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!

And, the Answer Is...

The Ann Taylor grey cardigan! Here's how last week's outfit stacked up, price wise:

Ann Taylor grey cardigan - $4.95
Green silk blouse (don't know the designer) - $15.00 (K&G)
Merona grey trousers - $20.00 (Target)
Ann Klein grey flats - $19.99 (K&G)
Green & blue silk scarf - approximately $8.00 (Paris, near Notre Dame; bought 3 for 15 euro!)

The outfit total is: $67.94

More to come. I have pictures and tales to post from the death defying Memphis in May Triathlon this past Sunday.

Thrifty Thursday!

Can you guess which (one) item was scored at a thrift store?



Ok, I acknowledge that this is not the best photo representation of my outfit...so, here are the pieces:

Ann Taylor grey cardigan
Green silk blouse (don't know the designer)
Merona grey trousers
Ann Klein grey flats
Green & blue silk scarf

Given that the Memphis in May triathlon is this weekend (I'll be participating in the Olympic Triathlon Sunday), I may be on a slight hiatus. In other news, some whackadoo is predicting the rapture will occur Saturday. My reaction to all of this? Meh. If the whackadoo is correct, the silver lining is, I'll be with friends and no triathlon on Sunday. :-) No, seriously, I *am* excited about the tri...just getting the pre-race jitters. I've never done an olympic tri before. Eecckkk!

If I don't see you again, I hope your end of days are mucho bueno.

Tiger Lane Crit

Tonight, I attended the last of the Tiger Lane Crit series. The races were arranged/sponsored by a local team, Red Ant Racing.

This was my first attempt at capturing the cat 1's & 2's. I thought about saying it was really an artistic picture of the Liberty Bowl - but I can't lie to you. :-) I actually do like the picture - the lone little girl over there looks so small against the massive liberty bowl. She also looks very comfortable & content watching the race all by herself.



At the front of the pack is the "trek guy" from Covington. The last race, he blew everyone away. As he passed the crowd, all alone, he started celebrating. My reaction was, "what's his deal?" There was no other rider in sight. One of my friends responded, "he just won the 1's & 2's." He'd almost lapped everyone! That kid is bad to the bone, but he didn't blow anyone away this time...probably because he was pulling them along the whole time. That can wear anyone out, even that guy.



Here are the two guys that broke away and pretty much stayed away from the pack towards the end of the ride. I don't know which one won the race, but they were so far ahead. Can you see the main group behind them??



All the guys that raced last night were supa' fast! Funny thing, someone asked me if I rode last night, and I said, "in the race?" They said, "yes," with all seriousness. There's no way I could even keep up with the cat 5's (slowest category of the super fast) for 30 minutes - maybe 30 seconds, if I'm really lucky. It was a huge compliment, though, to even think that I was nearly fast enough to race a crit!

Nessie?

Has the Loch Ness Monster found its way to Memphis for the Historical Flood Extravaganza? Can you see 'her?'



This picture was captured during one of the Peddler group cycling rides. It was actually last week. The river is much higher now. Oy vey.

Can't Help But Smile

I swear, I'm not the tragic single who talks incessantly about her cat, shows strangers the "cutest" pictures and videos (of said cat), but I really can't help myself this time. Recently, I walked into my spare room to find this sight. Most of the time, Brady's a huge pain, but how can you not like this face?



This is Brady Cat in her "spin chair." She loves for someone to spin the chair while she's in it...I'm not making this up. It's the funniest thing.

Then, during a lunch time walk, I saw this:



How wonderfully girly!

Old News

A few weeks ago, some friends and I participated in the Tour de Cure. We rode 62 miles to benefit the American Diabetes Association.

Here we are before the ride, bright eyed and bushy tailed. I wish you could see our team shirts that we decorated. They were a riot. Of course, we shed them before the ride:



Just a side note, the river is higher than that, now!

And, I was "tricked" into riding with the super fast, leaders. When I realized who I was riding with, it was "sink or swim," so I thought, well, let's see how long I can hang on. It was about 14 miles. I slowed down, significantly, the rest of the ride. I took a picture of my avg. pace at the first SAG stop. I've never had that high an average & probably won't again for a very long time!

The Sunshine Makes Me Happy

Even though, the Mississippi & Wolf Rivers are O.O.C. (out of control) at the moment, I can't help but smile on days like today. It's not too hot, not too cold and the sun is beaming down. Oooo, and, it's the weekend!

The "Thrifty Thursday" item from the last post is...the red sweater with purple trim!

Here's how the under $100.00 outfit broke-down, cost wise:

Merona dress: $15.00 (bought it on sale)
Leather equestian style black boots: $60.00 - got them from Paris; can't remember the store :-(
Red Ann Taylor sweater: $4.98
Red Merona belt: $12.00

Outfit total: $91.98

Thrifty Thursday

Can you guess which item is a thrift store find? Only one today...I'll give you a hint: it's not the umbrella or cloth grocery bag.