Chicago Tri

Just a quick recap from Chicago. Going to bed tonight very happy as a result of one of Team Fight's most successful days so far this season. How cool is it that sisters took on Chicago and finished 4th and 6th?? I know, not quite Venus and Serena, but we had a few major obstacles to overcome in our sister act and now things are finally coming together like we hoped they would.

I could be disappointed that my race didn't meet my expectations, but I'm way too excited about the way Karl raced today. We've trained really hard all summer and that training is starting to pay off--looks like Im gonna have to wait til the next race though!

Thanks for all the cheers today!!

Chicago Tri

Just a quick recap from Chicago. Going to bed tonight very happy as a result of one of Team Fight's most successful days so far this season. How cool is it that sisters took on Chicago and finished 4th and 6th?? I know, not quite Venus and Serena, but we had a few major obstacles to overcome in our sister act and now things are finally coming together like we hoped they would.

I could be disappointed that my race didn't meet my expectations, but I'm way too excited about the way Karl raced today. We've trained really hard all summer and that training is starting to pay off--looks like Im gonna have to wait til the next race though!

Thanks for all the cheers today!!

Now that I have a blog app for my iPhone I can now blog on the go. Only problem: I have the free blog lite and it doesn't allow picture uploads. There's an upgrade for that which I might have to purchase because there have been complaints that this blog needs more photos.

This is a lighter week of training because Chicago is this weekend! Today we got in a treadmill run and a 5k swim at the lake. Just about as opposite as 2 workouts can get. One inside in a small gym/room with a view of people getting off the ferry and scurrying into the world financial center. The other, outside in the country air with views of cliffs and very relaxed people sitting by the shore.

Trail race recap

Yesterday morning we took a short drive into the catoctin mountains to a place called Thorpewood, a retreat/camp the runs programs for at-risk youth. After not being able to race a triathlon on Sunday, I still wanted to do some kind of race as a tune up for Chicago next weekend and I wanted to get in a good workout before spending the rest of the day "partying." I looked on the race calendar and was shocked to see a 10k in thurmont and decided that we couldn't not do a race happening right down the road...even if it was an xterra style trail run!!

We got up to the race site and quickly realized that the race was going to be a tough one. Since it was a 2 loop course, we decided to do the first loop as a jog to get a sense of the conditions and then start racing on the second loop. Karl and I ran together for the first loop, coming thru the 5k in 22 min. Yes, it wAs that technical!! Very high chance of ankle twisting plus a long switchback steep climb. But, there were also a few sections that were more of a typical cross country course, so I used these to pass as many people as I could. With about 3/4 of a mile left, I found myself in the lead overall I ran in and crossed the finish line to no fanfare--the people at the finish line thought I was finishing the 5k (one loop) fun run. It wasn't til the guy in second cross the line that they announced the winner. I had to say excuse me but I think I just won. We all got a good laugh out of it. Karl finished a minute back in 4th overall. With all this running we've been doing, a 43 min 10k doesn't seem right. But, I have a new appreciation for xterra triathletes and a brand new pair of running shoes to show for it.

It was great to see everyone at the farm yesterday! I'm sure there will be lots of photos going around on the various blogs. Sarah put on a very fun spread for E's first bday--this was not your typical farm family birthday party! Remember the one when karl got jars of spaghetti sauce as a gift?? We were in college and starving on a tight budget!!

Saturday night was fun too. We helped wah put the finishing touches on the party planning and had a summery dinner cooked by my mom. Afterwards, we went out to pick up Klondike bars -- something that my grandmother always had in the freezer. It wouldn't have been the perfect summer day at the farm without ice cream!!

Officially the Weekend

Now that my almost unthinkably hard track workout is successfully completed, it is just about time to start the weekend.  Even with sore and tired legs from a week of hard running, I was able to put together a fast run this morning that hopefully will translate to a fast 10k in my next race.  

After the workout, I went straight for the farmers market to get the perfect recovery food:  coffee flavored milk from Ronnybrook (a local dairy).  So good and cold and creamy.  They also had some nice looking yellow tomatoes, which I am going to use as part of my house staging for the 10 guests we have coming to stay with us tonight.  

There's a checklist on my new kitchen chalkboard that I have to do something about.  Time to load up a Dead Pod and start knocking things off the list.  That's my alloted time limit for cleaning and chores--one show.  

