fantasy football noob week 3

my record is now 1-2. i lost pretty bad this time around. next time remind me to save changes when i make a lineup change. it's not good to realize at 7pm that the change you *thought* you made at 10 am didn't really happen, and as a result, your consistently unproductive receiver continued to be consistent in his lack of productivity and isn't on the bench where he belongs and where you swear you put him that morning. i meant to put in devery henderson, since the saints are more than overdue for their offense to show up, and, hey, he couldn't do any worse that that lump i have in currently. didn't help that steve smith had a bum week and how could carson palmer repeat what he did last week. addai had a solid performance, as usual, but that was about it. plus my opponent this week had randy moss, whom i had the option to keep at the beginning of the year, but sadly didn't. who'd have known he would be having a monster start to this season. well i guess if you think about it, he finally has a star qb throwing to him. his decline in recent years must have had more to do with his surroundings than age or losing his touch. ah well, there's always next week. even if devery henderson has a fantastic night tonight, i don't think it would matter. he'd need to score over 36 fantasy points to have overcome my margin of loss. not likely. i can't feel too bad even if he does. at least i didn't bench kevin curtis like heath's opponent did...

and now just for entertainment's sake, a completely real (and unfortunate) ad featuring carson palmer, last week's hero... this'll teach him to give me less than 20 points!

fantasy football noob week 2

week 2 went much much better than week 1. i won my matchup, but it took a phenomenal week to do it. many thanks to the fella below (carson palmer) who threw for six touchdowns and 400 yards. also big props to steve smith's 3 touchdowns and bunches of yards. heath didn't fare as well, losing to the league leader (and now only undefeated team). i'm still working on learning more about who to play when and trying to pick up some good backups for my bye weeks. i don't expect a particularly strong showing since this is my first season, but my core of keepers should keep me from being totally embarrassed week to week.

too cute

i know a lot of people out there hate when people put clothes on dogs, but this is pretty cute. make.com featured a way to make a dog sweater out of a sock. obviously this is only going to work on little dogs, like yorkies or something else teensy. enjoy!


disclaimer: i have to admit that the dog doesn't look thrilled in that picture, so i wouldn't subject a dog to this unless they liked it. mostly, i thought it was clever to think of making it out of a sock.

drugs are scary

i came across this quiz this morning. see if you can match up the side effect to the prescription medication. i only got 5/10.

ugh

on my drive to work this morning, as i was going through an intersection, i saw a guy stopped at the cross street drop a piece of paper out his window. sir, the world is not your trashcan. how people can have such disregard for their world is beyond me. apparently it was just too inconvenient to take it to a garbage can later. that slip of paper had to be out of his car. now. it was obviously not accidental, and he did it as casually as if he were dropping it into a wastebasket. this was what bothered me the most, that it didn't even appear to cross his mind that it might be wrong to do this.

i admit i'm not as good to the environment as i should be. i probably produce more carbon emissions with my commute and generate more garbage with how i live than is necessary, but at least i put trash where it belongs. it's been made clear in a number of ways that the world is hurting and that we need to take better care of it. at this point, people should be making efforts to be more "green" (and a lot of them are). yet, i consistently see people like this that won't even contribute at a basic level by not littering. these people need a swift kick, and to be put on litter picking up duty.

rant over.

fantasy football noob week 1

so, i am playing fantasy football for the first time this year. heath invited me to play in a "keeper" league he is in. they had some drop outs from last year, so i took one of the open spots. we all pitch in $20, and the winners of the regular season and playoffs get prize money at the end of the season.

now, i already liked watching football, but i've only been watching it sporadically for the last few years, and i have very limited knowledge about the players and teams. i'm trying to learn as much as i can. thankfully, i'm a fast learner and wasn't completely boneheaded my first week. my biggest mistake was not playing marshawn lynch. that whole "don't start a rookie in week 1" advice wasn't so helpful this time around. this week i was matched up against heath (of course), and thing were looking good after thursday night's game. however, the rest of my players failed to perform well on sunday, and heath had tony romo, who had the game of his life and put up 40 fantasy points. cuh-raz-ay. i don't recall what the final score was, but it wasn't pretty. hopefully next week, i get a better performance out of my guys. i have some great players, and some of them did really well this week. joseph addai, steve smith, and carson palmer are my stars, and i should be able to count on fairly consistent performances out of them week to week. the rest of my players were under their predictions. part of what i need to keep a better eye on is how the defenses are on the teams my players are playing against. also not helping was that this week was the one that my defense (baltimore) happened to be playing against my quarterback's team (cincinnati). last night i was very torn on who to cheer for.

being on a fantasy football league totally changes the way i watch the games now. i get torn because i'll have a guys on both teams that are playing eachother, so i end up rooting for the individual players rather than a team in general. it's pretty fun. we'll see how i do this week. so far, i'm predicted to lose by about 10, but heath was projected to lose to me by about that much, so you can't put too much stock in those numbers.

healthy eating

saw this on a blog today. i've realized that i'm not feeding my body as well as i should be, which is probably contributing to me having less energy and just feeling kind of blah. heath and i have both said that we want to start being healthier. the tips below were timely and were good enough that i wanted to share them. some of them are no brainers, but they are all useful. also, i'm going to start tracking my meals on fitday.com. that should help keep me honest about my calories and exercise and everything!

