10 things that make me happy

I was tagged a few days ago by Cassie and am finally getting this up.

In no particular order, 10 things that make me happy:

1. Jeff- I'm not going to get all sappy or anything, but I love being married to Jeff. He's a great husband and a great guy in general. I'm a lucky girl.
2. Tri Zones- I really love being part of Tri Zones. When I moved to Austin and found Tri Zones I couldn't believe how encouraging and accepting everyone was! Real coaching makes a HUGE difference too. I know I've said it here before but I just can't explain how awesome it is to do a triathlon with so many friends and see even more friends out on the course cheering their hearts out for us! It's just an amazing training group and I'm really lucky to be part of it.Photo by Tom MarekPhoto by Tom Marek
Photo by Tom Marek

3. Connor and Katie- My dogs are the best! They've brought me so much joy over the past 10 and 7 years. I've had Connor just about my entire adult life. I love coming home and being greeted by two super happy chocolate labs! And I love taking them to the park and watching them jump into the water after a frisbee or a stick. I have tried and tried to take pictures of them jumping into the water but it never works.
4. Austin- Austin is by far my favorite place I have ever lived. There are tons of cool little restaurants and shops and new ones open up all the time (they're unique too, not just the same places you have in every other city). I have lots of choices for bike riding and I can even ride to and from work which is really cool. Austin has parks and greenbelts everywhere, I can drive 10 mintues and go hiking or trail running and feel like I'm in the middle of nowhere. I can also drive 20 minutes and go boating on Lake Austin. And people are super friendly in Austin.
5. Sunshine- I am definitely a solar powered human. David once said I must have chlorophyll in my blood. I love sunny days and I love to be outside in the sun as much as possible. I can't wait for summer!Photo by Tom Marek

6. Town Lake- Since my first run at Town Lake I knew I would always love running there, but I didn't realize I would also love kayaking, swimming, and people watching at Town Lake. I'm also amazed at how beautiful Town Lake is, every time I drive or run over the lake I love looking out at the water.

7. Friends-I am so lucky to have some really great friends.Photo by Nicki DuBose
8. Milkshakes- I know everyone thinks cupcakes and gordough's are my favorite foods, but honestly milkshakes are my true weakness, and vanilla is almost always my first choice. My favorites are from the Alamo, Amy's, and Phil's (you would think Amy's and Phil's would have the same milkshake, but they are surprisingly different, but both really good). I guess there are no milkshake pictures on the blog because they just aren't as photogenic as cupcakes and crazy donuts. Maybe that will change after the marathon. The milkshake below is from the Big Top Candy Shop on South Congress, I haven't had a milkshake from there yet, maybe after the marathon.
9. Being a Triathlete-If you had told me 10 years ago that I would do a triathlon someday, I would have said you were crazy. But I have been a triathlete for almost 7 years now. I'm not fast, but I have so much fun that it doesn't really matter. I love the challenge of a tough workout and trying to improve each season.
Photo by Tom Marek
Photo by Tom Marek

10. Accomplishment- I'm blatantly stealing this one from Cassie because I like it. "Hard work and dedication do pay off. I've always been goal-oriented. Its not the goal itself that is what matters - its accomplishing what I've set out to do."
Photo by Jake North

I tag Nicki, Amy, Matt, Maggie, and Richard

3M Half Marathon

Tri Zones at 3M, photo by Tom Marek

The 3M half marathon is the 6th race in the Austin Distance Challenge. Saturday night Jeff and I had chicken avocado salad for dinner and I felt like I barely slept at all. I got up triathlon early since they were starting the race at 6:45 in the morning! I got to Sandra's office about 2 minutes before Julie, Sandra, Nicki, and Peggy and they immediately told me I was going to freeze to death in a sleeveless shirt, arm warmers and a running skirt. I was pretty sure they were right. The weather website said 55 degrees, but it was definitely not 55 degrees! We ran over to the start and waited, and waited and waited. Turns out the wind was so strong that it was blowing barricades over and the city police and volunteers needed more time to get them set up and secured enough for the crazy strong wind. We ended up waiting about an hour and I was freezing! Me, Nicki, and Julie waiting for the start and freezing. Photo by Tom Marek