Another busy day of training and doing other stuff.  Actually, today's training wasn't that hard...other than those 100m's on 1:15...that was a little hard.  Going back to the pool again, now that it is sunny out.  We could go up to the lake, like we did yesterday afternoon, but we could end up waiting out another thunderstorm.  Yesterday we had to sit for 1 hour under a rock ledge while we waited for a thunderstorm to pass.  Not a bad place to be stuck during a storm, especially if you have a big towel to keep warm.  

We're expecting a full house of guests this weekend for our annual Shawanathon and I have a bunch of things to do before that all happens--better get back to it.  

Hot Summer Day

Yesterday and today have been the first hot summer day's we've had.   Finally some almost 90 degree temps!  We haven't even had to use our air conditioner one time this summer...which has been really nice.  

We got out for a 2.5 hour ride this afternoon with a few trips up and down the mountain in sun.  Next up, evening masters swim practice.  

Grimaldo's Mile

Early yesterday morning, we took the trip down to Coney Island for the Grimaldo's Mile swim race. We had to leave NP at 4:30am to get to Brooklyn in time for the 730 start. As with most races (or most things) in NYC, the competition was tough. The water was choppy too and most of the time it felt like I was swimming in place. We couldn't see a thing because the buoys were smaller than the waves. Eventually I caught sight of the eventual winner's arm ahead of me, so I had something to look at. I worked for about 15 minutes to catch up to the arm - that belonged to Margie P. - and eventually got there at the very last turn buoy. We both sprinted to the shore, I was a few meters back, but the race was already decided by then. However, as I stood up out of the water to run to the finishing shoot, I was taken by surprise by a "sand pass" by the swimmer (Maggie S., one of my ITU triathlon friends) drafting behind me and ended up in 3rd overall. That's ok though because the trophies for the top 3 were ALL huge. The mile turned out to be more like a mile and a half--our total times were 27-something. Anyway, it was great open water experience, race against some really fast swimmers, and, or course, it was so much fun to see everyone there. Thanks to the 'rents for making the trip up to one of their old summer "favorite" places! The beach was empty because it was morning and it was sort of raining, but my mom reminded me of the times when she first went to CI and there were so many beach blankets and no possible paths to get to the water. She asked my dad what to do and he said you just have to walk on other people's blankets and they'll give you a dirty look, but that's ok.

Time to get ready to run, for almost 2 hours in the heat.

Right now I'm just about too tired to blog.  This has been a big week of training, staycationing and dealing with the wasp sting and aftermath.  It isn't quite over yet because tomorrow morning we are heading out to Brooklyn at 4:30 am for a 1 mile swim race--and I really hope there are no jelly fish in the ocean.

This morning I "slept in" (after not sleeping at all due to the wasp sting medicine) until 6:30 and then went out for a big workout.  Almost 3 hours TT practice + a 1 hr. run (30 min. of it up a mountain).  Afterwards, it was immediately into the pond for some quality time on the raft and a big lunch where I sampled just about everything other than the old condiments in the fridge.  

We've had a great staycation over the last 2 weeks.  I'd definitely take another stay-cay over a real vacation, with all the "work" travel this year.  We got so many house projects done and were able to get in some relaxing too.  SJ even came to the pool with me 5 times!!  

In honor of our last night, I'm going to find the energy to make something good for dinner -- hard not too with all the stuff we got from Brook Farm today.  

Bald Eagle!!

Yesterday SJ and I drove up to the DEP police station to pick up my bike -- where it safely spent the night after I had to leave it there when I was taken by ambulance to the Kingston hospital after my wasp sting.  The ambulance trip was not necessary but was required after they gave me the shot of adrenaline.  Anyway, we had to go back up the the reservoir area to get my bike, so we decided to make an afternoon of it and go for a ride on some new roads in the catskills.  

We started off the ride by crossing the reservoir on the bike/walking path in the picture above.  We saw this guy taking photos of something with a big camera and I glanced over to see what it was, thinking it was one of the many canada geese that were hanging out by the water's edge.  After a double take, I spotted the white head of a bald eagle!!  It was huge.  We immediately stopped to observe  while the eagle proceeded to continue eating his lunch (a fish).  The photographer was able to get really close to it.  We didn't get much closer because we didn't want to ruin the guys pictures.  You can kind of make out the white head in the pictures above.  

On our way back from the ride, we were crossing the same path when we spotted 2 eagles soaring/playing above the trees.  We rode over to where they were and got a good look at the 2 who were juveniles (didn't have the white head/tail).  It looked like they were almost fighting with each other.  

