It's been HOW LONG since I Updated?!

It's been a hectic week. We had a rally for state workers to get ready for at work, so I was working 14 hours days pretty much all week. It was all I could do to stay sane, and left very little time for blogging.

So, the last couple weeks in review:
First, the 5k and fun run that I did last weekend. It went well, I managed to be 3rd female and come in in just about 20 min exactly (dammit, I'm gonna break 20 one day!), and had a good time. Race felt good, even if it was a little rushed- I did the fun run with Nethaniel, the 3 yr old I sit for, and it took us 18 min, ended 5 min before the 5k started, so it was a bit hectic getting from one place to the other. Still, I was super proud of my boy!
Here we are:

So, the weekend was good. Then, work work work, but luckily, because I worked Monday and Tuesday, I could sneak out Wednesday at 4 to hit the track for my first ever track races! I got there and Joe, the guy who ran the awesome track clinic I went to, had a sweet track bike for me to borrow, and gave me all kinds of great advice.
I got there and was setting up, when 2 guys my age came over and asked if I knew Charlie or Matt. Turns out, they had met my 2 best teammates at a race in Newark and were really good friends with them. So, we hung out the whole race, and I made two new excellent friends. More on that later though...
Track racing was fun, though with a Womens field instead of categories, I was racing against people who knew what they were doing and were Cat 1-3s. Which I am not. So I didn't do amazing, but I think I held my own for my first race. Joe said I did really well, especially for a first time out, and I had a lot of fun just going FAST!

(Not the best picture of me, but whatever.)

Then, I worked, and worked, and worked. On Thursday though, instead of taking a dinner break, I called up Andy, the guy from the track (who goes to Rutgers Newark) and convinced him to do his first run since high school with me at a nearby park. Thank god! It was a great run, got to stretch my legs instead of sitting in my office eating, and Andy is hella fun. So, good day in all, though when I showed up for the 6-9 shift, my bosses made fun of me for showing up in running gear. Whatever!

At least on Friday, I got to hang out with this little guy instead of being at the office:

Saturday was a huge rally down in Trenton for state workers and teachers- 35000 people, to be precise. It was great, but hot and humid, and I was working taking video and pictures, so I got a teensy bit dehydrated. Working 10 hours on a Saturday is never fun.
Then, right after that, I had to get home, shower and get to my cousin's birthday party where they attempted to get me to play beer pong. Yeah right. I was home and in bed at 9, totally burned out.

I needed the sleep though, because bright and early Sunday, I headed to Fort Lee to meet Andy and Konrad for a 6 hour ride to Bear Mountain- all hills. What a great day! More pictures of that to come, but I was so proud of them for making it for 6 hours, and super proud of me for tackling those hills- especially the 5 miles up Bear Mountain. Then, descending it without using brakes! Charlie and Matt would have been so proud! Andy and I are going to do some open water swimming next weekend, weather permitting, and I'm super stoked. I think I may have convinced him to try a tri with me this summer! Yes, another convert!!

So, now that I had a rest week (not much rest, more work), I'm feeling pretty pumped about the half IM in 2 weeks, and pretty ok about Ironman in general. I'm glad to get back to training a lot, I missed it! Plus, now that I can race track on Wednesdays, that makes things more fun.

Speaking of which, off to ride with Charlie. Hopefully, more time to update in the near future...

Molly and the Bad Mood

Ever get that "the weight of the world is on my shoulders" feeling? The one where when someone suggests changing a picture hanging on your wall, you end up slamming doors and refusing to come inside the house?

Well, welcome to my world the past few days.

It seems like everything is piling up all at once: student loans that need to start getting paid off after not being aware that they existed, a full semester's tuition to start scrounging for, a bunch of race related expenses looming in the near future, a ton of work at the office that is going to take up most of my free time in the coming weeks, the nannying job that I love so much being over in August because the family is moving, having some kind of godawful sinus infection that's been coming back pretty much monthly for the past 5 months or so, sore legs from something, either track or weight training, an apartment that needs some serious cleaning and repairs, stuff for the cycling team that I need to do but I need other people to start cooperating, and being bogged down with Ironman training. Not to mention friends that have been either busy with finals, missing in action, or just aren't hanging out anymore. So yeah, I'm in a bit of a bad mood. Not even bad, just... and I hesitate to say it, but depressed. Normally I can snap myself out of it, but lately I've been in a bit of a funk and I'm having a tough time getting out of it.

