I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time!  Yeah, so I might have registered under the influence of a few glasses of wine, giggling to myself (and hoping Shane wouldn’t freak out when he found out how much it cost!) and thinking it could be fun.  And now it’s finally here.  I have a feeling I am going to be sad tomorrow after each leg is over.  After months of training and all the sacrifices, it’ll be over in one day.  Guaranteed within 17 hours – no matter how it ends.

To get pumped up, I like to watch the coverage from last year:

That gives you a good idea of what kind of day I”m in store for tomorrow.

We went to the dinner and athlete briefing last night.  The dinner was very fun and inspiring.  They told us fun facts about the race this year.  For instance, only 24% of competitors are female.  Go us!  1100 of the 2500 athletes are TEXANS.  410 athletes are over 50 years old.  The oldest racer is 80 and the youngest is 18; the average age is 37.  95% of Ironman triathletes have a college degree – yeah, they’d have to have a decent job, this sport is not cheap.

They held a competition to see who had lost the most weight during training.  One man lost 230 pounds – 230!!! He has been training since 2010.  THAT is incredible.  Lots of husband and wife teams out there – don’t know how they do it, especially if they have kids.

So tomorrow.  D Day, as they call it.  As WE call it, I guess.  There are 800 athletes tomorrow for whom it will be our FIRST Ironman – about 30% of us have never done this before.  To my fellow athletes – good luck, godspeed, and if you swim over me I will elbow you in the nuts.

And to Mike Reilly – there are only four words I want to hear from you.

Yes, I know it’s Wednesday.

But this weekend was still phenomenal.  My little sister Stephanie graduated from Texas A&M University – Commerce as a Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies.  I couldn’t be prouder of her!  She passed her teaching certification exam, her PPR, and is ESL certified – totally ready to teach kindergarten!  She won’t find out til this summer if she has a job at the school district she’s been working at, but with her awesome recommendation letters and teachers/administrators backing her, I am thinking/hoping it won’t be a problem.

“I did it!”

“Look over there…”

And just a picture I love.  We got some funnier pics that are on my mom’s iPad too.

Afterward, we had family and friends over to the house to celebrate.  It was so great getting everyone together to congratulate Steph!  My friend Merritt came with her 11-month-old son Mason, so I got to be baby-crazy for most of the afternoon.

–Also… a big congratulations to my friend Terra on her graduation this weekend too!!  You ROCK.

Met up with Kristen, Valerie, J, and a couple of significant others for drinks at The Cedars Social in South Dallas.  Despite being born and raised in the Metroplex and living there for a year after college, I haven’t spent much time in this area and was more than a little apprehensive.  Texts I sent to J while sitting in the parking lot:

However, once inside, the place is pretty hip; we all agreed it was a scene straight out of Boogie Nights!  Their cocktail list was very extensive.  Of course, I’m STILL not drinking so I settled for the food menu.  Val and I split the deviled eggs and artisan cheese tray.  Delicious!  I would absolutely go back to try some of their tasty looking drinks.  I left early, unfortunately – love spending time with those ladies (and gentlemen)! – had to get back and see what was going on at the house, since I had left Shane their on his study group call.  Hung out with Steph and her friends in the hot tub til midnight or so.  Great day.

We had full intentions of taking my mom out for brunch on Mother’s Day, but she instead insisted on making waffles.  Twist my arm, right?  It was nice being able to spend Mother’s Day at home for a change.  After gifting her our tokens, we packed up the stuff and the dogs and headed back to Houston.  I went for a ride with Crystal (very short ride – 20 miles, thank God for tapering) at Bear Creek before tending to the laundry and crashing.  All in all, an awesome weekend.

May 19th is only 3 days away – you know what my next post will be about!!

This week starts my final preparations for what will be one of the longest days EVER.  I got an email from Aimee (my SiL, you know her by now, right?), with only two words:

It’s coming.

IMTX setup has begun in The Woodlands.  AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!  I got my magic tyres put on at TOTR on Monday – hopefully they will better my odds of not flatting on the bike course!

Yesterday was nuts.  NUTS, I tell you.  But one good thing came from all the crazy and made me proud to be an American:

My heart swelled.  As a Jewish woman, I believe in EQUAL RIGHTS FOR ALL.  Period.  End of story.  I find Obama to be just as capable and intelligent as I did 4 years ago, and make no mistake – I will be casting my vote for him again on November 6th.  And donating to his campaign, as I did yesterday.