1. Start thinking in terms of ‘nutrient density.’ Huh? What does that even mean? It means you’ve gotta start thinking proportionally. Choose foods that give you the most nutrients per calorie. Like skim milk instead of ice cream for calcium. An orange instead of orange juice for fiber. (Apparently, juices aren’t even that good for us. It’s way better just to eat the actual fruit and have a glass of water. Who knew?) A can of tuna instead of beef for protein. The goal is always to get more nutrients for the same amount of calories. For me, this way of thinking was revolutionary.

2. Get salad dressing on the side. I almost fell out of my chair when the professor announced that the number one source of fat in a woman’s diet was salad dressing. All the naïve women dieters think, ‘oh I’ll just have a salad,” without analyzing what actually goes into to that yummy mixture of mesculan greens.

3. Diet soda is baaaad. It can’t be rationalized. Diet soda drinkers had the same amount of diabetes as people who drank regular soda. The fake sweetness in diet soda messes with your palate, and your body reacts to it as if it were real sugar anyway. Diet sodas have also been proven to make you crave more sweets. They also limit you from getting good, healthy sugars. Like how many of us have ever downed a Diet Coke and then craved the nutritious sugary goodness of an apple? Yeah, it’s never happened. Instead, we crave salty chips or fries.

4. Fiber is fabulous, but not without water. I pop fiber pills and invest in whole-wheat products all the time. We all know fiber is invaluable to our digestive system. What I never knew though is that fiber can’t be digested by itself. You need to be super hydrated in order for it to work. So start downing water.

5. Dried fruit is not necessarily our friend. Grapes and raisins have the same amount of calories, but raisins contain no water, and therefore aren’t as filling. So you eat way more raisins than you would grapes, consuming perhaps twice the amount of calories, while grapes would have made you full ten minutes ago. Dried fruits also tend to be artificially sweetened (more bad news).

6. Occasionally indulge in the unhealthy things you like rather than eating the ‘low fat’ equivalent. I wanted to kiss my nutritionist professor on the mouth when she announced that if you’re obsessed with Ben and Jerry’s, it’s A-okay to enjoy a small portion every once in awhile. A large, low fat tub of frozen yogurt won’t be as satisfying, usually resulting in eating a lot more of it. And eating more of something that’s theoretically ‘low fat’ isn’t necessarily the best route. She pointed out many eaters view a ‘low fat’ label as an excuse to over-indulge. Most of these ‘low fat’ items aren’t that good for us either!

labor day weekend / six month-iversary

heath and i had a very eventful labor day weekend. ironically, as outdoorsy as we typically are, we were very urban this time around.

friday night after work, we decided to walk up to downtown evanston for sushi at koi, where i had sake for the first time. i had it cold, but i think i would like it better hot. it was definitely strong, and they give you plenty of it. the food was good, as was expected, and we happened to be seated in the same spot as we were last time we went there. after dinner, we wandered up to the movie theater to catch superbad, since we had heard it was incredibly funny. it was. it was pretty dirty at times, but was well done and had a nice ending. after the movie, we were wandering back home, and decided to stop at nevin's pub to have a beer (shandy for me -- my new favorite incognito girly drink) and play some darts. heath beat me three (?) times in a row at cricket, but at least i hung in there, making it a close game every time.

saturday, we got up and went to the farmer's market, then came home and did a lot more picking up and unpacking around the apartment. yes, still unpacking. we made a ton of progress this weekend, and are getting down to the last few things. the place is starting to look more like a home and less like a box depository.

in the afternoon, we watched the illini football game (more on that in a later post) and i made eggplant parmesan with some of the stuff we got at the farmer's market. we had a nice dinner with a bottle of gewurztraminer from round barn winery in michigan. after dinner, heath gave me a gift to mark us being together for six months. it's a really lovely silver necklace from tiffany & co (somewhere i never thought i'd ever own anything from). you can see it in the picture i posted below. he also had planned something special for sunday and monday, but that was still a surprise. (as a side note, i had given him an authentic ron santo cubs jersey the wednesday before when we went to see the cubs lose to the brewers.)

