An athletic kind of week

I still need to catch up on 2011 and layout the plans for the rest of the year and what our ideas/goals are going into 2012.. they are always evolving so we'll get to that.

First though I wanted to write a post on feeling like an athlete.  I always struggle with this.  I didn't play sports growing up or in high school or college so I feel like I'm playing catch-up and always doubting in my head that I'm really an athlete.  I had a good week though which boosted my confidence and made me feel "athletic".  I've got my first triathlon coming up this next weekend in Encinitas.  Its a Sprint distance so its the shortest distance which is a good way to start.  What maybe isn't the best way to start is that its a 'surf entry' triathlon.  Meaning the swim is in the ocean and its not in a bay or harbor.. you enter directly into the surf off the coast.  In my head when I heard this I thought.. sure ok no big deal.  I just go into the waves....we'll work it out.   So last week Dave thought it would be good for me to practice some surf entry.  I suddenly started getting nervous; the day was upon us.  On the drive over to the beach I literally felt nauseous.  Hmm..maybe I'm a little nervous.  We got there and the surf looked big to me plus I had all this anxiety built up.

Ok ok.. it wasn't this big!

After the struggle to put on my sausage casing - aka my wetsuit - we waddled down into the water and this is when I really started freaking out.  I had one of those uncontrollable fear moments.  The one where you can try to talk to yourself in your head and you know its going to be OK but you just can't get over that fear.  I'm not a great swimmer... I am NOT comfortable in the ocean and the waves freak me out.  Yeah.. not a good combo.  We waded out there and finally made our attempt through the waves to get past the break.  This took longer that I had expected because I kept stopping to freak out a bit.  Then Dave would try to calm me and I'd tune him out because all his words could not break through my panic.  The waves were not that big but they were big enough and I was anxious and by the time I got past the waves I was exhausted and freaked out that I'd still have to swim once I actually broke the waves.  I had a total meltdown!  Picture tears here and irrational panic.  At that point I told Dave I was NOT doing the triathlon.. I didn't have to... I didn't want to... I was over it.  I felt bad, like I had failed him, failed myself and felt like a big ol baby.  We tried one more time which wasn't a whole lot better then left to head home while I cried some more about how I felt like I failed and it sucked and I wanted to be good at it..blah blah blah.  It really felt like a failure of a day.

The next day I went on a bike ride that was somewhere around 45-50 miles with a friend of mine (I only have an estimate because my bike computer died...oops) and then later that day went on an 8 mile run.  That day to me felt like a win.  I had a great ride with a good friend and I went on a run afterward!  I have a hard time convincing myself to run after a ride especially because riding is still new to me so to ride 45-50 miles is a workout but on that day I knew (according to my marathon plan) that I needed to run 8 miles at marathon pace!  So I sucked it up and got out the door.  This felt like a huge accomplishment to me and really upped my spirits after the previous days debacle.

The following day (Friday) we decided to hit the coast one more time for a surf entry redemption.  The waves were calmer and it seemed like there were a decent number of people going out to do surf entry on this day which totally added to my confidence.  Just seeing other people out there made me more comfortable for some reason...also, a lot of them looked like they were trying to get comfortable with swimming past the waves too so I wasn't alone in my newbie-ness.  This day ended up being a total win!  I think because I had done it once before and because the waves were smaller I just got out there and did it.  I made it past the break and wasn't as exhausted and not nearly as scared... it was kind of fun!  So we went back in and did it 2 more times for a total of 3 wave entries with NO TEARS.  Huge turn around.  I felt soooooooo much better and am glad I gave it another shot.  So we headed to breakfast :)  It doesn't hurt to have the reward of  a yummy breakfast dangling in front of you to make you perform!

