Lumpy

That is how I'm feeling today. I'm fighting a sore throat/cold thing that my officemate's daughter keeps bringing into the office (irritating!!!) and I'm fighting my internal dilemma, you know...the usual what's "right and responsible" vs "what I want."

I just got back from a 30 min sucky bike ride. I haven't been on my bike in almost a month. How those muscles do forget....yeah, it sucks. I'm feeling super flabby, not helped by the illin' feelin'. I'm out of the boot, however this week I'm still not supposed to do much. I swam once, then was sick so decided it best not to push it, and then today I rode. I'm balancing on that edge of falling out of shape. I hate this place. I start craving crappy food and I start overeating. Luckily I've caught myself within days of the pattern developing. Eating because I'm bored and can't exercise...how stupid is that? But I know it's common (doesn't excuse it) and at least I am stopping the madness today.

So, besides feeling crappy I have this dilemma that I mentioned. I know the right answer, I know what I should do and then I should just STOP and relax as the real decision has already been made. My T3 (triathlon group) Coach and I sat down on Monday after practice and discussed my triathlon goals for the next season. I'm going to start the whole program in January (right now I'm just participating in the coached swim session.) That means that 6-7 days a week I will be in coached training session trying to improve my performance in the sport of triathlon. My idea was to do the Texas Tri-Series which is a 5 race series that starts in May (I think) and ends with a 70.3 (Half Ironman) in October. Here were his suggestions:

1. The Champions race in March (Olympic distance)
2. Either the Lonestar (Oly) or Cap Tex Tri (also Oly)
3. Do a half marathon after that
4. THEN do the Vineman 70.3 in July

I was super excited and nervous of course because I'm basically starting from scratch again (with the exception of swimming.) Well, the Vineman 70.3 is in Sonoma County, CA, it goes around four vineyards and is supposed to be an awesome event. Everyone that I mentioned it to said, "Oh, you'll love that race! Such a great course and you'll have a good time." I was pretty pumped. Then I looked it up and the race entry is $$, which I knew b/c all the 1/2 ironmans are the same price. Then I looked up bike transport and it is $$. Then I looked up hotels and B&Bs in the area...yep...$$. Add in airfare for both Trainer and I (I would HAVE to have him there, no question) and food...well, we're looking at over a grand. We could have possibly made it into a vacation...where I raced and was tired and spent most of our money before we got to the vacation part. Trainer and I talked about it and he said, "If you want to do it, then do it." But, I got the vibe that he wasn't really for it (or against it), and not as pumped as I was. Of course he would be spectating and not racing and that does make a difference.

Then I started having anxiety ridden dreams about the race. (Bad sign when I haven't even signed up yet.) And I started thinking about what else we could do with that money....like getting me a new bike, or painting the house, or a new TV (ours is about done), or...or...or...and the list goes on. Could I really be that selfish and do this race and spend that much money knowing that we have all these other things on the 'list'? Could I put myself above all of that??? The answer, as we all know (well, if you know me), is no. So, I'm going back to Coach and telling him that I'll have to stay in-state this year and maybe next year I can do something out of state. We can save up for it, plan for it. You know, I really hate being responsible and not having unlimited resources.

I always wanted to race out of state, both of us. Maybe this next year we can have Trainer do an out of state 1/2 marathon and next year I can do an out of state triathlon. Maybe...we'll see. Well, time to shower up and get ready for my massage. Then off to take YZB out for her b-day lunch/shopping trip/beer. :) That'll make me feel skinny...really...it will.

Rewind.....Vacation

I was going to do a day by day recap, but that would have made this post like three pages long and I'm sure your coffee breaks aren't that long. (Or my stories that interesting!) SO, I'm going to try my hand at picture blogging. Let's see if I can make this work.
The pups were very sad before we left. In fact Fido (not pictured) spent the night with his paw on our suitcase.Our flight was a little delayed getting in, but nothing too severe, everyone arrived eventually and by 7 we were eating dinner at the resort.
The next day we went into town, which has changed SO much in the 10 years since we've been gone. They have a Costco, a Home Depot...and yes people...a WalMart. We ate lunch in town and had those fabulous fish and shrimp tacos that I had been craving and yes Corona must be consumed while eating these tacos:
Tuesday night we had a nice dinner at the resort, celebrating MIL's husband's birthday, and then we went to sleep as we were exhausted. Wednesday we just hung out at the resort pool, had some lunch and beers.

Then that night we had dinner on-site, nothing spectacular. Thursday we spent another day by the pool (trying to get rid of my practice swimsuit lines) and then that night we went to dinner at the place where we were married 10 years prior. The restaurant had changed hands and was very different, but the view was just as beautiful. Two pics, the first a full look at the sexy sunset colored dress that YZB helped me pick out and the second of the view:

That was our "date night" since we were literally surrounded by parents. And I'm not kidding...my parents and grandma stayed right.next.door. Yeah. Nice. So Friday was the ceremony and it was also the day that we learned that a hurricane was headed our way and was supposed to be there by Monday. Trainer's mom and her husband didn't want to get stuck there so they were frantically trying to get a hold of the airline and get the heck out of there early. My parents were like "eh, let's see what happens" and we were just like, "seriously??" so this is what we did:

Until it was time to do this:

And then this:


And then we went to the restaurant and had dinner and cake:

Rockin cake!