sunday morning, we packed up and hopped on the purple line to head into chicago. we got off at grand, and dropped our bags off at a hotel. we got some lunch at su casa, a mexican place in the area, before walking south along michigan avenue. we got on the trolley (it was PACKED), and
took that down to the museum campus. through work, heath has a membership to the field museum, and neither of us had been there in quite a while, so we headed there. it sounds dorky, but it was a lot of fun. i learned a lot about how much has changed regarding what scientists know about dinosaurs since i was a kid. they also have redone large portions of their permanent exhibits, which were a lot of fun to look at. the museum closed at 5, so they kicked us out. we saw the line for the trolley and felt sick. we were about to take a cab, then realized we could just slum it and take the bus ;). it was a good choice, since it was air conditioned, and less crowded than the taxi (totally worth $1.75). however, as it chugged up state street, we came to a stop, the lights went out, and the driver hopped off and started walking around the bus. weird. also, there was some beeping. weird. turns out it was a fire alarm. what?! shouldn't the bus driver have told us to get off the bus? oh well, there was no fire, but we got off and walked the rest of the way back to the hotel, which was fine because it was only a few blocks. the weather was great. we were wishing we had worn shorts instead of jeans all day, but it was alright. the river and the lake were beautiful shades of green and blue, respectively. :P we got back to the hotel and went down to the pool and spa and hung out there for a while. it was very relaxing and a lot of fun. then we headed back to the room to shower and get ready for dinner.

we got pretty dressed up and walked to the hancock building to eat at the signature room, which is on the 95th floor. it was already dark, so the view was amazing. we were seated by the window, but the view was partially obscured by one of the big black cross beams. it was still
really cool, though. dinner was fantastic. heath had several lobsters in various formats and i had a filet mignon that seriously melted in my mouth. overall a very romantic and relaxing dinner. after dinner, we considered going up to the lounge (on the 96th floor), but decided to go walk around and find somewhere else to hang out, since that lounge can get kind of snobby and was likely beyond packed at that point.

we walked down the streets, trying to figure out where to go to have a drink or two, and ended up coming across the redhead piano bar. fortunately we were dressed up, so they let us in (telling us how great we looked on the way in - how fun is that?!). we found a small table right away and listened to the pianist go through billy joel, elton john, coldplay, johnny cash, and all sorts of songs. we had a couple of drinks, people watched, and had a great time.

monday morning, we slept in since we were exhausted. by the time we checked out, it was pretty much lunchtime, so we tried to figure out where to eat. we settled on espn zone since it was sort of on the way back to the train and would be pretty fun. we had a bite to eat and then played some of the arcade games: bowling, air hockey, basketball, that old school hockey game with the plastic puck in the plexi dome (you know the one i mean), various racing games, and whatever else looked fun. it was definitely a good place to stop to just goof off and have fun.

the train ride home took forever, since somebody had apparently jumped on the tracks south of the station we were at. trains were mega delayed. it was hot and stuffy in the underground station, and was getting more and more crowded by the minute since there was a cubs game that was going to start in about an hour. fortunately, we had our suitcases to use as chairs and i had a couple magazines. that helped take the pain out of the wait. we let the lemmings cram themselves onto the first two trains that came into the station, knowing that due to the delay and backup, there would likely be a bunch of trains all in a row. we got on the third train and tucked ourselves into the end seats in one of the cars, where we could read in peace and our suitcases would be out of the way. once we finally got home, we rested and then did some more unpacking, making even more headway. it was a great weekend, despite the drama that sometimes accompanies public transit in chicago. it was really nice of heath to plan the little getaway for us.

next weekend: back to camping!

new career choice

private equity or hedge fund manager.

average salary: $657,000,000

nevermind that i don't even know what those jobs would entail.
probably a lot of golf.
after thoughtful consideration, i've determined that i'm down with that.

http://money.cnn.com/2007/08/28/news/economy/ceo_pay_workers/index.htm?eref=rss_topstories

camping trip

last weekend heath and i went camping in michigan at warren dunes state
park again. this time, heath's brother, luke, and his girlfriend,
rebecca met us there for the weekend. this trip started off absolutely
horribly.
1) we got a later start than anticipated, so we didn't get to the
campground until 10:30 pm, which meant setting up the tent and
everything in the dark.
2) when we got to our reserved site, we found that it was now a lake.
there were 3-5 inches of standing water on the entire site. so we had to
go get a new one from the booth, which, thankfully, was open.
3) we realized that when we left in such a hurry, we failed to bring
flashlights. yeah. whoops.
4) luke and rebecca were coming via a slightly different route than us,
and ended up getting stuck on 80/94, which was completely closed in both
directions due to flooding. they ended up being on the road for an
ungodly amount of time, and arriving at the campground at 3:30 in the
morning.
5) while at the campsite and trying to figure out luke and rebecca's
progress, heath could not have had a harder time getting a cell phone
signal, so calls kept dropping, adding to the frustration.
6) it rained overnight that night so everything we had left sitting out
was soaking wet by morning.

so that was the bad part. by late morning on saturday, things started to
turn around. poor rebecca, who had never been camping, was (rightly so)
not loving the whole wet/tired/crappy experience so far. once the sun
started to come out, things improved. we had lunch on the campfire,
managed to get some of our stuff to start drying out, and everybody's
mood improved. we hiked around a bit, and climbed the big dune near the
campground. after that, we decided to drive over to the beach and hang
out there (since we were all still sort of tired and worn out from the
challening 12 hours previous). we got to the beach and the waves were
HUGE! huge as in they would literally knock us down, great for
bodysurfing and inadvertently removing swimsuit tops and bottoms if one
failed to be diligent. it was a lot of fun, even though we got knocked
around a bit too much from time to time. after the beach, we went back
to shower and eat. unfortunately, heath had to be on his phone and
laptop for several hours dealing with a work issue. once that was over,
we sat by the fire a bit longer and hung out before going to bed. sunday
was pleasant, too, we slept in and got to picking up the site to get
ready to go home.

overall, it ended up being a really nice time. we had a lot of fun with
luke and rebecca and laughed a ton despite the horrendous beginning of
the trip. we're hoping to go camping again before winter comes, possibly
in two weeks out near where heath grew up. hopefully it won't be
immediately following torrential downpours!

