Before the sickness hit...

HT Training group at Washington Community Center

(I am the dork that did not take off her goggles)

Finally. I get to tell you a little bit more about my St. George weekend in January. I will stick to the high-/lowlights.

First time driving from Flagstaff, AZ to St. George, UT. Definitely not as bad as I thought it would be. 5 hours. I can handle 5 hours. Especially when I don't have kids to entertain in the back seat. The route is very scenic and I get excited that I get to live in this beautiful part of the country.

But, as usual, a long drive the afternoon before a race messes up my nutrition. I tried to be careful with snacks but I don't think I drank enough. I got into town around 5 pm and went to packet pick-up. Considering that it was a running race and not a triathlon, I ran into quite a few friends and enjoyed catching up with them. That's what races are (almost) all about.

Skipping dinner was probably a mistake but

a) I just was not hungry because all I had done since lunch was sit in the car and eat (healthy) snacks

b) We had a swim workout with Coach Heath at 7 pm. I am not a fan of swimming with a full belly.

Swimming with so many friends was great. We had about 6 people of all levels in our (25 yard) lane, so it was a party with more than a few traffic jams. I am not a fan of parties in my swim lane ... unless I have a race the next morning. I was really enjoying the craziness for about 50 yards until Coach M informed us that we are now going to swim a timed mile. Oh, and I was going to lead the lane. Gulp! So much for a nice, fun swim! I quickly turned the pleasure of leading our troop over to Devan Tandy because there is not much that I hate more than swimming a straight mile. Talk about being bored out of my mind! I also happen to be the worst lap counter ever. Long story short: I was not feeling it. We ended the workout with a super fun relay which was just what I had hoped for.

Of course by the time we got back to our condo, I was starving! But by now it was about 9 pm and really too late to have a decent dinner. Not sure what I ate but it was apparently not the right thing. As I said before, I was also starting to not feel so well and cough a lot.

The highlight of the trip: staying in a condo with Jen, Anne, and Missy! I was really ready to hag out with some of my girlfriends! (I also really enjoyed getting to know Steve, Tony, and Robert but ... you know ... they're guys.) Jen, Anne, and I shared a king-size bed and definitely stayed up past our bedtime. But if I had to choose between a PR and great girl-talk, I would choose the girls any day.

That is how Day 1 went. Now, excuse me. I need to go on a date with my husband. I will tell you about The Aftermath in the next post. And let you know who was right about the bike ride.

Comments

I am so lucky

I feel the need to write. My thoughts are all jumbled. Can I make sense of them on paper? Writin g gives me perspective and makes it easier to let go. Last weekend I was very frustrated, mad, self-centered, unhappy , wallowing in self-pity. This weekend I was more balanced, a little more patient, trying to be less selfish, happy . How did it happen? I have had to deal with myself for almost 30 years now and, luckily, have figured out a few things on the way. Like how to feel at peace with myself , my family , my life . It shouldn't be complicated to be happy in my circumstances. I realize that. But sometimes it still is. Sometimes being a mom and wife doesn't come easy to me. Sometimes I think everyone would be better off if I wasn't a mom and wife. Sometimes I wish it was easier to just take off and do nothing but swimbikeruneatsleep for a week or two. It's not helping that my German teammates are doing just that. Right now. On a beautiful island. In the warm...

Feat of Fortitude - Half Triathlon

The alarm went off way too soon on Sunday morning. 4 am? Really? Well, it was time to move my butt out of bed for Feat of Fortitude Part II: the Mountain Man Half Triathlon . Why did I choose to run a Half Marathon one day and do a Half Triathlon the next? Because the prize for the fastest combined time of these events was free entries to both events next year! Considering our financial situation, I had to give it a shot. I knew I was not going to have enough time on race morning but I just could not handle the thought of waking up at 3:30 am. And I paid for it. I forgot to tape a couple of GUs onto my bike. Lesson #1 : No matter how early the race starts, I need to be there at least 2 hours early . Most people don't need that much time but I do. I always have. I like to get a good spot, set everything up perfectly, take my bike for a little spin (when allowed), run, stretch, chat, etc. Those might be my favorite 2 hours of race day! The swim was great! I was loving it...

NO Race Report: IRONMAN LAKE TAHOE 2014

This is how gorgeous it COULD have been... I wake up at 3:30 and I smell smoke . Inside the house through closed windows. CRAP! No need to even take a peek through the blinds. I knew there was a good chance this would happen after seeing the smoke roll back in the night before but I was hoping for the best... only to wake up to the worst. Thursday , when we rolled into town, the air was terrible. Like the-minute-I-got-out-of-my-car-I-got-a-headache terrible. But there was hope because, hey, winds change and firefighters are hard at work and there were more than two days left before the race! This is what Thursday evening looked like down by the lake: I didn't do much that night. Just a a very easy little jog along the beach to shake out the legs after a day of driving. And super short swim because I couldn't wait any longer to swim in that beautiful lake !!! But then, of course, I got wimpy again...

Sarah Borst Jarvis

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