On top of surf entry in the morning we headed to La Jolla Cove that afternoon to just do some ocean swimming.  The cove is semi-protected so it doesn't get a lot of wave action so this was more about swimming.  I did it and felt ok about it.  I swam a total of 0.5 miles and Dave went out again to make his a total of 1 mile.  I still am not completely comfortable swimming in my wetsuit but I think that just takes some getting used to.  It just feels a little restrictive on my neck and arms but like I said I think I just need to work into it.  So .. long story short I WON!!!  and I'm still doing the triathlon.  Now I just need to cross my fingers and hope the surf isn't huge that morning.  That is on top of all the other anxieties I've got about the race and performance...and my muffin top :)

It's been a while... I get easily distracted

I can't believe its been since September that I updated the blog.  I really get gung ho about stuff and then somehow I lost my focus.  I looked at my last post of the Louisville Ironman and re-lived it for a moment which was nice.  I think part of the reason I haven't been on lately is I'm still not sure what I'm really looking to get out of the blog... do I want to blog about fitness, food, travel, everyday musings?  I'm not sure so I get overwhelmed by ideas and don't do any of them!  So let's try this again and I'll just blog about whatever I want to each day and see where it heads.. keep with me as I sort this out and eventually get this organized :)

So I last left off after the Louisville Ironman.  Let me catch you up on what's happened since then.

Nephew in front of his room
on the base.

My nephew joined the Marines which is crazy.. seems like he's still my little nephew but all of a sudden he's all grown up and in the Marines.. that is no joke.  So he graduated boot camp and is now in his 'job training'.  No idea where he is going to end up working yet but we'll just wait and see.

Dave and I went back to Tucson for an anniversary trip - planned by mua!  Tucson is where we met and spent our first few dating years.  Lots of fun memories back there so it was nice to visit.





We went to New York for the first time for both of us.  I LOVED Central Park.  What an amazing park to have in the middle of a big city like that.  We loved going for runs there and exploring.  Dave ran the NY Marathon; I sadly did not (entry is by lottery and I didn't get picked.. my overachiever husband however qualified to run it).  We really enjoyed the NY trip.  It almost seemed to me like there was too much to see and it was hard to narrow it down.

Next thing we did was run the Las Vegas marathon and I PR'd!  Yeah me!  Remember back when I said I was going to do a training program to beat 4:30.. well somewhere around there I decided to try to beat 4 hours and I did it!  My time was 3:58:44... so much better than I thought I was capable of.  Funny what you can do if you start actually believing it and working towards it.  The marathon was good adn I felt pretty good the whole time.  I had to tell my bladder to shut up a few times but it made it the whole way without bursting so that is a good thing.  So now I might be toying with the idea of qualifying for Boston.  I'd have to shave an extra 13 minutes off...which means 30 seconds per mile faster but I think I could do it if I really worked at it.  I don't like a lot of pressure so I think that is why I'm not yet committing to the idea but I really want to do it sometime and why not now?

That brings us to the end of 2010.  I think I need to re-visit my goals from last year and bring them up to current.  I left off talking about them on #5.. which I think I accomplished but need to keep pushing especially if I want to qualify for Boston. 

5. Ramp up the cardio / workouts in general....no more excuses, yes you can do it!!!

6. Do more adventurous things with Dave; maybe an international trip in the next few years - putting this off till maybe 2012??

7. Spend more time with my sisters and girlfriends; plan better and make trips - need to get better...never seems like enough time.

8. Cook more dinners - Definitely accomplished this.

9. Use local fresh ingredients more often - We are doing much better on this one and I feel pretty good about it.. want to keep working towards local/organic/fresh more often. 
10. Pick an area of life or home to "green" and do it. - I've started this with my cleaning supplies and am totally happy with them so far.  I can't get myself to throw stuff away until I've used it so I'm still using up some of the older stuff but as I get rid of it I'm trying to pick more environmentally friendly options.  One I really love is making our own air freshener with essential oils instead of using canned air freshener.
11. Explore hobbies / careers / passions; find your drive! - Always working on this one... no big breakthrough yet.
12. Journal or write 1x/week at least. - Um, FAIL!
13. Organize something...nail down an idea and do it - pictures, organize frames, albums, display!.. or kitchen or linen cabinets... or office/game closet - I've tackled a few things but need to keep working on it.. I still need to do so much organizing.  I picture my house in my head and its perfectly organized and neat.. I'm just having trouble figuring out how to get there.  Honestly.. I don't know how working moms do it..I just have 2 dogs and 1 husband and it still seems challenging!