2nd worst ever

2nd worst commute of my life tonight. ridiculous storms ripped through northern illinois today, from the far south suburbs of chicago up to the wisconsin border. trees were ripped from the ground all over the area, there was high standing water in areas that were already flooded from earlier this week, downed powerlines, part of a roof on lake shore drive (pictured below. more pictures here). as i drove home, the tornado sirens went off, and i was rerouted way off my normal route several times, and my usual 35-40 minute commute took close to 2 hrs. scary hours. it was a huge downpour for most of the time and i couldn't wait to get home.

poor heath is making his way back from champaign, where he has been for the last few days for work. he's stopped of south of the city to wait out the next wave or so of the storm to see if driving conditions/roads/etc improve enough to make the rest of the drive. i'm hoping he can make it home because i miss him, but if it's too dangerous to drive, and he has to get a hotel for the night, i'd rather have him do that than drive in unsafe conditions.

hopefully the weather is good enough for our camping trip this weekend. i'm mainly hoping it stops in time that we don't have to set tents and stuff up in the rain!

still single?

i found this list posted on a website and thought it was fairly humorous. all you married's out there are already safe, but those of us who are still single should take heed....

http://radaronline.com/from-the-magazine/2007/08/100_reasons_youre_single_1.php

Why are you still single? Possibly because you...

1. Call Grey's Anatomy simply "Grey's"
2. Have entertained the notion that "the Axe Effect" is real
3. Own tie-dyed gym clothes
4. Purchased your dining room set with Marlboro Miles
5. Are only gay when you're drunk
6. Have written poetry inside a Starbucks
7. Wink in a rakish manner each time you tell a joke
8. Have a ferret on your shoulder
9. Call sex "the squishy squish"
10. Are Courtney Love

11. Hug amusement park mascots
12. Address acquaintances as "guy"
13. Use emoticons in handwritten letters
14. Own a "It's Not Going to Suck Itself" T-shirt
15. Initiate line dances
16. Have only one pickup line: "Why the long face?"
17. Posed shirtless for your MySpace page
18. Can't stop missing Anna Nicole
19. Scream out Wheel of Fortune answers
20. Call your therapist from work on speakerphone

21. Won't travel anywhere out of "blading distance"
22. Sleep on WWF sheets
23. Begin stories with, "I'm not a stalker, but ..."
24. Snack on Bac-Os
25. Know someone who knows someone who knows the Geico caveman
26. Flash devil horns in wedding photos
27. Eat with one arm guarding your plate
28. Refer to your PDA as a "Crackberry"
29. Have a dartboard in your kitchen
30. Own a calendar featuring babies dressed as cowboys

31. Call October "Rocktober"
32. Keep a dream journal
33. Own slot-machine gloves
34. Are the president of a fan club
35. Weave and distribute friendship bracelets
36. Have a "lucky" garter hanging from your rearview mirror
37. Prefer the "fist bump" when meeting strangers and always insist they "lock it in"
38. Refuse to remove your Bluetooth earpiece during sex
39. Take off work each year to celebrate Cinco de Mayo; are Irish
40. Have a disturbingly high thetan count

41. Display your framed degree from bartending school
42. Have been edited out of several Girls Gone Wild videos
43. Converse with angels
44. Refer to Target as "Tar-Jay"
45. Have ever said: "That's sooo Sagittarius"
46. Feel most comfortable in Tevas and jorts
47. Have a five o'clock shadow, on your ass
48. Wear a "No Spin Zone" windbreaker
49. Cry when you listen to Belle and Sebastian, then, still tearful, blog about it
50. Use an electronic device to smoke pot

51. Call underwear "panties"
52. Have more than zero stuffed animals on your bed
53. Live by two sartorial rules: pleated, stonewashed
54. Display samurai swords in your office
55. Think the energy crisis can be solved with crystals
56. Have ever dressed up as a penis or tampon for Halloween
57. Own a 60-inch flat-screen plasma television but sleep on a broken futon
58. Have taken more than one cell phone picture of your genitals
59. Close all correspondence with "Prayerfully Yours"
60. Consider Maroon 5 sort of "your group"

61. TiVo'd the entire run of Criss Angel Mindfreak
62. Use the word "scrumptious"
63. Have a Tasmanian Devil "tramp stamp"
64. List "Dungeon Master" on your business card
65. Carry an All Things Considered tote bag
66. Wouldn't be the person you are today without Mitch Albom's Tuesdays with Morrie
67. Subscribe to any massive multiplayer online gaming experience
68. Take advantage of the eight-at-a-time Netflix option
69. Have a rhyming nickname
70. Sold your forehead to goldenpalace.com