And then Saturday through Monday we chilled at the resort. We had a great time, not really relaxing. In fact as we were waiting for the shuttle in Austin, the one that takes you to your car, we both sighed at the same time, hugged and then said, "I think this is the most relaxed I've been this entire trip!" Trainer agreed. We got home to new tile and a bit of a mess from the tile. So we spent two hours cleaning house when we got home. The tile does look good though. And the next morning I got to pick up these furry babies (can you see the smiles?):

To celebrate 10 years was awesome. I would climb every hill over again (well almost every hill) if I knew that I would end up here in this place, happy with my husband, life and most important...happy with myself.

I'm a slacker...I know, I know

However my vacation post will have to wait one more day. Let's just say that vacationing with your parents should be followed by a another vacation. :) Here are some highlights since we've been back:

-Work is annoyingly busy.

-Fifi the pup lost 7 pounds and needs to lose another 7 in the next month before surgery.

-I'm down to 155lbs, no idea how this happened, but I'll take it!

-I've been paranoid for no reason these past two weeks...ask Trainer, he's so not loving it.

-I swam for the first time in three weeks yesterday, I suck again (okay, not really, but I'm back to being slow!)

-I have one more week in the boot and then I start PT! Very exciting news.

-Did I mention that work is annoying?

That's it for now kids. I'll give a blow by blow, or at least the highlights of vacation soon. Here's a pic for y'all:

Almost....on vacation

I hate packing...LOVE vacation, but hate the stress that precedes the trip. Making all the arrangements for the pups, making sure everything at work is going to be okay, Dr's appts, waxing appts (VERY important), trying to get a workout or two in (yes, even when ill) and finally packing. I try to make lists, but then they are put to the wayside and I always end up forgetting something. Also, I take a crap load of clothes and usually end up in bathing suits for 90% of the trip. Oh well...

I'm thinking I need to go to Borders to get more books. I have two right now, although I do have a closet full of unread books upstairs that I should go through. We're trying not to spend money. Which means that I'll be giving myself a pedicure before the trip. $35 dollar savings. We are eating at home this weekend, spent $50 at the store for food plus airline food (Lara bars and such), but I figure it saved us at least $70 in lunch plus dinner expense.

While we're gone we are having our bathrooms re-tiled as well as the kitchen back splash. When I was cleaning on my "rest day" before the race I decided to do the bathrooms and ended up pushing in three or four of the tiles in the shower...I mean, we wanted to get it re-tiled eventually, just not at the same time as our Fifi's surgery. What else...oh yes, I had to spend over $300 on a new battery for the truck as it died on me at my Dr's office last week. I had let my AAA lapse and then of course I needed a tow. Cha-ching! So a one hundred dollar battery turned into a three hundred dollar battery. And then of course the expense of the renewal ceremony. Which if we knew that no one was going to be able to come (except for our parents) we wouldn't have spent so much money. BUT, it will be a nice deal and we'll have great pictures...right....really, it's going to be beautiful.

Bottom line - we are broke. Happy, but broke. Sad that all of my savings are gone and that I have to start re-building my emergency fund. Happy that we'll have newer looking bathrooms and a puppy that can stand on both of her back legs again and isn't in constant pain. That just means (for those that live here) that I'm not turning you down for HH or dinner because we're boring (although we can be) it's just that we really have no extra money. We will gladly entertain at our house and community dinners and drinks at a house always work. Don't worry Big Country (you know who you are) we are saving some for your b-day celebration.

Wow, sorry...when I started writing today I thought it would be all light and fluffy and funny. Ha, not so much huh? Well, I'm sure that I will have some great stories (that are bound to be funny) when I return from our vacation with Trainer, his mom and her husband, and my parents and grandma. Yeah, it has to be funny...or I'll be posting from a jail cell in Cabo San Lucas. Peace to y'all!

Of course this would happen!

Just four days away from my getting on a plane, with a walking cast/boot on, but still...on a plane to Mexico with my husband. Four days away from sitting by the pool, sunning, reading and listening to the rolling waves of the ocean. Four days away from standing in line for Sammy Hagar tickets at Cabo Wabo. Four days from eating shrimp tacos from a street vendor and shopping for trinkets to decorate the house. Four days from drinking Corona with lime on our balcony that overlooks the ocean and watching the sunset.

And what happens? I get sick. That's right. My throat is swollen, I have a headache and my back is starting to ache. I'm running a low grade fever, just 100.1 right now, but I usually run at 97.2. Yesterday I tried to convince myself that it was just allergies, that maybe I'd had a reaction to the squash that I ate Tuesday evening. When my appetite wasn't there (and it's never missing in action) and I didn't want coffee I knew. I knew that I was getting sick. But I worked all day, made my chiro appointment and finished what I could.