The Louisville Ironman

So Dave made it through Sunday and came out the other side as an Ironman.  He was amazing and I'm so proud of him!  It was a long hot day even for us spectators..-side note: I believe all Ironman competitors should have to spend a day spectating someone else.  I don't think you can truly understand how long of a day it is on the spectating side until you do it.  Now, I know this sounds stupid considering Dave was actually racing for 12 hours so his day was harder..but still I didn't train for months to spectate nor do I get to call myself an Ironman now that I spent 12 hours watching the race.. so cut me a little slack.. now back to the post -   It was nice to have my sister Nancy and niece Brittney drive down and spectate with me since it was such a long day.  It was really hot and humid which made the run tough but he made it through in about 12 and a half hours.  A total of 140.6 miles (swim+bike+run).  It was really neat to see it all unfold.  I think they said about 2500 people did it and not sure how many finished it but I know there were a few that didn't.  The day started at about 4:30 when our alarms went off.. ugh.  Dave and I got up and tried to get moving.  I got him some hot tea and water to start the day while he had some food and tried to get his body moving.  We changed and eventually made it out of the hotel about 5:30 to head down to transition so he could make sure his bike tires were all pumped and all his stuff looked ready.  After he got all that settled we walked from transition to the swim start which was about a mile from transition.  We probably got there about 6:20 and he got body marked (marked with a sharpie with his race number and age) and then we got in line. 

 There was already a line forming for the swim start because it was a narrow start - just a boat dock on 2 sides where they tried to have about 3 people jump off at a time.. so you had to queue up.  They tried to do it 2-3 at a time at about a 2 second interval but with that many people it becomes kind of a "lets just do this as fast but as organized as possible".  The line at 6:20 was already fairly long and I'd say he was maybe about 1/2 way back from the beginning of it.  I stood with him till about 6:40 and Nancy and Brittney arrived.  I then took his bag of morning clothes and we tried to grab a spectating spot.  This was probably the most clustered part of the day.  I had not acclimatized myself to spectating yet (considering it was not quite 7am) so that in conjunction with the fact that 2500 participants family members were all trying to see the start which was at the bottom of a dock with limited viewing probably made it my least favorite viewing part of the day.  Lots of people trying to squeeze into a tiny space and some with backpacks as large as a small child attached to their back.  Good luck squeezing into the crowd with that!  Although it was super crowded it was exciting to see them run down and jump off the dock to start their long adventure.  

 After watching about 2/3 of the people jump in and having no idea whether I had seen Dave or not (I'm going to buy him a hot pink speedo with my name embroidered on the butt) we left the dock and Nancy went for a run while Brittney and I tried to make our way back to the hotel to drop off the bag of clothes Dave had given me.  Of course the hotel is near transition which is the same direction EVERYONE else is walking so the walk took a little while.  We finally got to the hotel; dropped off the bag; checked in on-line for our flight the next morning; grabbed a snack and headed back into transition to see them run out of the water to change and get ready for the bike.  Brittney and I got a great viewing spot of them running across this little bridge towards the transition area and got there with probably 10 minutes to spare before Dave came running out.  Just enough time to get settled and actually have the camera out.  See that is him running across.

Prior to this.. I had been looking at the time-line of events and wondering how we'd fill all our spare time during the day while spectating.  Somehow this spare time never really seemed to make itself present.. it was taken up with jockeying for viewing position; waiting in line for shuttles and searching for hydration .. more on these later.  Anyways.. after we saw him run by and we snapped a picture we caught up with Nancy who snagged a spot at the end of the bike tunnel (bikers leaving transition and starting the ride) while Brittney and I were at the beginning.  Somehow between us coordinating location, trying to take a picture and who knows what; we totally missed Dave ride out of transition and after about 30 minutes of standing there realized we had missed him.  I figured if he hadn't rode out yet, then he had had some kind of major issue in transition.  Turns out it only took him 8:42 to change and leave the area.  Nancy and Brittney would have a hard time recognizing him as they all seem to look the same on the bike...I have little excuse but I still missed him.  