Hence, the lack of posting. I prefer to post less pessimistic things, since I don't like being bummed out and therefore prefer to not write when I am. But I figured an update and explanation was in order, and frankly, I had a desperate need to vent.

Also, I have to admit: I cannot wait to be done with Ironman. It's one of my life goals, and I would kill to race at Kona, but Ironman is just not where my heart is. Give me sprint or Olympic distance, let me go fast!!

Which leads me to the one major high point in my life at the moment. I never thought I would say it, but I loved the track clinic on Sunday. There's something awesome about getting back on a fixed gear bike- I love handling them! And as for the banked corners, bring it on! It was fun, I made friends, and next Wednesday I'm doing my first race at Kissena, thanks to the fact that one of the organizers works right near me so he can bring me to the track and home after racing. Score! It turns out I don't actually suck at it, but we'll see what racing brings. I just need something to do every so often that involves going really fast... endurance is great and all but it's mentally taxing in a way short course never is for me.

This weekend I'm also doing a fun run with my 3 and 4 year old... the kids I nanny for, of course. Them, their mom (my good friend) and I are going to do a fun run, then Mommy and Molly are doing a 5k right after. I'm goaling for a sub20 min race, but with all the endurance stuff I've been doing, I don't know how fast I'll be. Plus, if this stupid cough doesn't go away, that won't be much fun.

It's not to say that everything is terrible. Things really aren't that bad, I've just been letting the little stuff really get to me. Maybe it's because I assumed that when the semester ended I would have a chance to breathe and not feel so busy, but that hasn't been the case at all. I think it's just when a ton of little things get to you, it's almost worse than having one big bad thing happen because it's so much to deal with, but at the same time, nothing particularly tangible.

Enough rambling, time to get back to the next project on the list...

Thanks for listening, and I promise to get back into a good mood ASAP!

Some Goings On and Random Thoughts...

1. I know I haven't blogged in forever, I'm sorry! Honestly, I've been feeling overwhelmed and busy and unmotivated and frankly working hard just to stay motivated enough to finish my workouts. Which I've been doing.
2. So yeah, to sum up: Ironman training = being very very tired
3. Finals time sucks- not because I have a lot of finals, more that I have to tutor athletes through theirs, plus none of my friends have been able to hang out because of studying and stuff, which hasn't done much for my mood.
4. I just ate entirely too much pizza just now after a track workout. Blehhh...
5. I did a 5 hour ride and an hour run on Saturday and got insanely dehydrated
   
6. ...but I got to take an ice bath afterward.
7. It was about 90 degrees out. holy hell. literally.
8. But... I got to spend part of my ride with the ex-mayor of my town, who used to be a cat 2 rider and a track national champion back in the day. He told me I had amazing leg definition. It was weird, but a nice 25 miles!
9. I also got to ride a tandem bike for the first time ever when my friend Dan finally visited from Maine! We tailgated the NJ Marathon on his porch, cheering on runners, then went to the beach, had the best ice cream ever, and had a really awesome day. He's in a children's band with his brother, and honestly, they kinda rule. I'm planning on visiting Maine in June, if he can put up with me.
10. Rev3 Half Ironman in Connecticut is coming up the first weekend in June and I'm starting to freak out a bit, but in a good excited way.
11. I had a 5200 meter swim yesterday. Holy hell.
12. My coach is planning a training camp in Lake Placid in June- I can't wait!
13. I'm going to a women's track clinic this weekend at the Kissena Track in Queens, and I'm really stoked about it- Matt and Charlie have wanted to get me to the track so I'm planning on surprising them with it.
14. Hopefully I won't kill myself doing it.

Honestly, I'm hoping in the next week or so, now that the craziness of the semester is over, I'll be posting more and generally feeling good about training. Things have been kind of rough lately, just hit a mental hurdle, but I think I'm starting to turn it around. Summer vacation, whoot!