I did it. Our niece is in town from Texas so Dean's mom brought her & some of the cousins to swim.

Last week was Restaurant Week in Baton Rouge. A bunch of different restaurants participate & it's a lot of 3 course meals anywhere from $15-$35 per person. We went to Portico Saturday night.

I had a pomegranate martini.

My appetizer was shrimp & grits. I was a little surprised when I saw it.
It was pan fried or something & it was soooooo good.


Grilled red fish with shrimp & mac & cheese. Delicious!!! I had blueberry bread pudding for dessert which I didn't get a picture of.

Sunday morning Cindy & I were going on a bike ride.

12 mi. in 45:23. Not bad at all! Especially considering I got confused & was in the toughest gear I could be in the first half of the ride. I'm curious to see how the ride goes during the race. These training rides are done on the levee & that involves a couple of really steep hills. The race is flat. Thank goodness! After the ride I ran.  

I was slower than my 2 mi. run last week but my bike ride was slower last week. I can't figure out if it's better to ride fast or run faster.

Later in the day my friends Allison & Joey brought their little boy to swim. We had burgers & just hung out. It was a nice afternoon.


Cael enjoyed himself

Sooo, I guess I'm caught up. Saturday is the race so there will be some rest this week.

Toodles!

Tag

I've been tagged by Carol at An Oasis in the Desert. I like reading things like this about people so here goes.

1.  Are you named after someone?  No

2.  When was the last time you cried?  A couple of weeks ago while we were white water rafting. More about that later!

 3.  Do you have kiddos? No    

4.  If you were another person, would you be a friend of yourself? I think so.    

5.  Do you have a guilty pleasure? More than one - Starbucks, Mexican Food, Wine, Dr Pepper, French Fries, etc........  

4.  Do you like handwriting? Not particularly       

7.  What is your favorite cereal? Granola with almond milk. Kashi, Bare Naked - I'm not particular but I don't buy it anymore because I'll eat way too much of it. 

      

8. What's the first thing you notice about people? It's a toss up between hair & teeth & if you have open toe shoes on - your toe nails.

9.  What's the color of your eyes? Green

10.  Scary movie or happy endings? Happy endings

11.  Favorite TV shows? All time fave is Friends, current fave would have to be Big Bang Theory

12.  Summer or Winter? Well, in the winter summer is definitely my fave & in the summer winter is my fave usually.

13.  Hugs or kisses? Either

14.  Do you have a special talent? Nothing that I can think of aside from remembering tons of completely useless information.

 15.  Where were you born? Baton Rouge, LA

16.  What are your hobbies? Reading, biking, running
  
17.  Do you have any pets? No but I want a puppy

8.  Favorite movie? How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days with Matthew McConaughey, my all time fave!!

19.  What color is your car? Black Ford Explorer

20.  What do you want to be when you grow up? Retired

So instead of just tagging a few people, if you're reading consider yourself tagged!

Toodles!

July 4th Weekend

I have more from Colorado but I didn't do anything with the pictures on my good camera yet. It's no trouble to put them on the computer but it takes FOREVER to load them here. It'll happen eventually.

For the first time in a long time we didn't have any plans for the weekend. I was looking forward to it. I was tired. I was also in a funk last week & I didn't feel like doing anything but I made myself & I felt better.

Tuesday I ran.
Thursday I ran


On the 4th we went to the movie & saw Tammy with Melissa McCarthy. She's really funny. There were some raunchy parts but it was still funny! We stopped at the hospital. Dean's 21 yr old cousin was in a serious 4-wheeler accident. He's alive but looks to have a long road ahead of him. Prayers would be great!

I tried Starbucks new Blackberry Mojito Lemonade Tea. What a mouthful. It was really good.

Once we got home I had a nap & some pool time. That was the extent of our day. I signed up for Skinny Meg's Holiday Challenge. Burn 1500 calories over the course of Fri., Sat. & Sun. However you want as long as it's a workout & not just your regular day to day activities. You had to wear a heart monitor & post pics on IG. Sorry for my peeps on IG that had to see all that. I'm also participating in a 30 Day Challenge for July. I did an ab challenge in June & this one continues with the ab work & adds in legs. So Friday all I did was my July 5th workout for the challenge. It only takes about 15 mins. if that depending on how much you rest in between but I burned 80 calories. I'll take it. July 4th was actually a rest day for the challenge but I knew I was biking & running on the 5th so I thought it might be too much.