I went home last night and drank a cup of Theraflu, crawled into bed at 6 and woke up at 8 not knowing where I was. I had drooled all over the pillow. I got up and made dinner, we had breakfast for dinner and Trainer kept telling me to go back to bed, but I felt bad that I didn't have dinner ready when he arrived home. He brought me some Emergen-C and I drank two of those, more water and then finally some Calm, which puts you out. Of course I was up through the night having to go to the bathroom and this morning I feel a little better, but still like I can't swallow anything more than liquids.

Right now I'm trying to work from home and take care of as much as I can from here. Drinking my coffee so I don't get the caffeine headache on top of everything else. I feel so guilty about being sick because I'll be out all next week and my office-mate already has to cover me for that period of time. But, then again, she was the one who got me sick. It actually started with her daughter, who probably got it from school. They were sick last week...I thought I had missed the bullet...nope. Not that lucky I suppose.

The other thing that sucks??? I can't work out, I mean...I was limited before, but now I can't even swim! One - I have no energy, Two - I don't think I could breathe, and Three - I don't want to get the other athletes sick since they're all training for the Longhorn 70.3 that is coming up on October 25th. I guess since I can't really eat I won't gain weight? Is that my trade off??

Alright, enough of my pity party...I should get back to bed and rest. Drink more Emergen-C and Theraflu. Sheesh...just my luck.

Kind of gross...

My mother would be appalled...the things that I have learned. If you're a regular reader you might be thinking, 'Dear Lord, what is she going to talk about NOW?' It's nothing like what you might be thinking. The gross things that I am talking about have to do with everything that our mom's taught us NOT to do as little girls. All of those 'rules' kind of went out the window as soon as I started doing endurance events.

My running partners and I talk about our bowel movements, you kind of have to when your stomach starts cramping in the middle of a 10 mile run and you have to make a pit stop at the nearest convenience store, or coffee shop where you almost back up the toilet. (That was embarrassing!)

When I run sometimes I'm gassy and I just let 'em go, now I really only do this when I'm running on my own...I wouldn't subject my running partners to that.

I spit, big hocking lugies (is that even a word??) to the side of the road. AND now I've learned this new trick....how to blow out your nose while riding the bike. Yep, gross, gross, gross...and I'm so proud of myself. I used to chastise Trainer for these things...especially the last one. However as I found myself out on a 30 mile ride with no tissues and a constant running nose, I finally tried his little trick and there was relief!

It really is gross though. There's no going back now though. I'm stuck being a gross girl.

Today I went on a 25 mile bike ride, in the morning, before it got really humid and the rain started. It was wonderful. I hit this turning point, not sure when, but 20 miles is now my short ride. Probably really bad for my foot, but good for my psyche. It's throbbing in my boot, but I'm still smiling.

Can you believe that next week I'll finally be on vacation, to Mexico...to renew my vows with Trainer? I've been talking about this for almost a year. I tried on my dress this morning, it looks really pretty I think. I'll need Yoga Zen Babe to come over and take another look just to make sure. I'll definitely need to sun bathe to get rid of my suit lines from swim practice. I know, I know...I'll wear sunscreen...the last thing I want is to burn!

Anyway, random babbling...must mean it's time to go watch the ASU Devils hopefully beat up the OSU Beavers. Our Alma Maters. Go Devils!

Sidelined

Well...I jinxed myself. My foot issue turned out to be a little more serious than I thought. I partially tore and strained my peroneal tendons in my right foot. No running, no swimming unless I use a buoy and no cycling. I'm in a flippin boot for a minimum of 8 weeks, which means that I'll be bringing this sexy thing to Mexico with me. Isn't that grand? As if wearing old lady compression stockings on the plane wasn't enough. Fuh.

I had a really nice chat with my Hoe tonight. She's so funny...very talented, goofy, smart, sexy and sassy all rolled up in one beautiful person. I think she's feeling guilty because she's not going to the ceremony, although she didn't say that, but that was what she was trying to say. I can see through her like a Spring cleaned window. She truly is my sister. The past couple of days she's been thinking about me and getting all emotional (she's a Cancer, water, she can't help it) and I tell her that she's being silly. She finally read my blog and saw all of the things that I've been doing and going through, and was upset that she wasn't there for me.

But what she should know by now is that she's always there for me, she's in my head and in my heart. And I know that it's the same for her. Sadly for her she hears every sceptical word I might say before she makes a purchase and my tsk, tsking when she's being mean. She imagines my eye roll when someone makes a stupid comment and hears me snicker when she sees a goofy outfit. People tell her that she can't call me her best friend because we don't talk every day...I say eff those people, she can call me what ever she wants. I'm sad that she won't be with me for the ceremony, but I won't make her feel bad about it. (And believe me I could, I can guilt that girl like no other!)

The ceremony has turned out to be a small affair with my parents, my grandma, his mom and her husband (who has always been a mentor to Trainer.) I'm still excited and it will be nice to relax for 8 days. And no...I won't be wearing this effing boot to the pool or at the ceremony...can you imagine?

Oh, and I'm going to keep cycling. Two or more additional weeks of therapy is a fair trade for my sanity.