President Obama, I cannot forgive you for waiting so long to do the right thing when it comes to marriage equality, but thank you for doing it now.  Regardless of the disappointing (but of course anticipated) vote in NC on Tuesday, my friend Ada put it very well.  “Don’t fail to remember all of the other times throughout history that civil liberties were denied.  This is not the first or last time that people will be denied equal rights based on misapplied religious doctrine, but I guarantee the ultimate result will be the same.  History speaks for itself.”  That’s  much more eloquent than me saying, “psh…rednecks.”  JUST KIDDING (I’m plenty eloquent).  I will continue to speak out for marriage equality until EVERYONE has the same rights.  Gay pride arm warmers and ALL.

Anyway.

Yesterday was the fall season kickoff for TNT and I am SO EXCITED about the upcoming season.  I will be doing a cycle event (Viva Bike Vegas) to FINALLY get my Triple Crown award (you need to do a marathon, triathlon, and century ride for this, and so far I have done zero cycle events).  AND I am a mentor for Nike Women’s Marathon in San Francisco – with some amazing ladies!  Aimee is doing her first TNT event (we are having a VERY exciting fundraiser in September so stay tuned) and (duh) we are doing Nike with Kristen, Amy D, Valerie, Marisa, and Julie – well with some other crazy gals too – but the 7 of us are planning a NAPA TRIP after the race.  NAPA, NAPA, NAPA *more chanting*  Cue me hoarding my vacation days.

READY for fall season to start.

My little sister Stephanie graduates from college this Saturday.  She’s receiving her BS in Interdisciplinary Studies, is a certified teacher Pre-K through 12th grade, passed her PPR, and is ESL certified.  She won’t find out if she has a job at her current district (in our hometown) until the end of the summer, but they’ve written her such amazing letters of recommendation and I’m hopeful they’ll find her a spot.  I’m so proud of her!  Proud of her for pushing through and doing something she loves.  Can’t wait to see her walk across the stage!

In other news, taper to me means not training.  Seriously, I don’t know what’s gotten into me.  I’m just exhausted lately, can’t focus on anything, don’t want to train, just want to do the race.  Our brick practice was cancelled on Tuesday due to rain and I did not make it to the gym.  I’ll go swimming tonight, and running this weekend.  I need to sneak in a 30 mile bike ride sometime.  TAPER.  Oh, and I’m starving.  I can eat a seriously disturbing amount of food these days.  Bring on the doughnuts.

Isn’t there power in positive thinking?  I found this on the IMTX thread on BT, and it was modified from freeswimmingfish on the IMAZ thread.  This is what I have to believe for the next 10 days….

Right now you’ve all entered the taper. Perhaps you’ve been at this a few months,
perhaps you’ve been at this a few years. For some of you this is your first IM,
for others, a long-overdue welcome back to a race that few can match. Finishing an Ironman is never an accident. It’s the result of dedication,
focus, hard work, and belief that all the long runs in March, long rides in
April, and long swims every damn weekend will be worth it. It comes from
getting on the bike, day in, day out. It comes from long, solo runs. From that
first long run where you wondered, “How will I ever be ready?” to the
last long run where you smiled to yourself with one mile to go…knowing that
you’d found the answer.

You’ve been following your schedule to the letter. You’ve been piling on the
mileage, piling up the laundry, and getting a set of tan lines that will take
until next year to erase. Long rides were followed by long runs, which both
were preceded by long swims, all of which were followed by recovery naps that
were longer than you slept for any given night during college.

You ran in the dark.

You rode in the rain.

You ran in the heat.

You ran in the cold.

You went out when others stayed home.

You rode the trainer when others pulled the covers over their heads.

You have survived the Darwinian progression that is an Ironman summer, and now
the hardest days are behind you. Like a climber in the Tour de France coming
over the summit of the penultimate climb on an alpine stage, you’ve already
covered so much ground…there’s just one more climb to go. You shift up, you
take a drink, you zip up the jersey; the descent lies before you…and it will
be a fast one.