Saturday morning I rode 10 miles by myself & then met up with Cindy & her friend Renee to finish their ride.

Almost 14 miles! I never would've thought I could do that. Next up was what I was really nervous about. BRICKS!

That is biking lingo for running after riding when you're legs feel like bricks. I'm learning all the lingo!! I was nervous because I've never ran more than half a mile after riding. In the race I have to do 2 miles. I did it & I wasn't crazy slow & I ran UP THE LEVEE. For those of you that don't know, it's a big hill. I felt so good after doing it.

Then there was the cool down ride home.

746 calories burned for the workout! Not bad at all. When we finished Cindy & Renee invited me to do a tempo run Sunday morning. I wasn't sure I wanted to do that. I never run 2 days in a row & wasn't sure how my legs would feel. Cindy & her husband came over for dinner Saturday night & I decided to go ahead with it. I could make it as easy or hard as I wanted.

6:00 am came bright & early. We went to Renee's house to do the run. She doesn't live far from us & it's a really pretty area with a few little "hills". It was nice to have different scenery. She has a running coach so we did her workout. I never do tempo runs. Mainly because I usually run by myself & I just run. This was fun because it was different. We started with a 5 min. walk followed by dynamic stretches, a 15 min. easy run, then more stretches & a walk & then we started speed work. 1 minute as fast as you can go followed by 30 secs. rest & we worked our way up to 4 minutes & then back down to 1 minute.

It was also fun for me to be running with other people. I was able to keep up with no problem & although my legs were a little tired, they felt good.

I did some stretching, yoga & foam rolling along with my 30 day challenge & I ended up with 1532 calories for the holiday weekend. I'd like to win a prize but if I don't it's ok. The Holiday Challenge was a great motivator!

Dean walks several times a week when he gets home from work. My legs were tired & tight so I went with him yesterday. I thought it would be a good way to loosen them up a little.

We did a 5K.

The 30 Day Challenge has a lot of squats & they've made me sore. I wasn't sure how running would go today but I know I need to run on tired legs to get ready for the triathlon. Surprisingly, it wasn't awful.

It felt like I was working the soreness out & I felt good. I have an early meeting Thursday so I won't run again until Friday. I think my legs will be thankful for the rest. Although, there are plenty of squats that will happen those 2 days.

If anyone wants to join the 30 Day Challenge, let me know. I know we're 8 days in but it's not hard to catch up or just start where we are.

Toodles!

More Colorado

I haven't been with it at all this week. Like at all. The pictures from the good camera are still on the good camera. This is all iPhone but the scenery is so pretty it doesn't matter.

We drove to Rocky Mountain National Forest. It was about 2 hours from Winter Park. The scenery was amazing!!

 Lots of weird poses because it's sort of hard to take pictures on the side of a mountain.

This was the "meadow" the volunteer Forest People told us about. Apparently, there were some moose roaming around. 

We were very excited when we saw this thing. All the girls were hollering to stop the car because there was a moose.

The guys set us straight. This isn't a moose, it's an elk. They had velvet antlers like deer do.

We drove all the way up through the mountains. The weather got bad.

Cindy, Kitzia & I in front of tons of ice. The temperature dropped 30 degrees as we drove. At one point it was 37 degrees. IN JUNE! I was amazed by this. At one point we got out of the car to take pictures & it was snowing. IN JUNE!!

Apparently, the whole Continental Divide is a big deal. They tried to explain it all to me but geography bores me.

We drove home through Estes Park & the Peak to Peak Highway. Really pretty!

A baby moose on the way home. There was a group of a mama & several babies on the side of the road. It was like they posed for the camera. Later we found out that moose are not at all spooked or afraid of people & they will charge you. Especially if you have a dog with you. Good to know AFTER you get too close to a moose. Not that that was the scariest part of our trip. It wasn't even close. More on that later.

Happy 4th!!

Toodles!