I Get Paid to Wear This Hat

I've watched this about 1,000 times. It's so hysterical, I just can't get enough. Beware, I'm going to be sooo annoying this year, repeating ALL of these quotes. "They have the best espresso here."




This one about triathletes is pretty funny, too. "You can read all about it on my blog...this? Or this?"




And...the one about runners:




I'll leave you with this...I get paid to wear this hat:



...and that's what happens when you have enough wine on a weekday!

Triathlons and Training Rides, Oh My!

This weekend, I raced the Mighty Mite Triathlon with, Cat, a friend of mine. Here we are, before the race, showing our most intimidating, game face. Incidentally, my "game face" very much resembles "straining to poop and scratching myself." What? Isn't that everyone's "game face?"



I wasn't too keen on a point to point triathlon (there were multiple transition areas; you raced from one point, to the next, etc.), nor was I too keen on driving an hour for such a short race. However, I'd heard that the race was a lot of fun, so I thought, why not give it a go. If it's not my cup of tea, I don't have to do it again.

We arrived at the triathlon with plenty of time to spare; set up the second transition area, then went to set up the first transition area. We were told to park our cars in the grass at the bottom of a hill. Me, being the super smart girl I am, decided to leave my flip flops in my car, so I wouldn't have to go back to the transition area at all, after the race ended. As we were following people to the transition area, I asked, "does anyone know where the transition area is?" To which, a girl replied, "it's about a mile away." A mile away? What. The. Crap? Soooo...we walked a mile, uphill, barefoot. Well, at least we had an adequate warm up.

The race was short and sweet. They even had shuttles, near the finish line, to take racers back to the transition areas so that they could gather their belongings. Great, right? Well, in theory. It's not so great when your shuttle driver gets lost. Needless to say, the triathlon took entirely too much of my day to be such a short race. I can't wait to do it again next year. I kid, of course.

Sunday, I had a training ride for the Bluff City Blues Century ride this fall. My plan was to take it easy, since I had a triathlon the day before. There was one major problem with this plan:

1) When it comes to things that I really, really enjoy (cycling), taking it easy does not compute.

Anyway, the "plan" didn't go so well. I decided to grit my teeth and ride with the faster group. They were really nice to let me draft behind them, without sharing much of the workload. It was the fastest 61.5 miles I've ever ridden. Afterward, though, my legs were really mad at me.

Here's our voluntary "ride guide" and a couple of others at the second SAG (service and gear) stop.



Our bikes were magic. They took us back in time. Do you recognize this relic? No? Don't worry, I'll tell you. It's a pay phone. There was a time, before the age of cell (mobile) phones, when people used to use these.

Memphis In May Olympic Triathlon and More Fun Stuff

This year, I participated in the Memphis in May Triathlon - the Olympic distance. It was my second triathlon and the longest distance I've raced, thus far. Since, I hadn't been swimming or running as much as I should have, I was a bit nervous. My goal was to finish in 3:30 (that's an ok finish, but the fast people finish in under 3 hours). One of my best friends from college, Leslie, raced with me. Well, she finished almost 30 minutes before me...anyway, our race numbers were one off. We tried to capture a picture showing off our race numbers, but it didn't work.

This was about 5am, the day of the race. We're sleepy - eyed and bushy tailed! You can't really make out our numbers written on our legs & arms, but, oh well. Incidentally, Leslie cracked me up when she asked me if I'd gotten taller since college. Haha, I wish!




The race conditions were awful. It rained some during the night, then started sprinkling as we waited to start. Someone saw a bolt of lightening and I told myself that the race administrators wouldn't let us race in dangerous conditions. Well, when I saw a bolt of lightning strike on the other side of the hotel, DURING MY SWIM, I just knew that I would die that day. In the water. By electrocution.

I survived the swim during the lightning storm and started the bike portion in a complete downpour. The streets were slick and it was hard to see, but I made it through. I might have gotten lost, but it was no biggie. Then I headed out for the run. I'm super slow. A newly made friend passed me around mile 5 and, with concern on her face, asked if I was ok. I responded, "yeah, I'm fine. This is how I run...this is my pace; I'm just slow." My degree of slowness, coupled with her thinking that there MUST be something wrong, kinda made giggle inside. It was nice of her to be concerned, though.

When I saw mile 6, I started sprinting the last 0.2 miles to the finish. After a couple of minutes, I was STILL running. My legs began to feel like lead. I asked a spectator where the finish was. They responded, "around the corner." Well, it was more like around a couple of corners. When I saw the finish, I willed my legs to keep going just a little while more. I met my goal with a finishing time of 3:22! Woot Woot! Afterward, I told Leslie that it was the longest 0.2 miles I ever sprinted. She said that the run was actually 6.78miles (it was supposed to be 6.2!)! No wonder I my legs felt like dead weight!

My friend Cat, and I stayed in Tunica after the race. We ate dinner at the casinos and gambled a little. Seriously, we only wasted about $10.00 on the slots. I hate losing money. Then we watched a cheesy band play covers for a bit.



Earlier this week, my friend at Keeping Up With the Jones' gave me the "head's up" about the Ornamental Metal Museum in Court Square. They were helping people make jewelry...FREE!



Turned out that they were making bottle cap jewelry/crafts. It was more for kids, but looked like fun, anyway. I love the Downtown Alive stuff!

Well, Hello!

It seems I've been on a hiatus. Ok, I cancelled my home internet connection. I'm at "Charbucks" as we speak. All hail for free internet!! Now, if I could just stop with renting so many "on demand" movies (not the free variety, of course), maybe, just maybe, my cable bill won't be so scary.

For ages now, I've been wanting to really challenge myself, physically. Working out is a HUGE bore. Running is torture, but I do it because I love to eat. Anyway, after wondering if I could do it...and convincing myself I couldn't, I decided to prove myself wrong and participate in a triathlon! Trying to finish a 1/2 mile swim without drowning was my biggest fear. Shockingly, though, my body adjusted easiest to the swim training. Ok, so, I'm not a fast swimmer, but each day, the distance and time was easier than the last!

August 1st, I completed my challenge. It. Was. Awesome. I've definitely have the "bug" now! I think I, literally, swallowed it along the course. Oh, and on the run, it swarmed around my head for a good quarter of a mile.



It was a "dock" start. We all went into the water in 3 second intervals! No mad dash into the water.




Finishing the very hilly 23 mile bike part of the course.




Almost there...I can smell the bbq!

Overall, I was super slow, but steady. There were about 175 participants and the volunteers were wonderful. It was such a perfect introduction to triathlon racing. I'm looking very forward to next year's season. Watch. Out.