71. Have a "LaRouche '08" bumper sticker
72. Have taken a course on improving your oral sex technique
73. Will do anything for "shits and giggles"
74. Collect throwing stars
75. Have a bedside stack of Sudoku books
76. Can only make love to the Mighty Mighty Bosstones
77. Are infamous among your coworkers for your dead-on Baba Booey impression
78. Own all 24 volumes of Now That's What I Call Music!
79. Are O.J. Simpson
80. Have a screensaver of you posing with your Frisbee golf bros

81. Refuse to drink any beer that hasn't been "beechwood aged"
82. Have cellulite on your face
83.  Refer to yourself as a "vagitarian"
84. Have a Web shrine devoted to a long-deceased pet
85. Consider riddles a great way to break the ice
86. Purchase meals solely for their tie-in products
87. Get visibly angry during Apple vs. PC debates
88. Are known among your girlfriends as "Heavy Flow"
89. Feel you've found the deeper meaning behind Meatloaf's "Paradise by the Dashboard Light"
90. Own all the Matrix novelizations

91. Raise iguanas
92. Posted your profile on Sean Hannity's "Hannidate"; are black
93. Have a "Peeing Calvin" decal on your hatchback
94. Work at Radar
95. Are learning to play the bagpipes
96. Don't like Insane Clown Posse's music per se, but think their philosophy is sound
97. Phone in long-distance radio dedications
98. Posted a Craigslist "Missed Connections" ad to find the kid who groped you on the subway
99. Believe the mouth is self-cleaning
100. Have had something on your face since the late '90s

testing... testing... some new things

evidently, there is this cutesy feature by which you can post to your blog via email, so i'm giving it a try. this will be handy if i feel the need to blog something while away from a computer, since i can email from my cell phone. such a nerdy girl i am.

on an unrelated note, but one i wanted to blog about nonetheless. i received some sad news about a family member earlier today. sometimes things like this happen, but i think it hit a lot of us extra hard because of what a happy time everybody had last weekend at my cousin, Jason's wedding. it's hard to live this far away from the rest of my family at times like this. i feel like i want to be there to give support, despite not really knowing what i would do to be supportive in this situation. i hope that everybody in my family knows that even though i don't live right there, i am thinking about them, and am (usually) kept in the loop with any big news. thank goodness for the internet. it certainly has the ability to shorten the miles. i know that if we didn't have blogs and picture sites, i'd be missing out on a lot of what happens with my sister, ron, and lucy. i know that mindy and i are a lot better about emailing each other and keeping in touch now that we have the blogs.

new feature: i'm going to try to be good about sticking to this, and it should be easier if this mobile blogging thing works. i'm going to try to post a positive thing every day. something i'm thankful for or that made me smile. i find that sometimes i focus too much on the negative and forget to appreciate the positive as much as i should. i'm sure we've all been there, and know that when we take time to consciously acknowledge goodness and happiness around us, things improve across the board. so, going back to my last paragraph, today's happy thing is that the internet allows me to keep in closer contact with my friends and family who live far away. my hope is that my parents get some high speed internet someday so that they can be more in the loop with our blogging etc.

update: it worked!

chicago traffic

since heath and i will be venturing to michigan this weekend for my cousin's wedding, i thought i'd take a look at the chicago traffic situation, since the city itself lies immediately between us and the road to michigan. beautiful, no? don'tcha just love all the red and little caution signs everywhere?! i think we'll be waiting a few hours before getting on the road tonight.

frivolous lawsuits rule

this has to be the best one. ever.

link

be sure to read all the way through to the end to see the list of defendants for previous lawsuits filed by this fella. for the record, michael vick was already crossed out for my fantasy football draft, but now i think i'll have to DOUBLE cross him out. at least somebody is finally calling vick out on a personal level. enjoy.

thank you

i wanted to set this out as a separate post from the race report, particularly since that post grew to be so long.

i am so lucky to have the people that are in my life. they were unbelievably supportive leading up to and during the race.

heath was there pretty much daily, especially in the last two months. at times, i struggled with self-doubt and worry about being able to do this race, and i can be pretty bull-headed, so putting up with me in those funks was no small task. i appreciate his patience as i worked to handle what i was facing. he was definitely the tough-love guy when i needed it, and yeah, i needed it at times. he was there for everything i needed (which included a lot of carrying things around) and never complained about any of it.

my parents and sister and ron were saved from having to deal with that as much, and were able to just be amazing supporters. i know how proud they are of me for this, and it meant so much to me that they got up so early to drive down for the race. all of them (and lucy), along with heath did a lot of sitting around that day. i was out on the course for long stretches, and it must've been fairly boring for them at times, but they didn't seem to mind at all. it meant the world to me to have them all at the finish line and after the race with me.

my extended family also sent words of encouragement. my aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents wrote little notes to me (along with a few sketches) to wish me luck in my race. knowing that they were thinking of me from afar was really something amazing. i got a couple of congratulatory cards from grandparents after the race, too.