Time that used to be filled with never-ending work will now be filling with
silent muscles, taking their final, well-earned rest. While this taper is
something your body desperately needs, your mind cast off to the background for
so very long, will start to speak to you.

It won’t be pretty.

It will bring up thoughts of doubt, pain, hunger, thirst, failure, and loss. It
will give you reasons why you aren’t ready. It will try and make one last stand
to stop you, because your brain doesn’t know what the body already does. Your
body knows the truth:

You are ready.

Your brain won’t believe it. It will use the taper to convince you that this is
foolish – that there is too much that can go wrong.

You are ready.

It is worth it. Now that you’re at the taper, you know it will be worth it. The
workload becomes less. The body winds up and prepares, and you just need to
quiet your worried mind. Not easy, but you can do it.

You are ready.

Say that like Pauly D from Jersey Shore – t-shirt tiiiiiime!  No?  Just me?

Here’s what we got ourselves into this weekend! 

Friday night was spent at Sherlock’s for my CapTex team’s fundraiser.  It was a $10 donation at the door and $1 drinks til 7pm….I’m actually surprised we didn’t get a bigger turnout - $1 drinks, people!  And I’m still in Oktsoberfest (now it’s Day 19) and it was like my own personal hell.  BUT we raked in around $300 for the cause, so it was an evening well spent.

Saturday I woke up at 5:30 and got ready for Bike for Mike in Fulshear (about 45 minutes west of Houston, nice flat place for riding).  It was a really nice ~70 mile ride.  Ended up riding with a couple of friends for most of the way.  My only complaint would be the headwind when traveling south (standard anywhere right now, with the wind coming off the gulf) and lack of coverage.  That’s what’s nice about the IMTX bike course – it might be 112 miles, but it has a lot of shade, especially riding through Sam Houston National Forest!  Anyway, Bike for Mike was my first sponsored ride and it was AWESOME to have rest stops – the food was awesome (especially the smoothies at the 30 mile stop!).  We stopped at mile 30 and mile 56 for refill and snack breaks.  It was pretty hot out and I was ready to call it a day.  Jess was flying with her new Gatorskins tyres and I think I’ll have to procure some for myself.  It makes it harder to get a flat, so even though it’s a heavier tyre, it would still be worth it for the time it would take me to change a flat.  I don’t want to risk that on race day.  I ran 2 miles just to shake out my legs, and then Jess and I headed over to 288 Lake for a 2 mile open water swim.  It took us 1:16, which would put us at about 1:30 for the 2.4 mile swim at IM.  That’s my goal time!

Shane had been at class all day and after he got home we went back out to Katy for a Cinco de Mayo dinner at our friends Lori and Zach’s house.  The more time I spend in the suburbs, the more I love it.  It’s nice being close to all the ‘Houstonian’ stuff – like the locally owned restaurants & bars, and being close to my friends and Memorial Park, but city living is just that.  Our backyard is pocket-sized, there’s a crackhouse on the corner (every corner, not just ours), traffic is horrendous at all times.  So moving out the ‘burbs would be a huge change and yes, it’s far (~30 miles), but what’s so bad about holing up in the house or eating at the local Chili’s?  Nothing, that’s what.  So I was pointing out all the cool stuff when we were driving: “Oh, look, running trails!  Katy has nice running trails!  You know where else has nice running trails?”  Shane, dejectedly: “The Woodlands.”  Me: “Damn right, The Woodlands!”  Since doing all of our training up there (30 min north, that’s where IMTX is held), I’ve become mildly obsessed with this particular suburb.  IT’S GORGEOUS. 

I digress. 

So we had fun with our friends on Cinco – even though I couldn’t have the margs.  BUT I was introduced to mojito flavored Crystal Light…delicious!  Some of the gals were just adding rum to it, but it also tasted fine on its own – very refreshing. 

I was supposed to wake up at 5:30 for a 5K; I had lofty goals of beating my time from the last one.  But then I realized I would probably expend all of my energy for the day and I kinda needed the rest.  So when my alarm went off, I just said NOPE.  Instead I woke up at 7:30 and met some friends for a long run.  It was a nice day – overcast, not too bad.  We lucked out.  Ran from Memorial along Allen Parkway through downtown and back, and then I did an extra loop or so to add up to 16 miles.  Phew!

