So most people on their day off sleep in, lounge around the house and relax. No not me, I get up earlier than I normally do and drive to Columbia for the Iron Girl Dress Rehearsal.
What an amazing experience, I'm actually looking forward to the race because it has to be even better.
First I was surprised at the number of ladies that turned out. Second I met and chatted with some other Iron Girl Rookies and some experienced Iron Girls were giving out FANTASTIC information. Third, I did the swim and survived, this is HUGE for me. It was tough, just as tough as I thought it would be, if not tougher. But I survived, I did the entire swim in less time than I expected and then went on to the do the run in a reasonable time. So I feel pretty good about Aug 23rd, not cocky but good.
I did the swim, and I will do it again!!
I finally caved and joined all the other crazy people out there by joining Facebook. Wow, it's been less than a week and it's already crazy. Lots of friends requests, fun comments and a new way to stock my favorite sports and people: Lance Amstrong, Jimmie Johnson, KU basketball, Alex Ovechkin, and hopefully Mike Green in the near future :>) Yes I have issues!
But the great thing is joining the Iron Girl Columbia group and finding out all kinds of information, seeing posts about people being as scared as I am about the swim, when other girls are going for training rides, etc.
Speaking of the upcoming Iron Girl. So far this has been a great week, today is a rest day for me and boy do I need it. I've been to the pool for the past 2 days and the swimming is coming along really well.
I'm going to do the Tri It Now mini tri on Aug 9th and I think that will help boost my confidence. This is the same event that I did in 2005 and I think I'm more prepared this year and I'm actually looking forward to it.
This past Sunday, July 26th, I declared to the hubby that I'm going to finish the Iron Girl and that I'm going to do fine in the swim. Over the past few days my confidence in my capabilities continues to grow.
And the even cooler thing is that several of my friends are planning on joining my hubby to cheer me on. They have no idea what that means to me. For some of them that will be the first time they see me cry, because I know that when I cross that finish line I'm going to cry and then when I see all their faces, cheering me on, I'm going to cry even harder. For all of you planning on going, be prepared, I'm going to want to hug and might not smell that great from all my hard work :>)
You all have no idea how much your support means to me, I will forever being indebted to you :>)
But the great thing is joining the Iron Girl Columbia group and finding out all kinds of information, seeing posts about people being as scared as I am about the swim, when other girls are going for training rides, etc.
Speaking of the upcoming Iron Girl. So far this has been a great week, today is a rest day for me and boy do I need it. I've been to the pool for the past 2 days and the swimming is coming along really well.
I'm going to do the Tri It Now mini tri on Aug 9th and I think that will help boost my confidence. This is the same event that I did in 2005 and I think I'm more prepared this year and I'm actually looking forward to it.
This past Sunday, July 26th, I declared to the hubby that I'm going to finish the Iron Girl and that I'm going to do fine in the swim. Over the past few days my confidence in my capabilities continues to grow.
And the even cooler thing is that several of my friends are planning on joining my hubby to cheer me on. They have no idea what that means to me. For some of them that will be the first time they see me cry, because I know that when I cross that finish line I'm going to cry and then when I see all their faces, cheering me on, I'm going to cry even harder. For all of you planning on going, be prepared, I'm going to want to hug and might not smell that great from all my hard work :>)
You all have no idea how much your support means to me, I will forever being indebted to you :>)
Let the countdown officially begin....5 weeks
This morning when I woke up, I started to freak out. I mean really freak out, dry mouth, racing thoughts, sick feeling in my stomach, thoughts that I can't do this, thoughts that I haven't practiced/training enough, lack of concentration.....
The bottom line is I have 5 weeks as of this past Sunday......5 weeks to continue to work towards the goal of competing in the 2009 Columbia Iron Girl. I'm going to do this, failure is not an option, I'm not a quitter and I don't like these feelings.
The good news is that I'm probably in the best shape I have been in since graduating from high school (many years ago). Previously when I did mini tri's or the Make A Wish Relay tri, I was still a smoker (now I'm a proud non smoker for 2 years, 4 months and 18 days) and I weighed more than I do now (I actually weigh less now than I did when I got married).
So freaking out about drowning or not being able to do the swim is not going to help me focus. I know I'm not the best swimmer and that is fine, I just need to put my mind to this and I can do it. I have 1 hour to swim .62 of a mile / 1100 yards / 44 laps in a 25 yard pool. I can do this.
Doing this event is not about being the best it's simply about trying. It's showing myself that I can tackle anything I put my mind to. It's about doing something for me, something that I want to do, not something others want me to do or tell me to do. Doing something for myself has always been a huge struggle for me and there have been very few things in my life that I have done strictly for me. But I'm working on changing that. I've started to put myself on my to do list and making sure there is always time for me. Some might say that is selfish but that is because you don't know me. My whole life has been about doing what others want or tell me to do.