Kenneth acted as my wind block for awhile, Nicki found someone's throw away sweat pants for me, and Julie rubbed my legs like a massage therapist- thanks guys!!Julie rubbing my legs to warm them up, I was freezing, thanks Julie! Photo by Tom Marek

When we finally started I was cold for about the first mile or two, but then with the sun I started to feel good. Sandra and I were going to try to run marathon pace, but we knew that would be tough on the fast, mostly downhill 3M course, especially with a 20-30 mph tailwind! Sandra and I just after starting. Photo by Tom Marek

We saw Tom taking pictures right at the start, Mandy passed us on our first walk break, and we saw Rita shortly after that. Just before the first rest stop I saw Carolyn and Tina in front of us, I thought we'd catch them and run with them for awhile, but after the stop, I couldn't see them anymore, I wasn't sure if they got ahead or behind us. On Spicewood Springs we saw Laura, Amy, and Sarah R. and gave them high fives! Somewhere along Spicewood or Mesa there was a group of jugglers on the course- fun! On Shoal Creek and Foster we saw Annette, Tom, Vicki and Emmy. Sandra and I at Shoal Creek. Photo by Tom Marek

We looked for Jeff, but he ended up being a little late to see us, with the long delay he didn't have any way to time when we'd come by.
Running on Foster with the sun right in my eyes! Photo by Tom Marek

By this time I think we had run 1 mile at marathon pace the rest were faster, I kept telling Sandra we should slow down, but neither of us really did. At one point she said, "but don't you think we're dong marathon effort?" I agreed that we were running pretty easy and could keep up that effort for 5+ hours so we just went with it. Just after the relay exchange point we saw Kristen, who had an awesome 6.7 mile run today, her longest yet!

On Burnet we saw Stacey H. wearing a cool Mardi Gras mask, and on North Loop we saw Leah. At a water stop on North Loop Diane caught up to us and ran the rest of the way with us. Duval was fun to run on because it's really downhill and because so many people were out in their yards cheering. We saw Rita again, and Jody on Duval and Amy again on campus. We ran the last 2 miles at a harder effort and I knew even if we didn't speed up, all 3 of us would PR.Coming in to the finish, don't know why I'm sticking my tongue out at Tom! Photo by Tom Marek

We saw a barricade blow onto the course on Duval, it was pretty amazing how fast that barricade just scooted into the street! If someone had been in the way, I'm sure they would have tripped. The wind really was pretty crazy, but since it was at our backs most of the race, it didn't seem like a big deal most of the time.
Showing off my new Tri Zones headband, our Tri Zones Winter Running Goodie. Photo by Tom Marek

We came in at 2:25:05, which for me is a 2:49 PR over Decker in Dec. I'm really happy with that especially considering we were taking it easy and trying to run marathon effort. I had an absolutely awesome time running today! It was so much fun to see so many Tri Zoners out spectating and cheering us on! It ended up being beautiful running weather, nice and sunny which just makes me happy, and a PR was just icing on the cake.

This is why I love living in Texas

I was going to take a picture of the beautiful weather outside, but then I realized I left my phone at home. So I guess me telling you it's January 21st and it's 75 degrees, sunny, and beautiful here will have to do for now.

RunTex 20 miler

The RunTex 20 miler is race number 5 in the Austin Distance Challenge. It was also Sandra's and my first 20 mile run. It was absolutely frigid on Sunday morning, 20 degrees and the weather said calm wind, but I could feel a little breeze at times.