Random guy; not Dave:)



After we realized we failed, we walked back to the hotel to shower and get ready to make our way to the shuttle line for bike route viewing.  From transition the bikes ride out of town towards a little community called La Grange, about 25 miles away.. do some loops or something out that way; pass through La Grange twice (40 and 70 miles) and then head back into town to complete their 112 miles of bike.  Dave said he was fine with us missing one or both viewing opportunities of him on the bike in La Grange since it'd be a quick 2 second encounter..but I wanted to at least see him once.  I figured with missing one loop and just seeing one we'd have time to workout and shower and do all kinds of things.  This again turns out to be false.  We skipped working out (except for Nancy who slipped in a run while he was swimming) we only had time to get ready and walk to the transition area to catch the shuttle to La Grange.  The town is about 20-25 miles away and we weren't sure about parking so we opted for the shuttle instead of driving.  Not sure what the right answer really was but the shuttle seemed more convenient...of course it also seemed more convenient to the friends and family of 2500 other Ironman participants.  So we waited in a long line... I'm guessing 30 minutes.. to board the shuttle.  Finally boarding and driving we got there probably about 45 minutes before we saw him whiz by on his bike.  Yay, we actually saw him...now I knew he was still out there :)  It was REALLY hot in the section we saw him ride by.  The sun was beating down and I could feel sweat coming from every pore on my body.  Spectating is not a glamorous job!  After we caught him whiz by we headed to the main street in La Grange to grab a bite to eat.  Eh.. it was just a local deli that wasn't anything special and I could have done without it...but it was food.  That plus the 2 giant iced teas I guzzled made it bearable to head back out into the heat and to stand again in another long line to get the shuttle back to the transition area.  Once again.. we thought we'd have TONS of time before we had to see him on the run but this again isn't the case because everyone else is trying to take the shuttle back.  

We got back in plenty of time though and walked along the run course towards the spot they would run by 3 times.  Walking the run course ensured we wouldn't miss him because he'd have to run by us.  We decided on our way to previously designated viewing spot to stop and see Dave the first time through this tunnel which was conveniently completely sheltered from the sun :)  After maybe 30 minutes he ran by looking good but hot (and not in a good way).  So now we'd seen him once and it was probably only mile 2 for him and the next time we'd see him was mile 14 so we did have a little time to kill which was good because we were very thirsty.  On our way towards our next viewing opportunity we stopped at McDonald's for large beverages to help with the heat.  We got a chance to use the restroom there also and wash our hands after the homeless lady just got done washing her feet in the same sink...ooh goody.  Beverages in hand we walked towards the corner where we could see him run by 2 more times.  We grabbed a spot on the sidewalk out of the sun to enjoy the viewing.  This is where we started getting a little bit concerned because it seemed to be taking a while for him to pass and we thought we were seeing people we had seen when he was running earlier.  This is apparently the time in the run where he had to walk a teeny bit to make sure he could cool himself off.  We did finally see him and he looked really perked up.  Yay.. he was alive! 

He looks like a trucker because he had ice
stuck under his hat because it was SO hot.



So then we quickly crossed the street to catch him one last time in about 5 minutes (since it was only a .5 mile loop around the block back to the same viewing spot).  Now he only had about 12 miles left until the finish!!  Yippee!!  So we walked ourselves to the finish area which was really exciting with music and tons of people and the live announcer calling everyone's names.  At this point we did have a bit of time to kill so we hit the borders books but only had time to use their restroom before they were closing.  So we had to find another spot to hang and yay for me it happened to be a coffee house at the beginning of the finish chute and I hydrated with a long awaited iced coffee and a little nourishment in the form of a scone (it did have apricots and cherries in it so I'm sure it was healthy).  We probably sat in that cafe for about 30-45 minutes until we saw that his results for 20 mile mark had come up online.

