Run my ass off...

.... no thanks. I'd prefer to run my  thighs off!  I'm okay with my booty. But, holy thunder thighs. My tree trunk-like legs have got to go. I'd been contemplating a new weight routine- but after seeing some recent spandex clad pics and well, seeing myself everyday- thighs it is! So bulky!

However, they now match my massive arms from this picture:

Yeah.. weren't expecting that were you? The beefyness that is Bri, post lake swim. Go ahead, click on it and see it big. I dare you. I'm like the Incredible Hulk busting out of my wetsuit.  (Thank God you can see from the other pics that this is really just bad angles and lighting.... seriously. It is) And what am I thinking in this pic? Oh, I'm thinkgin about the stairs just ahead of me that we had  to run up on the way to  Transistion. Two sets of them. Okay, only three to seven stairs each, but still! CLUMSY!

????

Is this going to be a theme? "Lisa is right"  Of course she is. She's one of my oldest friends, and she's an uber smart cookie- not to mention awesome mom of three of the cutest kids EVER. Moms are always right. 
Aww, I miss Lisa!  Oh, those nerdy days of junior and senior high..... don't tempt me to pull out old pics Lis!

So, I totally forgot to give my stats from the race the other day!
1/2 mile swim-- 18:09 -seriously?? wth? did i backstroke it?
T1-- 1:18
16 mile hilly bike: 50:22
T2-- 00:45   - yeah yeah!
5k-- 28:14 -booooo!
Total: 1:38:45


And now for some more pics! From Ironman  :)

Happy Happy Joy Joy. Wasn't at all nervous for Ironman 2.0

Matching shirts. The back has "Bri's Bunch" and a bunch of bananas!

Just past the finish line. Mmm, salty.

mmmm. Cake.

The family the day after!

yay! pics!

Okay, Lisa is right. I can't be upset with my 2nd place finish. It wasn't an easy course- and if I was in my old age group, I would have taken second there as well.  Plus, I haven't really done any real sprint training. In the last two months post-Ironman I think I've gone running all of a dozen times. Mostly through the woods. Oops.  (Still petrified of the upcoming Olympic race though)

Okay, so there was a driver arrested on the bike course the other day.  I'm cruising along at about 20mph and I hear squealing tires and a revving engine behind me. "Great, I think. An a-hole driver" The guy comes zipping by me so close that I nearly got knocked over by his wind. FREAKED ME OUT. And the he brakes, and starts swerving all over the road ahead. I see another athlete in at the top of the hill in front of me an think "crap, this guy is going to get hit!" as the hill turns sharp left.  The car dodges and weaves and appears to be intentionally getting in the way of the cyclist. Then he floors it through the intersection and I see the Sheriff's patrol up ahead spin around, wave his hands and start shouting. Now, I'm not sure how he got the guy to stop... but when I got up to the top of the hill he had the driver's door open and was reaching in and a stream of expletives coming from the car (cop or driver, not sure). I come to  find out later that the guy was arrested right there and hauled off to jail. He had intentionally been trying to run cyclists off the road! Seriously? Nothing better to do at 8am on a back road outside Kent/Covington? If he had hit anyone, you can almost guarantee it would have killed them.  Shivers!


Anyway, some pics from Sunday:

Chatting with some girls before the race

i LOOOVE deep water starts!

Coming out of the water.... ew.

Let's go Casper!

Finishing a hilly course

Up the hill and out on the run

Yay! Finish line..... so close!

AND DONE!

So.. as you can see by these pics, I'm FAR from being in shape for kicking some butt in an Olympic in um, three weeks. EEK!

No, YOU'RE the Biggest Loser!

I'm incredibly excited about how I did at yesterday's race- to say the least. I hadn't previewed the course and really didn't know what I was getting myself into. To say I was being cautious and conservative would be an understatement.

First of all- I got to meet Daris from The Biggest Loser on Saturday! Sweet! He's super sweet- and yes Kristi- just as good looking in person!

