Where to start, where to start....
Sorry to be a downer, but I'm going to start with some sad new. My friend Rodney, who I have known since college, lost his mother last week. His mom, Wanda K Booker, lost her battle with breast cancer. She was only 56. It was the third round of breast cancer and Wanda decided she fought all she could the first two times and upon the third, she would enjoy her days to the fullest and give in when the time came. She had a few fabulous weeks with her friends and family but when the end was near, it came fast. A sad, sad day.
The funeral was a very nice service. And in true southern, Baptist, African-American style, her funeral service was a celebration of life complete with daring fashion, the most incredible hats I've ever seen, lots of song, and a vocal congregation agreeing with the pastor. Being Catholic, our services are not "interactive." We get to sit, stand, and kneel and only when told to do so, we answer the priest. And it's not answering as much as it is formal response. Well, not at this church. If you have something to say, just shout it out. And if people agree with you, they will let it be known. Um hmmm, that's right. You know it's true.
Not to make light of the service at all, it was very touching but it's nice to see people celebrate an incredible life than mourn death. When I go, I'm having the same service. Start planning your outfit and making your hats people. I'm going to invite Heidi Klum and Nina Garcia who are going to vote on your creation as you enter the sanctuary. Make it work!
Since I attended the service, I had to rearrange my training schedule. I sort of bailed on my long swim; I just didn't have the time or the desire to go swim. But I did get 65 miles in on the bike in 3.5 hours and a 14-mile run in two hours. I bought new shoes last week and thought I'd break them in before my race. Let me tell you...these are the same exact shoes I've been running in for the longest time. Well, these weren't shoes. They were torture chambers. The first few miles I felt fine. And about mile 5 or 6 I started to "feel" my left foot. When running, you shouldn't feel anything. If you feel, it's no good. When I was done, my feet were killing me and I had two blisters. Twins. Lucky me. I got home, showered, went back to the store where I bought them and returned them. I have a new pair that I'll try out tonight. Wish me luck. Now is not the time to have shoe issues.
On a happier and more exciting note, this was the last big training weekend before the race! I am so glad to be out of peak training and into my taper. The race is 10 days away. I can't believe it! Redman Half-Ironman here I come, blisters and all!
Sunday afternoon Gayle, Davis, and I met with Chuck and Michelle who are the head coached of Fit 2 Train, the group I train and coach with. We planned out the rest of the year and started planning for 2010. I'm so excited. We are going to keep our Rookie/beginner group but also add a long-distance training program for beginners. No more details on that yet but I'm excited to have a plan and to get a group of people trained for a half-Ironman. And it will dovetail nicely with my Ironman training.
On Monday, a bunch of our Rookies had their first triathlon. It was so exciting to be out there, helping them set up their transition areas, calming nerves, and answering all the last minute questions. It was a hot day, the race started late, and I was glad to be spectating and not racing. Everyone did awesome and finished. Gayle, Davis, and I couldn't be prouder. We even had a few place in their division! Here are some pics.
The day started with the kids’ tri. These kids were so cute. There was one little girl with training wheels on her bike. I didn't get a pic but it was the cutest thing ever.
Here is our group all sticking together before the swim start. Ugh, I remember the anxiety like it was just minutes ago. The nerves, the fear, the OMG, I am crazy.
The next pic is of Brian. Brian is kind of amazing. Brian isn't in our group but he's an honorary member. Brian is dating Amanda, the daughter of Gayle's boyfriend Steve (Gayle is the head Rookie coach). Brian has a horrible bone/joint disease, which makes walking hard and running almost impossible. But he can swim like a fish. He started swimming with Gayle a few months ago just for exercise. He's a good swimmer and has been swimming for years prior to Gayle. But that was the extent of it. Then Gayle, Amanda, and Brian decided they would form a team and do tri's as a relay team. Brian swims, Gayle bikes, and Amanda runs. Needless to say it's a heartwarming story. Brian has decided that he is going to compete in a short-distance tri next year. Gayle is going to coach him. His doctors have cleared it. It's going to be hard for him. He'll have to walk the 5k, who knows how his biking will be, but he'll finish. Unfortunately, his disease is only getting worse and walking will be impossible in the future. So, we're super proud of him.
Post-race team photo.
And the most wonderful coaches ever.
After a long day of spectating and cheering we made it back home. I took a long nap and Shawn went to see a movie. When I woke up from my nap, I was hungry. So I pulled out my leftovers from the previous night and threw it in the microwave. The tray had silver/metal on it. Who knew????? After a minute or so I smelt something burning only to find the microwave in flames. I thought animals were supposed to sense danger. Not Luke. He was sleeping on the chair and never even moved. I guess he's not going to wake us up in the middle of the night to save us from the burning building. Luckily, there was a big bowl on the counter so I grabbed it, filled it with water, and threw it into the microwave. Didn't really work. So I filled it again, and tried to douse the flames. After a few attempts, the flames were out. But not before turning the microwave black and scorching the cabinets above. AND my food was ruined. Soaking wet. I'm glad I didn't burn the house down but there were a few seconds where I thought I should abandon my firefighting efforts, grab my valuables, the dog, and my cell phone and call 911. The house still stinks. No clue how to get the burnt smell out. But no one got hurt.
Nothing new on the house-hunting front. We're going to meet with a builder and see if building is a possibility. There is nothing on the market that we like enough to buy and what is there is still priced more than it should be. Ugh, if only Dallas was hit with the housing bust like so many other markets.
Be careful in the kitchen y'all and make sure you have a working fire extinguisher. Also test your smoke alarms and makes sure they work. I know mine don't.
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