I guess its time

So, Saturday, May 9th, was my triathlon. It's been just over 1 week since I became a triathlete. Let's see if I can recap the race and perhaps this week as the week has been very busy and exciting as well.

So, the morning of the race was mostly uneventful - in the car there I should say. I was nervous but not too nervous, and I wasn't really saying much either. As soon as I stepped out of the car at the race site, I got super nervous. I tried to mask it by wearing jeans and a tank top - meanwhile everyone else was out and about in the triathlon outfits and such. The bikes were crazy, their bags for the race were unlike mine. They were small! I brought a huge duffel type bag and most others had nothing larger than a backpack.

I go into the transition area to find where I rack my bike and set out my gear - looking around at others there helped me decide the best way to lay out everything that I would need. Once setting everything out, I left to go get numbered and get my timing chip. I had my race number written on both arms and my age on my right calf. I took a walk out to the lakeside to go see exactly how far the swim was going to be. Shortly after, it was race time.

After the national anthem was sung, the professionals got into the water. As soon as they were down the stairs, my group was in the water too. We had to tread water over by the green starting buoys for 5 minutes. Because the water was nearly 78 degrees, many people did not wear a wetsuit. I spent too much money on mine not to wear one, so I kept mine on. That helped me to not have to tread water constantly and get tired. I really didn't have to work so I still had energy once it was time to start the race. I went out at a nice relaxed pace in the water as I didn't want to get all tired on the swim and have to do lots of backstroke. My plan worked as I pretty much could do freestyle the whole time. Many times I passed people in the water, in fact, out of 58 in my age group, I was 20th coming out of the water. I knew the swim would be my strong suit and I didn't really practice it that much.

It took me about 5 minutes to go from the swim to the bike as I had to take off the wetsuit and put on my bike shorts and tank top for the race. The bike wasn't that bad, but yet I also didn't feel like I was ever pushing myself that hard - unless it was going up a hill to go over the freeway.  I kept changing gears and everything and I just couldn't make it harder to make me really work to then go faster - so needless to say I was getting passed on the bike. But, my goal for the bike portion was to do all 13.5 miles in under 1 hour and I came in at 59 minutes.

When I came in from the bike I just put the bike back on the rack, took of the helmet and put on a hat and off I went. By this time it was about 9:30 and it was hot. Like low 90s hot. I had already been doing this race for an hour and a half and the run was my least favorite, the part that I was not looking forward to doing. For the first 1.5 miles, I walked nearly all of it. Just before mile marker 2 I started to feel sick. Thankfully at mile 2 there was a water and gatorade stand. I drank all of my gatorade and half of the water. I poured the rest of the water on me to help cool me off. It was almost instant. I felt sooo much better. I couldn't run as much as I wanted to, but I did more than the first half of the race. I came across the Mill Ave bridge and saw Jason and my family at the finish line cheering me on and waiting for me. That gave me the energy to make sure that I finished out the race in a jogging/running pace. 

Crossing the finish line was great. To actually accomplish this when I believe many thought that I couldn't or that I wouldn't and that I would quit part way through because it would be too hard. It was quite the opposite as it makes me want to do another race. Perhaps not right away, but I can do this distance again. I have things that I would like to change or work on. I came in at 2 hours and 13 minutes. I really would like to get it under 2 hours which from looking at other racers times seems to be something realistic that I could achieve. My sister got all excited about the race too and started looking at races that she can sign up for. I may look at signing up for a race with her so we can do it together.

Here are some pictures from the race:

Race recap coming soon

I know I have to put up my thoughts on the race from this weekend, I'm just not feeling it at the current moment.

Ahhhh!!!

The race is Saturday! As in the day after tomorrow! Where did the time go? What happened to December and January? Oh my goodness!

