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...