Our ride was a really good one--we found a 2 hour loop that was full of steep hills.  I tried to take it easy after the morning episode of the bee reaction returning after swim practice.  That wasn't fun.  Another epi pen to the leg, shots of benedryl & some kind of steroid.  Luckily, no hospital, just a trip to the Urgent Care place.  Really not the way I wanted to start off the day.  

I think I'm on the road to recovery today.  I'm on it with 3 different medicines.  

Bee Incident Revisited

This morning's bike ride was going really well.  I had just maxed out on the Dug Hill Rd. climb in Hurley and was cruising along the rollers when I felt something trying to sting my left shin.  I looked down and there was a big yellowjacket clinging to my lower let.  I tried to swat it off, but missed and by the time the pedal came back around, he stung me.  It hurt a little, but not too much, so I announced to SJ and Justin that I had been stung but was ok so we could keep riding.  I used the next intersection as an excuse to stop and assess the damage.  No stinger, but there was a little red dot from the sting.  No big deal, it still hurt, but only as much as a bee sting hurts, so we kept going on our ride around the reservoir.  A few minutes later my leg started itching, but not in the place of the sting, so I ignored and kept going.  Finally at about 40 minutes later, my head started itching and I could feel the sensation going down my back.  At this point, I knew--allergic reaction.  The hives were coming.  Just like they did when I got stung by a fire ant in Clermont 5 years ago.  We pulled over again and I took off my helmet which was a relief.  We checked and there weren't any hives, so we got back on the bikes and carried on.  No more than 5 minutes later, the feeling got worse.  It feels like when you have poison ivy and try to take a shower.  We stopped again and I took off my jersey and we got back on the bikes with the hope of making to the nearest town, Stone Ridge, 20 minutes away or more.  Not having a jersey was a relief but I could see the hives popping up everywhere.  We continued riding until we just happened to pass the DEP police station.  This was the first sign of life we'd seen since the sting.  Not a lot of car traffic out there.  We went in, figuring they might have some benedryl or at least some cool air.  As soon as we got inside, the reaction started to take off.  I could feel my face and eyes swelling and my breathing didn't feel great.  No sensation of my throat closing, but it did feel a little like I was still on my bike going up a moderately hard hill.  The cops at the DEP, who were very nice, thought it would be best to call an ambulance since they didn't have any benedryl.  After about 30 minutes, the emt's showed up and gave me an epi pen, a benedryl shot and a few other things that required an IV.  oh yeah, they also gave me oxygen with inhaler medicine in it.  The allergic reaction, which was still progressing up to that point, stopped within about a minute of the injection.  That was a huge relief because it was starting to get really uncomfortable.  Oh yeah, and to make matters worse, they couldn't find the vein for the IV, so I was poked and prodded too.  

After that, it was off to the hospital in an ambulance for the necessary 2 hour observance period required after an epi shot.  The entire way over there, I was reliving the infamous bee incident of '87.   That day, I managed to be the only one not stung, but I remember it vividly.  Sarah and Crissy crying, with multiple stings, being treated in the downstairs bathroom.  Karl, in the background, stumbling around with a sting right above her eye.  Finally at one point she said, I can't breathe.  At that point, my mom whisked her away to the thurmont guardian hose company and put her in an ambulance bound for Frederick hospital.  I'll never forget when the ambulance stopped on the side of 15 and waited for the life support vehicle.  My mom and I were in the car following and freaking out.  But, she was ok a few hours later, just like I'm ok now, a few hours later after the sting.  

Not how I wanted to spend the first dry, sunny day we've had in weeks, but at least everything turned out ok in the end!!

Danskin Philly Tri

Over the weekend, we traveled down to Philly (again) for the Danskin Philadelphia Sprint Tri.  The trip was a success, with Karl and I going 1-2 in the race.  Unlike the first 4 times we've raced in Fairmount park, the weather was extreme.  The day started off with a little thunder and lightening, then some rain, then a few brief moments of no rain, and finally a huge storm come in and forced the many racers off the course.  Since our wave went off first, we were already finished and getting our bikes out of transition when the worst of the storm hit.  We had to take cover in the food tent as it proceeded to get flooded with about 5" of rain (seriously) and as branches were falling down from trees and lightening - lots of it - seemed like it was about to strike.

It seems as if this storm made its way up the east coast--earlier it took its toll on Thurmont.  Luckily, the farm is OK (we hope!), but many of the trees are no longer.  From the looks of Crissy's pictures,  the tree that always dropped those big green tennis ball things on our badminton court was completely uprooted and fell across the neighbors driveway.  

More later, I have to go out for a hilly bike ride now.