As of last count, there are 515 women registered for the race. I start at 8:05am, the first group after the professionals and about 30 minutes before the last group of people starts. So, the good news is that I will be done before all the really high temps set in. That also means that in theory, I should not be the last one to cross the finish line. Bad news, the swim will be very interesting as groups start every 5 minutes. I can see everyone just climbing on top of everyone to get space in the water! Oh my goodness, this will be very interesting. I'll try to report sometime after the race on how everything went though I'm sure I'll be sleeping first when I get home!

Here I go!

Deer in the headlights

That’s how I felt on Friday, like a deer in the headlights. I participated in a small race called Splash and Dash Friday evening after work in Tempe. It consisted of 750 meter swim (almost half mile) and a 2.4 mile run. I wanted to gain experience with the whole process, the transition from one event to the next, the adrenaline rush of being in a race, and most importantly, swimming in the lake with all those people. The rush and the excitement combined with my nerves had me going out wayyy to fast to start the swim. I passed quite a few people in the water. I about died by the time I got to the first marker. In fact, I had to do quite a bit of backstroke to stay moving but to be able to catch my breath. But, I did get out of the water before quite a few people. Instead of running the run though, I jog. I job normally, I just don’t seem to go very fast in the run, I get tired so quickly. I made it out of the water about the 20 minute mark. I was hoping for 15. After the transition to get to the run, I was at about 23 minutes in. That meant 3 minutes to take off the wetsuit, put the shorts on with the shirt and then the shoes and socks. I jogged the run and only walked the water station areas to drink. I couldn’t just throw the water down or pour it on my head or something. I actually wanted to be able to take the water in and drink it. My goal was to do the run at a 15 min/mile pace. I finished the race at 6:53 - 30 minutes after starting my run. I ran 2.4 miles in 30 minutes - at least I beat one goal! I come into the finish line (not last I might add) and the MC for the race says on the mic (since I was the only one finishing at that time) “Well, who do we have here, it’s number 51, the one and only Katie competing in her first race!” and everyone standing around proceeded to cheer for me as I made my way across the finish. In fact, the lady that I checked in with who could tell right away that this was my first race because of my stunned/overwhelmed/intimidated look on my face was at the finish line when I crossed and she asked what I thought about it once it was over. My response was “I know I have some things to work on!” There was also this other guy, I believe his name was Dan, who heard that this was my first race when I checked in as he was writing the numbers on everyone’s arm as they checked in. He talked to me about it and helped calm me down in a way and thought it was great that I was doing this race before the actual triathlon 2 weeks from that date. He was also at the finish line (he raced in the event himself and of course had already finished) and gave me a high five. He then told me about the Gatorade waiting for me at a table, the raffle for prizes later on, and the bananas, cookies and mixed nuts waiting to help replenish the participants.

I am glad that I did this race and that more importantly I finished it. I saw today where there are over 400 women signed up for my triathlon in 12 days (yikes!) compared to this race that had about 150 in it. I hope to work on some things between now and then like not starting out so fast on the swimming (and to swim the entire distance nonstop!) and to get a checkup on my bike to make sure we’re all good come race day. I have my workouts between now and then pretty much mapped out. I wish it wasn’t too hot so I could continue to train outside on the pavement like the race instead of being tempted by the elliptical machine at the gym, but I’ll do what I have to do. I’ve invested too much money and time into this now to ruin it. 

I saw this quote on a triathlon forum today too that I really liked: The only person who tells you “you can’t” is you, and you don’t have to listen.

I’m not listening!

Saying goodbye

Last night was our last game as Suns season ticket holders. We have been ticket holders for the past 4 years. We have sat in section 215, row 5, seats 8 and 9 the entire time. 3 of the 4 years we were right behind this couple Harley and Molly. We love them. 3 of the 4 years we also sat next to this guy named Tracey. Tracey had 4 seats for his work. It was usually him and his wife and a coworker and his wife that would come, but occasionally there would be others. We had the opportunity to say bye to Tracey on Monday and another one last night.  There is Bob and his daughter, who in our first season had half season tickets in the seats taken over by Tracey as they moved to 2 rows behind us. There is Calvin and his family. He would either come with his wife or his daughter or his son, or perhaps his wife would come with the daughter or son. They were in seats behind us. And lastly there is Al and his son Reid. Reid in his 4 years of being a ticket holder did not miss a single game. Had we had 3 more home games this season, he would have made it to 200 games. Then there is Alan. He sold us our tickets and when we started our season, he was no longer in sales and became our account manager. There is Mick, who this year took over our account. He and his fiance just had a baby girl named Ava Rae in December. There is Danielle, who is the account manager of Al and Reid. 