i had so many friends and family donate money to the leukemia and lymphoma society on my behalf. their donations are going to a great cause, and i'm so grateful that i was able to make my goal so quickly with their support!

i write this thank you in specific reference to the triathlon, but in actuality, this support is always there, and always has been. whatever i've faced or accomplished, my family and loved ones have been there to support and congratulate me. of course they are proud of me for this big accomplishment, but they have always been proud of me, for anything i've done, small or big. it gives one tremendous strength to know that they have that love and support.

so, thanks for everything, always. i know i tend to take it for granted because it's always been there, but when i step back and look at what an interested, involved, supportive family i have, i realize that it is quite rare, and that i'm really truly lucky.

whirlpool steelhead 70.3 race report (finally!)

Okay, I think keeping everybody waiting for over a week is long enough. Just a warning, this is going to be a long post…extremely long…

Overall, this race went better than I could’ve ever imagined. I’d be lying if I said I was anywhere near 100% compliant with my training regimen, but I still managed to make it through the race without too much difficulty. Yes, I walked good portions of the run, but I’m okay with that, since the most important thing to me was just to finish the race, and I did that with plenty of time to spare.

The week leading up to the race, I tried to really focus on telling myself that I could cover the distance. The bike ride, was, after all, only a ten mile bike ride done 5 and a half times or so, right? And the run? That was merely doing a 10K run twice, plus some change. The swim, just swim till you get to the end. Easy. So, I basically convinced myself that 70.3 miles, was, in fact, not really all that far to go. It was good because it helped me get through the race, but now, after more than a week, it is just sinking in just how far that really was, and it sort of freaks me out a little that I was able to do it.

The 1.2 Mile Swim:

I was running a little late getting to the swim start (whoops!), but managed to line up and get my wetsuit on and zipped up with a few minutes to spare before they called my wave: Wave #5, red swimcaps, leaving at 7:15. It was probably best that I didn’t have a ton of time to stand there and stew and get nervous. I walked up to the edge of the water and waited for the horn. We all splashed our way in, some girls diving in when it was still too shallow, then getting up and running some more before re-diving in. Once it got to about thigh deep, I started doing the dolphin dives, where you dive in to go forward, then stand up and dive in again. Once it got deep enough, I started to actually swim. This was the ONLY time during the race that I felt like quitting. I don’t know if it was the wetsuit, or my nerves finally catching up with me, but I felt like I couldn’t breathe. No matter how much I tried to calm myself down, I felt like I was gasping for air. I unzipped the top of my wetsuit a couple inches, and did the breast stroke for a bit. I looked for a kayak or sea-doo or somebody to rescue me. It’s probably good there were none around, or I might have quit. Instead I just kept going. I abandoned the dual-sided breathing technique I had worked so hard for, and breathed every other stroke, always breathing to the right, where I could sight the buoys and the shoreline (which seemed forever away). The swim went South to North, with the sun in our eyes as it rose above the treeline. I got into a rhythm and noticed I started passing some of the people in my wave (red caps). I was being passed, too, but that was okay, since I knew stronger groups were behind me and that was inevitable. I ended up losing track of time in the water. I just went buoy to buoy until I got to the end. It could’ve been 10 minutes or 2 hours, I had no idea how long I’d been swimming. I figured though, that due to my problems at the beginning, I was probably way off my pace. I was okay with that, and just wanted to get through the swim. After massaging out a calf cramp after the last buoy on the last stretch into shore (ouch!), I made my way onto the beach, walking up toward transition. I glanced at my watch, and it was somewhere around 50 minutes, which is not as far off my pace as I feared. It gave me a boost for getting on the bike. I didn’t let myself think about how much I had yet to go ahead of me.

Transition 1

I got into transition, and managed to yank my wetsuit off. I took my time to make sure I had everything. Put on my cycling shoes (after rinsing my feet a bit), put on my helmet and sunglasses, changed my mind and decided to proceed sans gloves. They didn’t want to go on over my wet hand anyhow. I made sure I had enough food and unracked my bike. I failed to notice that I had my cleat covers still on my shoes (doh!), so that made clipping in a bit of a challenge, but I yanked them off and was on my way.

The 56 Mile Bike Ride:

It was shady and smooth for the first portion of the bike section. I settled in right away and felt good. I was in my small chainring (= harder, faster gears) for most of the race (save for some of the hills), and felt great. I got to the 10 mile marker before I knew it and still felt really strong. I lost my chain on a hill between 10 and 15, but got it back on and kept going. At the mile 15 marker, it hit me that I was really going to be able to finish the race. I kind of got a little emotional, and was really excited. Even though I had been telling myself, especially in the week leading up to the race, that I was going to be able to finish, there was that lingering doubt in my mind and it disappeared right then. I felt like I was flying along. I managed to eat enough and hydrate enough, though Gatorade did not taste good at all to me. I was getting passed by lots and lots of guys, who had made up the time gap from their later swim starts. So many people were so friendly as they passed, having brief conversations, telling me I was doing great. That type of support and sportsmanship does wonders. You don’t feel so alone out there, despite it being an individual sport. I tried to remember to take in the scenery. Through the rolling hills, there were lots of fruit farms, and it was such a pleasant day. There were stretches of rougher pavement, which were painful, but then there were stretches that felt like I was just flying on. I was cruising over 20mph without even feeling it. Before I knew it, I was at the halfway point, and still felt great. By the time I got to mile 40, though, my legs started burning. My thighs were getting tired. I ate some more to get some more fast carbs in me, and dealt with the headwind I was suddenly facing. Ugh! And more hills. I got a little discouraged for a stretch. Then I reminded myself: “You are biking 56 miles. It’s SUPPOSED to hurt.” I changed my perspective and realized I should be grateful that I didn’t start hurting until the 40s, when I could have been hurting at mile 20! At this point in the race, I was so close to being done, that I just had to push through. Some of the hills at the end were toughies, but nothing I couldn’t handle. I just kept pedaling. I saw my family cheering for me as I made my way to the bike dismount in front of transition. I had made it through the longest portion in under my goal time of 3 and a half hours.

Transition 2

I took my time in transition 2 so that my legs would feel good on the run. I had stretched on the bike from time to time, keeping the hamstrings and calves as loose as I could. I racked my bike, yanked off the helmet and shades, changed into my running shoes, grabbed some food, and my visor and started the brisk walk to the run exit. I saw my family again as I left for the run.

The 13.1 Mile Run:

I still felt as if I had a ton of energy as I took off on the run. I think part of that is due to not allowing myself to think ahead to how much was left. I just wanted to take one mile at a time. I started out at an easy pace and quickly came to the bottom of a large-ish hill that was quite steep. Knowing that my calves would probably seize up if I tried to run it (which happened in my last triathlon and was horrible!), I decided to walk up it as a warm up. When I got to the top, we were already almost at one mile. I started to jog again and got a sip of water and Gatorade at the first aid station. I just kept going along, trying to enjoy the experience. I would now say that running is my weakest sport of the three. I walked a lot more than I wanted to. The one nice thing about walking was getting to chat with other people that were also walking. I met a number of people out there and everyone I talked to was very friendly. The course winded up some roads and into the Whirlpool corporation campus. The paved path turned through the woods and around and through a marshland type area. It was really pretty and pleasant. I still felt pretty good as I got to the 6.5 mile mark (halfway!) and began my 2^nd loop. I liked that it was looped since then it meant that I knew exactly what to expect for the second half and how much was left. I wound through the paths again. The ice cold sponges at the aid stations were wonderful. The day was slightly overcast, which was great, since I could feel myself really heat up when the sun would come out. My stomach started to give me a little bit of an issue around mile 8, but I had some banana, which seemed to help, and felt a 2^nd (3^rd? 4^th?) wind around mile 9.5. There were some kids with water guns out on the course, which was a lot of fun. They loved squirting us and we appreciated the cool down. By the end of the race, my tri top was soaked, but I think it was as much water as it was sweat. The last couple miles were long. Around mile 11, my legs came to a stop without my permission. It was a weird sensation. I literally felt like they just disobeyed me, “I didn’t tell you you could stop!” It just became a bit more effortful to keep them moving. But I was so close, and I knew we got to run DOWN that big hill (the one I walked up at the beginning). As I turned the corner at the bottom of the hill, I could hear the music and the announcer and it felt so amazing to know how close to the end I was!

The Finish:

One last left turn, and there it all was. Kind of a dune valley, lined on both sides with people cheering, waiting for their friends and loved ones to finally turn that corner. I saw my family as I approached the finish line. 7 hours, 10 minutes, and 32 seconds. It was such a great feeling to get to the end. I had actually finished this race that had been looming since February. This race that a month ago I was terrified of. I got my finisher’s medal, and my towel. They had a bucket of ice cold Berry flavored Gatorade rain, which is my favorite. The guy dunked my towel in the ice bucket for me and I got a cookie and plum from the finisher tent. I saw Sarah (Heath’s friend’s wife, who stayed with the night before) wave to me from the medical tent, where she was working. She later said that I looked a lot better than a lot of people that cross the finish line. She also told us of a few people that had to discontinue due to injury, dehydration, or other reasons. I’m so thankful that I made it through without any of those difficulties. It would be so hard to train for so long only to have something like that derail your race.

After the race:

I found my family after I left that tent, and they all gave me hugs, despite me being so gross and wet. I was still flying high on my adrenaline and endorphins, so I felt really good. We sat in the pavilion and waited for my turn at a massage, which took too long so didn’t happen. I stretched a bit and talked with my family, who had sat there all day waiting for me and being there to see me at every opportunity they could. I got some food, but wasn’t very hungry. Then I started to get tired. You can see in some of the pictures Mindy took how tired my eyes look. I also started to get cold. After a little while, we gathered up, and went back to transition so I could pick up my bike and gear. We walked the mile or so back to the cars, and said our goodbyes. Heath and I headed back to Dan and Sarah’s so I could shower and we could get back on the road to head to Elgin for Heath and Dan to race the extra muddy version of the Muddy Buddy.