  Knowing he had only about 6 miles to go we went outside to try to grab our spot on the finish area for best viewing and picture potential.  Nancy grabbed a great spot with no people blocking the view so I could catch a pic of him crossing through the finish area.  The only problem was I couldn't see down the path to tell when he was coming in time to get my camera ready.  So Nancy and Brittney staged themselves at the beginning of the finish area and our plan was in place.  They would spot him and Nancy would call my phone.  As soon as I saw it ringing I knew I had to turn on my camera and start recording (I did a video).  This worked out perfectly.  I was getting anxious waiting and I probably stood there a good 30 minutes but it was neat to see everyone crossing and I thought I might even tear up when a few people got emotional but for the good of the Reiley cheering squad I held it together.  Bryan (Dave's riding/running buddy) texted me saying "1 mile to go.. or did he finish?" meaning his 25 mile checkpoint came up on the computer and he was really close.  Yay.  Then my phone was ringing and it was Nancy.  Video started and there he went running by!  Yippee.  I couldn't believe it was over.  I ran down to walk along the finishers area as they escorted him through and out the back.  He was in great spirits unlike some of the other people I saw run through that literally looked like walking dead.  Some of them looked SO dazed and confused like dead souls almost.  Really creepy.  Luckily I did not have to carry Dave back to our hotel.  He felt good and looked good so we all started our walk back.  

 

We left Dave to shower while the 3 of us took his bike ticket back to transition to pick up his gear bags and bike so I could then walk his bike over to the bike shipping area for them to get it back to Encinitas.  I get to the transition area and only 1 person with the bike claim ticket is allowed in so I head in and Brittney and Nancy wait for me at the entrance.  I walk to the end.. get his gear bags.. then walk through the maze of bikes to his slot to grab his bike and head out.  I get there.. #1817 and its empty.  NO BIKE.  Making sure I'm not reading the numbers wrong I look around and make sure I'm actually at 1817.. yes I am and no there is no bike.  So I begin looking up and down that isle as maybe it got racked a few spaces off.  Nope... Ok, lets check 1617 because that looks similar.. no.. Ok, how about 1718.. no.  Ok, at this point I call Dave to ask him if HE racked his bike or if  he had handed it off to the volunteers for them to rack them.  He tells me the volunteers rack them, so I can't blame him for misplacing it :)  I find a volunteer walking through there and tell him I can't find the bike.  He says, "I'm looking for about 5 other #s right now but if you give me yours I'll start looking for it when I'm done"  I said "Can you let my sister and niece in to help me look so this goes faster?" and appropriately..he says no for security reasons which is totally understandable but as I start to internally freak out I said "This is going to take me for f*ing ever to find the bike".  Thankfully he is surprisingly calm and says don't worry its in here somewhere ..if he gave it to a volunteer it was just mis-racked.  He then writes my # on his arm with a sharpie along with the 5 other numbers he has written on his arm.  Ok.  So I start wandering around looking at bikes.  Dave calls and reminds me his has a white seat which makes a little easier to narrow down.  Another volunteer walks by and I tell him my plight and he begins looking also until he says he needs to use the restroom but will look as soon as he gets back.. ok sure.  So I start methodically going row by row looking for white seats.  Nothing so far.  The original volunteer finally yells out from across the sea of bikes that he found it.  It was racked at #817.  Phew!  Finally I can leave the bike area and drop the bike off to be shipped back home.  It was now 8:30 pm and the bike HAD to be dropped off by 10pm so I did have a buffer but I preferred not to use too much of it.  

 

This is the sea of bikes

Never ending gear bags!!

We met Dave all showered and clean back at the hotel and went out for pizza.  We all ate like Ironmen that night but only one of us truly earned it :)