In short, I took 2nd in my age group (out of 9, lol) and then 8th woman overall (out of only like 72). Soooo, it's not like I went full superstar, but I'm proud of it.  I definitely have some good things to share- like the  guy who got arrested!!

post Ironman

I think I'm still dealing with some post-Ironman depression, or lack of motivation at least. That big race that I thought about day in and day out is over. And that sucks. Even though the day was great. Where was I supposed to go now? Take crucial time off for recovery and rest. It seemed to pointless, but I tried it. I did an easy relay with some friends the next weekend, but haven't done any other races or events since.  And it is showing in my running. And my swimming. And how badly my bike seat is hurting me again. (I think I need a new saddle- any thoughts?) It's also a lot of mental cobwebs though.  Last night my hammy was hurting during one of the worst five mile runs I've ever done. And I just kept thinking "why??"   It's not really the attitude I want to have when my first sprint this year is this weekend. YES! End of August and I'm finally getting off my booty and doing something. I don't see any top three AG finishes for this girl. Sigh. But it should be fun on a new course.

On a personal note. I had two very different phone conversations last night. One left me frustrated and exhausted.  I don't even want to get into it. The other, and I'm so glad it came second, put a smile on my face.  Until his phone died and that was it.  Truly a great conversation on a Thursday night.  I've noticed that in the last month or so, I've been using more minutes on my phone with people and less texting. Oh, slightly more personal contact is a good thing. Although, I love that my mom is now texting so I can just drop her a short note asking to send a recipe or telling here when I'm going to be taking over the spare room for the weekend. Lovely.

Anyway. I've been really happy lately.  I don't get to see M as much as I'd like and last night we realized it would be a full week between visits. To which he replied "This sucks. I kinda miss you!" Aww. He misses me! I blushed.

(BTW, saw something that said there are still a few general entry spots open for IM CDA 2011.... I'm afraid to go to the site to check with my credit card anywhere near me.....)

you want what??

It's pretty dead around the office this week. Five of the people I share this beige walled prison with are traveling- so that leaves two of us.  The other woman here and I have worked together for years so we have some pretty good laughs. This week, we've shut the main door and just buckled down. Done some ranting and raving, and spent a few minutes yesterday watching the Sarah Silverman video to Jimmy Kimmel on  youtube. Good stuff.

So, two days ago she tells me she got a totally weird message on her cell phone from someone looking to order some Australian lamb shanks. Ok, bizarre since it's a personal voicemail and the caller didn't notice that. But also because they want to order Australian lamb shanks.

Today she comes to me, and asks me to listen to a voicemail.  "Yes, uh, hi, I was, uh, calling to see about, uh ordering some  camel meat, uh..."  Wait, what? She asks me if I heard that right, so we play it again. Yes, the gentleman on the phone would like to order some camel meat.

Being the Googler that I am, I quickly typed in her phone number to learn that, yes, it is listed by a company as their fax on one site, mobile on another. What type of company??? Well according to tootoo.com (never heard of it):

Since when are wheat and cement something that can be listed as "wheat/cement"???

....not to spectate... time for sleepy

So, I didn't get up an go to Ironman 70.3 yesterday. I was actually up and moving, but Saturday was another loooong night- well into Sunday morning. In fact the only things I accomplished yesterday were  1) sunbathing in the yard with Jacque 2) driving the Lake Stevens Oly bike course 3) eating cheesecake and 4) hanging out with M and having great talks.

You notice that a workout is nowhere in there. And because of that, I will be doing double duty tonight- a run and then swim. Sigh. These weekends just get away from me. (Although I did have a great ride Saturday through the Snohomish valley- one of my favorite loops)

Lake Meridian is next weekend. I'm nervous. It's a bit longer than the typical sprint, on a course I've never seen, a lake I've never swam in and it's supposed to be in the low 60's and a bit rainy. Get ready for some slick roads!!  Fingers crossed for staying upright on Casper. Good Cervelo, goooood boy!.

to spectate, or not to spectate....