I cried numerous times last night. Having to say goodbye to people. Most are able to come back next year. In fact, I think only Tracey is the only one not renewing this year besides us. He hopes to come back after a year off and move to the lower level. Jason and I of course are not renewing. He have a new budget that we are going on and once we refinance our mortgage we'll be fully on it. All the money we save which should be somewhere close to $500 a month will be put aside to help go to pay for childcare when Jason and I do have a kid. We want to be financially prepared as much as we can for it and that means cutting back on things and starting to put someone else first. It will be interesting to see as I have not lived with Jason and not had a season where we are going to basketball games all the time. But, I'm sure this will give us a chance to learn more about each other. In the mean time, it truly was sad to to say goodbye to our second family, our second home, for the past 4 years.

Time to move on to the next chapter.

New car!

We bought a new car yesterday. Yup -  We traded in my VW Beetle (a smoking deal too) and paid cash for the rest of the difference. So, I now have a 2009 Toyota Yaris. We decided to look at a different car for me because the Beetle as just not going to work with a kid. There was some electrical problems with it and it didn't always feel safe. Plus, the two doors made it a hassle as well.

So, I have the 5 door hatchback (I just can't do a sedan!) Yaris. The safety rating on it is great, it will actually lower my insurance. There's not a lot of bells and whistles on it but that's quite all right. When we do expand the family, we'll be ready.

On that note, we actually really want to now, but we are just puzzled as to how to afford day care! If you have any suggestions, please do share! We want to know how we'd pay for that before we start trying. I was actually really sad when we came to that realization.

Paris!

Oh boy! I got back from Paris on Sunday. What a trip. Here is a brief recap:

Monday: Arrived in Paris. Hotel was doing construction/remodel work on the bathrooms and wouldn't you know, we were in a room right next to one being remodeled. It was a joy trying to take a nap in that. Afterwards, we went out to explore and saw the Eiffel tower.

Tuesday: Don't wear green on St. Patrick's Day in Paris! We stuck out like a sore thumb! None of the Parisians were wearing green that day. Besides for that, we walked to the Notre Dame cathedral. Simply stunning. 

We then went to the Conciergie. This is where they used to hold people before being sent to the guillotine. Marie Antoinette was held here before she was sent to her death during the French Revolution. Following that, we went to see St. Chappell cathedral. If possible, that was more amazing than the Notre Dame!

That night, after a brief nap, we went to the top of the Arc de Triomphe. We managed to be there to see the twinkling lights show on the Eiffel tower. 

Wednesday: We slept in - and it was very nice. Then, we went to the Louvre. We did see the Mona Lisa and Venus di Milo. How could you not?

That was really all we did on Wednesday as we were so wiped from the day before!

Thursday: We hung out around the Champs Elysees and looked  at the shops. The avenue is like Paris' version of Rodeo Drive. Later we walked to go see the Statue of Liberty. We also wanted to go to the top floor of the Eiffel tower, but the top floor was closed until Saturday, so we did not do that this night. But, a stunning view of the tower at sunset never the less. 

Friday:  We woke up pretty early and took the train to see the Palace of Versailles. We did not actually go in, we decided to see the gardens instead. They are so big! However, we were probably 3 weeks too early as not everything was open and the leaves and flowers were just starting to get their buds. But, I can only imagine what they look like in full bloom.

We also went to the opera house that the stories of the phantom of the opera came from and the outside of the Moulin Rouge.

Saturday was shopping and the visit to the top of the tower.

And, sadly, Sunday we left!