Strongarmed Jordann into going to 288 Lake, where we swam 1.5 miles with Erin and Julie.  Ok….now it’s taper time.  I will keep my swim volume up but am really backing off the bike and the run.  Next weekend is my sister’s college graduation!!!  So I’ll bike 40 miles either when we get back or before we leave and run 10-12 on Sunday morning. 

Love tapering.  Love it.  More time at home, more time to EAT ALL THE FOOD, more time in general.

Off to a new week.

And you know what that means.

Today was Day 14 of what I’ve not-so-affectionately dubbed Oktsoberfest.  In an effort to positively affect my training AND to prove once and for all that I’m not an alcoholic (might have a slight wine obsession but we already knew that), I’ve quit drinking for 30 days.  It’s on my list of things to do and trust me, I can’t wait til I cross that finish line in 16 days and get a delicious delicious beer (I prefer wine, but beer goes better with endurance events).

I’ve done the 100 mile ride(s).  I’ve done the long bricks.  I’ve done the 2 mile swim.  I’ve done the warmup races.  I’ve given up alcohol, FFS.

I’m feeling ready.  The only thing that terrifies me to my core is the mass swim start.  Look, I can swim 2.4 miles but I’ve never tried to do it with 2500 other people around me, kicking, flailing, etc.

Also, I’m constantly starving.  Who has two thumbs and ate two dinners tonight – this chick.  FOURTH MEAL FTW.

This week’s training:

Today – short 6 mile run (was supposed to also go to the lake, but my buddy bailed)
Thursday – swim at least 1.5K (I also have my pre-race physical to make sure I won’t croak out there)
Friday – 10 mile run in the morning
Saturday – 70 mile ride, 5 mile run
Sunday – 5K race, followed by 13 more miles and a 2 mile swim later that day

Next week – want to squeeze in one more long run (18 miles??) and then start tapering hardcore.  No rides or runs longer than 2 hours.

Must focus on something else.  I’ll leave you with a funny quote from my friend J about building her company’s website:

Me: So, ideally, what do you want it to look like?
J: I dunno. I mean, anything but Baby’s First PowerPoint.  And pictures of nature always go over well.

Sneak peek of Kemah Tri – race recap soon.

And while you’re at it, check out the new site I’ve been working on for an awesome tri team here in Houston – www.jsc-racing.com !!

And here’s a funny picture from HRG’s site today.  It’s true.  Shane, remember what happened the last time you tried to stick with me in a race?  Not a good look for you.

Ok so I left you with a lot of stuff…

Today I’m 27.  Officially late twenties.  The age my mom was when I was born, too. 

It’s anti-climactic.  I’ve never been much for birthdays or making a huge deal out of them.  In an effort to avoid a barrage of Facebook notifications, I disabled my wall.  I know, I’m a Scrooge.  A Scrooge with a Facebook inbox full of messages now.  Hmmmm.  Maybe next year it’ll be “hide date of birth” – can you even do that? 

I don’t know why I find it so contemptible – I do enjoy other people’s birthdays, and I’m not concerned with getting older – but I do.

I had the perfect pseudo-celebration last night – the party at St. Arnold’s with TNT and some friends who attended.  All-you-can-drink beer, plus I won my first silent auction item: a Pampered Chef (just what I need) serving platter and cheese plates, and a year’s supply of bagels from Panera (13 bagels/month) all for $60 – best decision ever.  Shane is annoyed that I’ve negotiated with the TNT staff….bagels in exchange for fundraising support.  Oh well – he’d get sick of all the bagels anyway – he doesn’t need 13/month.   I had 4 delicious beers (3 of them Summer Pils, oh and also tried the AMAZING root beer)….my last beer for 30 days.  I’m not drinking til after Ironman, for sorta training purposes and also to cross it off my 30 before 30 list.  I figure abstaining from alcohol can only help me and certainly won’t hurt me – at least it will be easier to get up for training in the morning!  I’m sure I’ll be a real gem without wine for a month.

So that is #27.  I refuse to have an endless parade of dinners/brunches/drinks (obv) and have to give some serious side-eye to people who have more than one birthday celebration.  If you weren’t there, you missed it.  Sorry.  For my birthday I would love nothing more than no other references to my birthday…consider it your gift to me! 