.... that is the question. I've never watched a 70.3. The only two I've been to, I've also raced in.  This weekend in sunny Lake Stevens, WA- I will not be participating. (Thank God since it's supposed to be mid 90's on Sunday). I'm debating if I want to go watch. Linsey Corbin is  the only Pro I recognized in the participants list. Would be pretty amazing to watch. I love this course, and it's close enough to bike to from my house, if I want to get up crazy early to make it for the start. Okay, it's less than an hour ride.  I  think.

However, we are having a big ole party at the house the night before to celebrate two of the roomie's bdays.  It could wind up being a very late night.  Decisions, decisions. Be a responsible adult and get up and go watch something I have a passion for? Or, have a couple more beers around the fire pit with great friends..... what's a girl to do? 

I feel like I need to put myself in the environment of racing since I've only done one this year and I've got a full calendar in the next few weeks. Sprint on the 22nd, sprint on the 6th and "Bri's First Olympic" on the 11th.

I was supposed to do a sprint triathlon Sunday. Supposed to! I got a call Saturday afternoon as I was loading up my car to head down to my Mom's for the night that it was cancelled due to lack of participants. Booo!! I'm totally itching to race. Like now. So, I registered for another sprint on the 22nd. This time a course I've never done. However, three past Biggest Loser contestants will be there doing the super-sprint. And for freak's sake- I am excited!!  I didn't watch the Matt and Suzy season way back way, but I adored Daris this past season.  He was amazing and ran something like a 4 hour marathon at the end. Impressive to say the least. Yeah, I've got a bit of a weird 'celebrity' crush on him.  I'll be sprinting to the finish line so I can try to meet him!

Road rash kit

Jacque took a tumble the other day at indoor soccer. Left her with a nice turf burn on her elbow and knee. Of course she came to me to ask how to bandage it. And of course I had some gauze pads and lots of tape and wrap.  Who needs Walgreens when you've got Bri-greens? Bri-Aid? Britell's?  I really am the local pharmacy.  I got to thinking that I really should put together a road rash kit. One of these days I'm going to take a tumble and it's not going to be pretty.  Some distilled water to rinse it out, a brush to remove any rocks or grime, lots of gauze and tape and of course something for me to bite down on while someone else is doing the cleaning.  The thought of it sends shivers down my spine.  I can see it now... I stumble in the door covered in blood and dirt, grab the kit, grab a roommate and plop my fully clothed self into the bathtub and wait for the pain.  Oh, it will hurt. And be gross.

the music in my mind

I’ve never been a huge music person. I like it and all, and from time to time there were songs that were incredibly relevant in my life at the time they were released and others that hold great memories for me. But lately, it seems nearly every song I hear speaks to me. I always want to have my headphones on, downloading from iTunes or streaming from Pandora on my phone. I’ve even started wearing them more when I run, and waking up to music instead of getting ready in silence. Augustana- “Sunday Best” and “Boston” Kate Voegele- pretty much the entire “Don’t Look Away” album. Tons of songs by 311, Andy Davis, Jason Mraz, Kelly Clarkson “Since U Been Gone” Train, Eminem… it keeps going.


I’m not sure what has sparked this need to be in another world so much. Half the time it puts me in such a mood that I just want to be alone and sit in the dark. The other half it makes me think and want to be around people I love and create fabulous memories. It does however tend to focus me at work. Definitely a plus. Speaking of… must go work on some Inpatriate payroll issues!

New Races Added!

I've added three new races to my upcoming list. A sprint tri, an Olympics tri and a Half Marathon.  At least one more half marathon will be added soon (possibly three??) and I'm dying to get another sprint tri in there. Mama needs more trophies  :)

Omg.

I need to go purchase a plane ticket to cape cod so I can console Chris from The Bachelorette. Can't believe Ali let him go. I heart him.
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Things I hate when I'm riding my bike!

1- mailboxes that are super close to the road

2- hybrid cars-- seriously, those things sneak up on you quick!

3- yapping dogs in non fenced yards

4- hitting a pothole at 35mph on a downhill...

5- bugs in my teeth

6- cars at stop signs that aren't totally sure they want to stop for cyclists that already stopped and clipped back in

7- stop lights and signs in general

8- hay trucks! Hay stings the legs!
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