This was by far the coldest weather I have ever attempted to run in! I was fairly comfortable in my compression socks, a pair of regular tights and a pair of fleece lined thicker tights over them, a long sleeved wool base layer, my warmest long sleeved fleece lined bike jersey and a fleece jacket over that, light gloves, a balaclava, a hat over that and a scarf. I hoped having a couple of layers over my face and mouth would warm up the air going into my lungs and keep my breathing working well. I hoped to be able to take off the fleece jacket after a few miles. I was only really cold for the first couple of miles but I never got hot and I didn't take off my fleece jacket until mile 13, so I guess I was dressed just about perfect for the conditions (and considering I have zero cold tolerance).

The first 10 miles went by quickly, Sandra and I were feeling good, chatting, noticing livestock and wildlife, and frozen ponds along the way. We saw Kristen and Kendra cowbelling around mile 2 and again a few miles later, of course it was awesome to see them! Both my breathing and my stomach were ok, not great but not terrible either. We made a pit stop at the mile 10 rest stop and I noticed my legs really didn't want to get going again after the stop. Not cool but I figured it would just take a minute to get them going again. Over the next 3 miles they just started to hurt more and more, very not cool because my legs haven't hurt like that in a long time, maybe since Longhorn 2008. They didn't hurt on our 16 mile runs, our 18 mile run, any of my half marathons, so why did they hurt today?? I was starting to think it was going to be a long last 7 miles. We saw Kristen and Kendra again just before mile 13 and we stopped at that rest stop for a few minutes.

At this point, Sandra was obviously feeling great and I was hurting, but she told me over and over that she didn't mind taking the last few miles slow "it's just a training run", she reminded me to drink, asked if I needed to stretch, told jokes, pointed out livestock, and everything else she could do to just keep me going. She talked me into a stretching break at mile 17, but honestly I think the most painful part of the run was getting moving again after that break, oh well, it was worth a try. I knew we would see Kristen and Kendra again between mile 18 and 19 and I just tried to focus on getting to them, since at that point I would have less than 2 miles to go. We saw them at 18.7, they ran/walked with us for a little while then we just had 1.2 miles to go. Finally we made it to the finish line! We ended up finishing in about 4:25, but about 15 minutes of that was pit stops and the stretching break.

I finished the run, and that was really my only goal, but man this one hurt! I don't know why my legs hurt today when they haven't in a long long time. I guess it just wasn't a great running day for me. Hopefully I got my tough run out of the way and the marathon will go well for me now.

Super Huge THANK YOU to Kristen and Kendra for coming out and cowbelling for us today, and especially to Sandra for everything today! You guys seriously helped pull me through today and I really appreciate it!!

My New Tri Bike

First, I know I'm writing this on Christmas, but no, it was not a Christmas gift. I've actually had it for about 2 months now. Jeff had been looking for a bike that would really fit me properly for about 5 months (sometimes it sucks to be short) and about 2 weeks before Longhorn he brought this home!
It's a Kestrel Airfoil Pro SL with an Ultegra SL group set, Mavic Ksyrium Elite 650 wheels & a Profile Design Cobra carbon cockpit. Wow! But I had no intention of changing bikes and getting used to a new bike just 2 weeks before Longhorn. Plus, I had told Jeff a while ago I did not want a tri bike, I thought it would be too aggressive and hard to handle. Since this was the only bike he could get that would really fit me well, he decided to bring it home and let me try it out and see what I thought. It was after Thanksgiving before I really tried it out and decided I like it, in fact I REALLY like it. It's actually easier to handle than my road bike which was a big surprise to me.
This bike is fun to ride, I want to ride every day, so much that I talked Jeff into riding last weekend when it was 30 degrees! (If you know me well, you know I don't go outside voluntarily if it's below 50 degrees!) We only made it 10 miles before we were frozen and had to come home. I thought about trying to talk Jeff into riding with Mark, Adrian, and Jason this morning even though it was 25 degrees!! In the end they didn't even ride today.
This ends up being really great timing since I decided to do Ironman Cozumel 2010 and it will probably be very windy there so the more aggressive tri bike position will be really helpful.