Bah humbug.  Hey, IT’S MY BIRTHDAY and I’ll be a grouch if I want to.  ;o)

I don’t read Dooce too regularly anymore (the only reason being that I don’t have time to keep up) but I’m glad I did yesterday. 

Apparently in March and September, people who have the sads are even more off our rockers due to the Earth’s tilting and subsequent light effects.  I never knew.  Here’s what she says:

“Today I just want to remind everyone that March (as well as September) can be rough on those who are prone to depression. If you’re upset or frustrated or anxious or sad and you don’t know why, don’t be too hard on yourself. It could just be the rotation of the earth. (That’s not hippie speak. That’s science. It has something to do with the rapid change in light during this time of year and how our brains process that change [which is the CliffsNotes version of how my own psychiatrist explained it.])”

Source: www.dooce.com

Hmm.  Well….that makes me feel better that there might be some explanation for my feeling the way I do (read: empty, annoyed, frustrated, angry, helpless, nothing).  I find myself getting irritable at the littlest things.  Not even getting, I’m just already irritable and then can snap at any given moment (see previous post).  I’m slipping a little at work, I’m constantly annoyed.  One of my TNT staff members even commented at last Tuesday’s practice, “Jeez, you are in a BAD mood.”  And I’m not usually in a bad mood at practice, especially since I’m one of the mentors and am supposed to be sunny and upbeat and a leader.  Any small critique, from my boss or Shane or friends, will cause me to develop a serious case of bitch face instantaneously. 

I should probably just stay as far away from people as possible until April.

February was…

A visit from Best Friend J – getting massages, going to Karen’s housewarming party, enjoying prosecco and brunch.

Junior League Charity Ball with some fun ladies

Michael’s surprise birthday party! 

Valentine’s Day – roses, chocolate covered strawberries, and Italian dinner at the house.

Girls’ happy hour at Coppa followed by dinner with Jeff and Amy D!

Running the LIVESTRONG Austin Marathon and setting a new personal record.  Renting a fab ATX house with Aimee, Michael, and my parents – dogs were invited too!  Aimee and Mikey ran their first half marathon and we celebrated at Jackalopes.  AND I got to expo with some bloggers I love.

Margarita’s bridal shower.  The wedding is coming up!! Mazel tov!

Brian’s 28th birthday dinner at Raven Grill.

Boneyard with Ben, Lindsey, Carol, John, and all of our baby doggies.

First Tuesday night brick with the CapTex tri team.  Go TEAM!

And the laundry.  Always with the laundry.  ;o)

I’m not going to say that I’m committing to a blogging challenge like some of you other awesome kids, because frankly I’m not sure I can.  Got the list from Tara! But I will write about topics I like, and I like today’s topic.  I feel like I’m very open about what makes me tick, but in case you didn’t know…

#1 – Be passionate.

I respect people who have dreams, who have goals, who have causes to work for, who love things.  It’s like giving life a big hug when you find something that drives you.  I’m motivated by others who are motivated. I get a high off of others’ tenacity, and being around people who are genuinely happy and passionate makes me feel the same way.

#2 – Must love dogs.

I’m a huge animal lover, but dogs take the cake.  I wish I didn’t have to work, I would spend all of my time finding stray dogs and fostering them and nursing them back to health.  Shane, when we build our McMansion someday, we need a dog rescue wing.

#3 – RSVP and be on time.

Otherwise it’s just plain rude.

#4 – Be a huge dork.

AND OWN IT.  This is probably one of the qualities I love most about Shane, and one we have in common.  We have the nerdiest inside jokes, talk in our dogs’ voices, run around inside the house – being chased by said dogs, and just don’t care. That’s happiness.

#5 – Be gentle, please.

I’ve learned this the hard way…I can still be abrupt and harsh at times, but now it’s only when I’ve reached my limit.  Before, it was just unnecessary and I was unhappy and was likely always at my limit with everyone.  Shane and I try our best to take care of each other’s feelings and protect one another.  And I’m making more of an effort to be careful with people, especially the ones I know who need me to be careful.  The golden rule is treat others the way you want to be treated..but the platinum rule is to treat others the way they want to be treated.  I’m trying to keep that in mind.  So now I truly value this quality in others.  Tact is underrated.