IMBrazil

Today many of my teammates did IM Brazil. I am so honored to know these amazing people and to be their friend. To do an Ironman is one thing -- to do 2 back to back Ironman's is, well, honestly, it's a wee bit crazy! But it is also unbelievably awesome!

You would think they would have been nervous -- or burned out -- or just crazed prior to the race. And, maybe in private they were. But, I have to say, I had dinner/drinks with most of them at various times within the two weeks leading up to Brazil and they were all so CALM. They seemed confident, ready and prepared. And, today, all of that hard-work, preparation and confidence paid off. What a tremendous group of athletes!!

To my awesome IMBrazil friends: you inspire me each and every time I have the opportunity to spend time with you. Much, much love and congratulations to all of you!!

xoxoxox

C

Thank you . . .

Today I was depressed because I found out that I needed to stop running again (yeah, long story - I can go back to 1/2 mile distances next week). Anyway, I was so upset about the fact that I was taking steps backwards; that Timberman may be out; that my "season" may pretty much not be a "season" after all. I was pretty bummed and feeling oh-so-very sorry for myself. Talking about how broken my heart was. Darn, what if I can't do Muddy Buddy? Poor me, what if I can't do the Charlottesville Oly? Wah-wah, what if I can't run the Richmond Marathon?

Then I remembered what else happened today . . .

somewhere out there, a single parent lost their job;
there was someone who sat alone and scared after finding out they were terminally ill;
out there someone was waiting for help after getting into a terrible car accident;
somewhere there is someone who is hiding in genuine fear for their life;
there is someone who went to bed hungry;
someone held the hands of a loved one as they passed away;
there is a child somewhere who lost a parent and,
somewhere out there, a parent is grieving the unbearable loss of their child.

These truly heart wrenching things happen every, single day.

Me? Well, in actuality, today, I saw my daughter ride a two wheeler without training wheels for the first time. Today, I got a hug from each one of my children and my husband. Tonight, I will go to bed knowing I am loved, protected and cared for by my family, my friends and my faith.

My glass is more than half full -- it is overflowing with joy and happiness.
Running? Honestly. How ridiculous is that compared to those who are going through real turmoil in their lives. I mean, what the hell? I will come back and run again -- and until then I will work hard to remember that the sun still shines so brightly on my life and for that I am forever thankful.

"The unthankful heart . . . discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings!" Henry Ward Beecher

Wow.

Who is Iron Man? “Expert Michael Sangiacomo introduces us to the bad boy of the Superhero world, a man who gave up his evil ways, but not his love for drink and women in his pursuit of helping the greater good.” UM. I don't think so. The only thing Ironman has in common with this “Iron-man” cartoon guy is the “love for drink” part.

I wanted to share the dumbest post-Ironman comment ever said to me:

I am sitting having lunch at the Capital to Capital century ride. I am donning my super-cool Florida Ironman bike jersey. I worked my ass off for it and I wear it with ridiculous pride. A fellow cyclist says to me, “Oh, wow. Nice shirt. Did you see the movie?”

Um. Excuse me???

To be clear: THERE. IS. ONLY. ONE. IRONMAN.

In case anyone is wondering what the runner-up is for stupid post-Ironman comment:

Someone who knows that I did the Ironman asked me if my M-Dot tattoo was real. My response: “Um, yeah, most people don’t go ‘wild & crazy’ and just get a temporary tattoo after doing the Ironman.” And, to double the stupidity, he asked me this MONTHS after the Ironman. Like I’d keep reapplying a temporary tattoo!!

I AM A BIG BABY . . .

Okay, I know I'm being a baby about this but the relay splits were just posted and, well, I'm a little pissed. I felt really strong on the bike. And, my bike computer registered a time of 2:49.46 from the time my bike first moved in transition to the time it was racked after the bike. So, given that I was at the back of the transition area, I estimated my "official" bike time to be about 2:48ish. Derek timed me at 2:47 and change. I have time stamped pictures on my camera of me leaving transition after the swim and coming back after the bike and it is an elapsed time of 2:47-2:48. My official bike time according to Set Up? 2:51.00 What the F????? I know. It's only a few minutes but dammmmnnn it!!!! I'm just totally disappointed with this. It was SOOOOO hard knowing I was going into this race as a relay and it was so painful and anti-climatic to "finish" after the bike. And my swim time was 42:22 which is the slowest I've ever swam this distance. All I had to make me proud of myself was that I had a great bike. And, now, I don't know. It feels tarnished. :(

But, the official time is all that counts so I can stomp my feet and beat my head against the wall for as long as I want but the fact is, my official time is 2:51.00 ARGH!! Okay, I know I'm being such a baby -- I mean, at least I raced right? It was a beautiful day and I was totally inspired by SOOO many TRIgirls and I'm sitting here bitching about 3-4 minutes difference? But I don't care. I'm going to be a baby and go have a glass of wine!!!!