The other bizarre thing is that I'm a strong willed / hard headed person that can be very direct and very driven but for some reason I lack some much optimism when it comes to this stuff....ugh.
Thank you to everyone that has been giving me words of encouragement and positive comments, it means the world to me. There are others out there just like me and I hope you too are working at taking control of your lives!
The bottom line is I have 5 weeks as of this past Sunday......5 weeks to continue to work towards the goal of competing in the 2009 Columbia Iron Girl. I'm going to do this, failure is not an option, I'm not a quitter and I don't like these feelings.
The good news is that I'm probably in the best shape I have been in since graduating from high school (many years ago). Previously when I did mini tri's or the Make A Wish Relay tri, I was still a smoker (now I'm a proud non smoker for 2 years, 4 months and 18 days) and I weighed more than I do now (I actually weigh less now than I did when I got married).
So freaking out about drowning or not being able to do the swim is not going to help me focus. I know I'm not the best swimmer and that is fine, I just need to put my mind to this and I can do it. I have 1 hour to swim .62 of a mile / 1100 yards / 44 laps in a 25 yard pool. I can do this.
Doing this event is not about being the best it's simply about trying. It's showing myself that I can tackle anything I put my mind to. It's about doing something for me, something that I want to do, not something others want me to do or tell me to do. Doing something for myself has always been a huge struggle for me and there have been very few things in my life that I have done strictly for me. But I'm working on changing that. I've started to put myself on my to do list and making sure there is always time for me. Some might say that is selfish but that is because you don't know me. My whole life has been about doing what others want or tell me to do.
The other bizarre thing is that I'm a strong willed / hard headed person that can be very direct and very driven but for some reason I lack some much optimism when it comes to this stuff....ugh.
Thank you to everyone that has been giving me words of encouragement and positive comments, it means the world to me. There are others out there just like me and I hope you too are working at taking control of your lives!
What a weekend!
Well we are finally back from visiting family in Kansas and while we were hoping to get 2 days of relaxing that didn't quite happen.
1st issue - we are in the process of trying to buy new bikes. So yesterday we were going to head to a bike store and we thought we would put the bike rack on the truck just in case we found something we liked. Well the lock that we have on the hitch was a bit rusted and we accidentally broke the key off so we couldn't get the lock off to put the bike rack on.
2nd issue - while doing laundry yesterday evening I realized the hot water valve was a bit loose, in an attempt to fix it we completely broke the valve. So a couple of hundred dollars later we have it fixed and now have running water in the house again.
The only good thing that happened this weekend is that I bought a new camera. I finally decided to break down and buy the new Canon Rebel T1i. I have been using a friends camera that I just love and now I can finally return it. I love the new camera, can't wait to go somewhere that I can take some pictures!! It came with the standard 18-55 lens so I still need to buy another lens but haven't completely decided what I want, probably a wide angle.
So today marks 6 weeks from the Columbia Iron Girl. We enjoyed lots of yummy food while in KS and I embarrassingly admit I gained a few lbs. but we got back on track with diet yesterday, unfortunately with the water chaos we didn't get to exercise this weekend but will definitely be hitting it tomorrow.
I'm going to work really hard at keeping up with the blog so I can keep everyone informed on how I'm doing.
1st issue - we are in the process of trying to buy new bikes. So yesterday we were going to head to a bike store and we thought we would put the bike rack on the truck just in case we found something we liked. Well the lock that we have on the hitch was a bit rusted and we accidentally broke the key off so we couldn't get the lock off to put the bike rack on.
2nd issue - while doing laundry yesterday evening I realized the hot water valve was a bit loose, in an attempt to fix it we completely broke the valve. So a couple of hundred dollars later we have it fixed and now have running water in the house again.
The only good thing that happened this weekend is that I bought a new camera. I finally decided to break down and buy the new Canon Rebel T1i. I have been using a friends camera that I just love and now I can finally return it. I love the new camera, can't wait to go somewhere that I can take some pictures!! It came with the standard 18-55 lens so I still need to buy another lens but haven't completely decided what I want, probably a wide angle.
So today marks 6 weeks from the Columbia Iron Girl. We enjoyed lots of yummy food while in KS and I embarrassingly admit I gained a few lbs. but we got back on track with diet yesterday, unfortunately with the water chaos we didn't get to exercise this weekend but will definitely be hitting it tomorrow.
I'm going to work really hard at keeping up with the blog so I can keep everyone informed on how I'm doing.
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