Ironman Cozumel 2010!

I did it! At 11:00 pm on Dec. 9th I signed up for Ironman Cozumel! And I'm excited! It's Sunday November 28th 2010, so I have 49 weeks to get ready! This also means we'll be spending Thanksgiving 2010 in Cozumel...Turkey Tacos as Ingrid says!

When Ingrid first mentioned it to me, I said No Way, I'm waiting until 2011. But when I really started to consider it and talk with some friends about it I realized the only reason to wait was fear, and waiting a year wouldn't make the fear go away anyway.

I have a lot going for me this year. I have 2 full years of half iron training. I have an amazing coach and an awesome team to train with. Some of my teammates are doing Ironman Florida 2010 so I will have lots of training partners. Jeff is 100% supportive, I kept telling him "I won't have a free weekend all summer and fall", "I'm going to be tired all the time", "Ironman is going to be our entire life for a year if I do this" and I got responses like "that's fine" and "I know, it'll be worth it" and "that's ok" from him. And considering how great he's been during half iron training I don't think I could be in a better position there. Interestingly, when I told Coach Jen I signed up the first thing she said was "how does your hubby feel about this?" I think that may be the best testament to how important it is to have a supportive family going into an Ironman. Plus Ingrid, Kim, and Del are doing Ironman Cozumel too, so I'll get to train and race with them!

My only concern was that in Cozumel I wouldn't have my Tri Zones More Cowbell Corps. I love them and appreciate them so much! It's pretty tough to feel anything but joy when you run or ride by and all your friends are screaming and cowbelling for you! After I signed up, Kristen decided to come, and Kendra and Nicki may come too! So I actually will have a Tri Zones More Cowbell Corps! WOW! Thanks guys!! That means so much to me!

And then there's the fact that it's on Cozumel. Jeff and I love Cozumel, we've been there 6 times to dive, it's just beautiful and the people are so nice! I wasn't at all suprised when I read race reports saying that the entire island shut down for the race and EVERYONE was out there spectating from early morning until after midnight and it was the best race ever as far as spectator support- that's my kind of race! When Cozumel was brought up as a possibility, Jeff was 100% for it, he didn't want to hear about the pros of Florida or Lonestar (if it happens). And honestly I didn't either, the only Florida pro that mattered to me was the Tri Zones More Cowbell Corps. Even though I know it will be windy and tough I just can't wait to ride along the far side of the island and watch the waves crash into the shore and then ride into town with all the locals screaming and cheering in Spanish! It's going to be awesome!

Decker Challenge Half Marathon

Jeff and I at the Austin Farmer's Market on Saturday. Ingrid and Del came to town on Friday night and we all had a great time at the Farmer's Market on Saturday checking out all the cool local farms and getting yummy and healthy produce and meats for the week.

Saturday night Del, Richard, Jeff, and I went to Fred and Lori's holiday party. They made a great dinner, of course I was worried about eating anything different for pre-race dinner, but luckily it worked out ok this time. After a very fun and animated white elephant gift exchange, we headed home early to get a good nights sleep before Decker.