In the end I raised $2360 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Being part of Team in Training is really special, and I recommend it to anybody who is thinking about it. There are a wide variety of races that you can train and raise money for. Wearing that uniform made me feel really good about the cause I was doing this for. You are definitely part of a larger community as part of Team, and you have that much more support and fans on the course and cheering from the sidelines. It was great!

Oh, but I had the WORST tan lines EVER!

soon

soon, i will have another post. i know it's been about a week since the Big Race, but between travel, being exhausted, and other general business things, i've not had time to blog. i also want to make sure i do it justice, and not throw a post together without putting some thought into it. i do have notes jotted down. for a brief rundown, check my sis's account of it and check out her pics.

we have a houseguest coming tonight (eek! the place is a semi-mess), but i should be able to find some time this weekend to put together something for y'all.

t-minus

three days until the big race. i'm pretty nervous, but getting excited, too. i'm going to be packing up my tri-bag tonight and trying to get everything organized and ready to go.

i'm trying not to think about the numbers for the distance i'll be covering, but it's a challenge not to. i keep trying to focus on crossing the finish line and thinking about the kind of mindset i'll have to have to get there. at a certain point, it becomes as much or more of a mental challenge than a physical one. trying to keep myself going for 7 or so hours is going to be tough. i'll likely do what i normally do, which is break it down into segments. the swim will be to get from buoy to buoy. then i'll break the 56 mile bike ride down into distance segments, maybe 10 mile chunks. the run will be broken down by water stations, which are going to be approximately every mile. i tend to divide the total distance by some number and then figure out what proportion of the race i have gone and what i have remaining. it's sometimes discouraging, but doing the math in my head is a good distraction. i'm also going to focus on enjoying the scenery and singing in my head. the main thing i have to do is shut my brain up when i feel like quitting, which i certainly will feel at some point.

i've got some new songs that i'm going to be putting on a cd. for every tri i've done, i've made a cd that includes songs that are motivating to listen to in the car on the way to the race and in the days around the race. the song of the moment is paralyzer by finger eleven. i'd heard it on the radio a few times, but had sort of forgotten about it when heath pointed it out to me last night on his myspace project playlist, so now i know who it's by and can add it to the others i have lined up.

my family sent me some very pretty flowers at work yesterday to show their support, which was really nice. also, my grandparents sent me an email to let me know that something is coming in the mail from my extended family on my mom's side (i guess they were too excited about it and couldn't wait to let me know!), with little notes from everybody wishing me luck. i'm looking forward to getting that. hopefully it arrives today. it's so great how supportive people are being.

i'm definitely trying to keep my mindset more on excited and less on nervous. when i think about what i'm going to be doing, it is really a great feeling. i can't wait to cross the finish line. it's for a great cause and it also represents a lot of things personally for me. without going into the personal details, just stepping up to the starting line is an indication of how much i've grown and changed, especially in the last year, and have taken tremendous strides toward really living the life i want to live. the only way i won't finish the race is if i miss a time cutoff or if i get carted off in an ambulance. let's hope and pray that i cross the finish line upright with a HUGE smile on my face!

my left foot

yesterday, heath was planning on going fishing with a friend of his. due to some last minute switching, i ended up going along with them. i haven't been fishing in awhile, so it was a lot of fun to go out there. i borrowed heath's 2nd rod and reel and his other fishing stuff, but i want to definitely get some of my own for future ventures. we got a much later start than anticipated, so it was too late to rent a boat. as a result, we did some shore fishing, but the lake was really busy where we were at (near a main launch). mark and heath had a couple of bites, but i had nothing. even though we had no luck, it was still a good time to just get outside and have a break from the usual stuff.

the highlight of the afternoon was when i miscast (whoops) and my line went over a giant log sticking out of the water up the shoreline by where heath and mark were standing. being the smart girl that i am, i walked up the shore that way rather than reeling it up into the log. being not that smart of a girl, i failed to see the big mucky hole between me and them. in went my left foot.

up. to. my. knee. ew.

so i yanked my leg back up out of it, but my adorable mary jane croc was no longer on my foot. crap. since i was only able to deal with one disaster at a time, i gave my pole to heath, who, rightly, found this very amusing. then, i had to work up the nerve to reach down into the shoe-eating muckhole (up to my elbow! ew!) to try to fish my croc out. to add to the fun, heath kept reminding me that whatever was in there was probably gone by now. thanks.

i managed to feel around and find the back strap of the croc and yank it out. it was completely coated with and filled with sludge. thankfully they are all rubbery and stuff, so i was able to just rinse it off in the lake water. but, overall, ew.

oh, and the line didn't end up getting tangled. heath had it all reeled in by the time i retrieved my muck shoe.

we'll probably go fishing again soon, maybe out by heath's parents' where his boat is (yeah, you read that right, my boyfriend has a boat. jealous? :P), or back up to where we were yesterday and just rent a boat. next time, i'll be more careful where i step.