The Decker Challenge is race number 4 of the Distance Challenge, it's a hilly half marathon with a reputation for bad weather. It was very cold (in the lower 40's) with a very heavy mist on race morning- yuck! Although it was about what we had expected based on the forecast and based on the fact that the weather is always terrible for Decker (except last year when it was really nice, but still pretty cold). Thank goodness we could be inside before the race or we would have frozen to death out there! Ingrid and I did a short warm up run, less than a mile right before the start.
Del, Ingrid and me pre-race
At the start I felt cold but not completely miserable and I knew I would warm up after a couple of miles. Looking pretty cold, wet and nasty at the start. Photo by Jake North Photography who later posted on their FB page that the location was "the coldest, darkest, hilliest, windiest place in Austin"
In the first mile I saw Ingrid and Priscilla. I was using Ingrid's Garmin to pace myself and I really liked it. Even after 4 miles and the turn onto Lindell I was still pretty cold, that almost never happens, but I was keeping a good pace. I was really glad I had my balaclava/face mask, my ears and chin were a little cold even with it. "Little Mr. Tard" wasn't as bad as I remembered it last year at Decker and at the top, two girls saw the next long hill and started talking loudly about how hard it looked so I told them "that one's not nearly as bad as the one we just did, I promise!" I don't think they believed me. But really, that second hill looks bad from a distance, but it isn't very steep. I talked with a few people along the way, but didn't see anyone else I knew. Between mile 8 and 9, Santa was at the aid station, so I high fived him as I ran by. I tried hard to thank as many volunteers and spectators as I could because it was a terrible day to be outside and I wanted them to know how much I appreciated them.

I had planned to see how I felt and possibly go for a half marathon PR, but I knew that would be tough if not impossible since Decker is such a tough course. I have been trying to beat my very first Austin half marathon in Feb. 2008 for almost 2 years. It doesn't make any sense that I didn't beat it last year because I know I was much better trained and even ran on 1 easier course, but I just couldn't beat it in any of my 3 half marathons last year. So I planned to run an 11:30 pace and try for a PR.

I actually ran closer to an 11:00 pace for at least the first half and then slowed a little for some of the bigger hills toward the end. I was feeling pretty good even though I was cold and wet the entire race. I never took a cup of water from an aid station and had to force myself to drink my Infinit, I think I was breathing in so much water with the mist/rain that I just never got thristy.

As I came back into the expo center grounds and could see the finish I was just ecstatic, the Garmin only said 2:26 and I was easily less than 2 minutes from the finish line! I saw Kristen, Blonde Pam, and Chris near the finish. Chris even picked up a big orange pylon and yelled my name through it, it sounded like a loudspeaker! Ingrid was on the other side of the finish jumping up and down and screaming for me! I was SO happy to finally beat my very first half marathon time and at Decker! I ended up finishing in 2:27:54 which is 4:23 faster than my very first (and fastest) half marathon and over 18 minutes faster than Decker last year. I'm sure my pictures will be funny because I was pretty much laughing the last 100 meters or so and they had 2 photographers there.Update on the pictures: This is one of the first Decker Challenge pictures on Jake North Photography's FB page today. And yes, I was really that happy! Thanks Jake North Photography for a great race finish picture!

Thanks so much to Coach Jen and the Tri Zones Longhorn training this summer, Coach Tracy and the Tri Zones Winter Running Program, and Ingrid for letting me borrow her Garmin! I couldn't have done it without all of you!

Turns out Ingrid, Del, Richard, Julie M. and I (and maybe a few other Tri Zoners?) all got half marathon PRs at Decker! At some point someone said "we just had to run faster to get out of that awful weather!" There may be some truth to that!

Just a couple minutes after finishing I got really cold. I had to change out of my wet shirt, but I was still cold. I had thought I had talked Del and Ingrid into Coach Jen's Sunday Swim after the race, but since it was so cold Ingrid (Ingrid the Machine of all people!!) said NO WAY on the swim and instead we went to Homeslice Pizza!
Ingrid, Del, and Richard at Homeslice
Jeff and I at Homeslice

They were having a contest at Homeslice, whoever kept their hand on an eggplant sub the longest would win a year of free Homeslice pizza! When we got there there were 4 people left and they had been standing outside with their hands on the sub for 24 hours!

At Homeslice Ingrid said she was only going to eat about 1/2 a slice of pizza because she really wanted to go to Gordough's. Del hadn't been to Gordough's before and asked "It's just a donut shop?" Ingrid and I just laughed at him.
Ordering at Gordough's
Ingrid trying the Black Out Donut, super chocolate. This morning on Del's FB page is a picture from Gordough's with this caption "No they're NOT just donuts...trust me".